This article discusses the benefits of adding extra insulation to the exterior walls of older homes during renovations or remodeling. It emphasizes the importance of using insulation with R-values suitable for your climate and that works with the construction methods and materials. Cavity wall insulation can bring savings and make your home more comfortable.
To add new insulation to an old house from the outside, re-sheath and side the house, leaving interior walls intact. It is crucial to use insulation with R-values that are suitable for your climate and work with the construction methods and materials. Some homes were built without or with very little insulation in the wall cavity, so cavity wall insulation can bring savings and make your home more comfortable.
It is essential to dense pack these walls (from the inside) with either cellulose or fiberglass. Retro foam is another option, but it is not as effective as insulation. Uninsulated external walls can cause dampness, mold, structural damage, and heat loss. Insulation does not completely stop this process, but it slows it down.
In a major interior renovation, it is recommended to stuff the bottoms of the walls with cotton insulation and blow in borate treated cellulose on top. This can be done through a 4″ hole cut in the drywall/plaster and patched afterwards. The preferred method is to cut a 4″x10″ square.
Insulating solid walls in your home can help reduce energy use, heating bills, carbon footprint, and comfort levels. Insulative panels or boards can be used to insulate the interior of the outside walls, lowering the temperature inside the wall and affecting moisture distribution.
📹 External Wall Insulation ~ The Ugly Truth?
Roger looks at the disadvantages of external wall insulation and the misguided efforts of the Insulate Britain protests. EWI Store: …
What is the alternative to external wall insulation?
Loft insulation is a cost-effective solution to minimize heat loss and temperature change in a home. It traps heat in air pockets, keeping the home warm during winter and cool during summer. Costing around £930 for a semi-detached UK house, loft insulation can offset up to a quarter of home heat loss. There are two main ways to insulate a loft: warm loft insulation, which is best for living spaces, and cold loft insulation, which is best for storage purposes.
Warm insulation is laid between roof rafters, secured in place, and covered with plasterboard, while cold insulation is used for storage purposes. Both walls and loft must be insulated for better heat retention. Loft insulation is also budget-friendly, making it more accessible to households than wall insulation. Overall, loft insulation is a valuable alternative to traditional wall insulation.
Is there an alternative to insulation?
The insulation industry faces health, safety, and environmental concerns. However, eco-friendly alternatives like soy-based materials, wool, hemp, and recycled denim are gaining popularity. These niche products, which account for a small fraction of the $9. 5 billion US insulation industry by 2021, are expected to rise as eco-conscious builders and consumers seek alternatives to traditional petroleum- and fiberglass-based materials.
Soy-based foams, with their high acoustical and air-sealing properties, Class 1 fire ratings, no off-gassing of harmful chemicals, renewable composition, and long-term degradation resistance, are growing in popularity.
Why are the outside walls of my house so cold?
Cold walls are often caused by poor insulation, particularly in older properties with solid walls. About 35% of heat loss occurs through walls and gaps, in and around windows and doors. This results in walls transferring heat and allowing warmth to escape outside, making the walls feel colder in comparison to the room temperature. To make your walls warmer, consider installing extra insulation and completing other home energy upgrades, which can reduce heat loss, lower carbon emissions, and save you money on utility bills.
What if my exterior walls have no insulation?
Uninsulated external walls can increase noise pollution in a home, as they act as a sound barrier, preventing outside noise from entering. If your home was built before the 1980s, your exterior walls may not be insulated, leading to higher energy bills and less comfortable living spaces. This can be a significant financial burden, especially during colder months. Uninsulated exterior walls also have a lower property value compared to those with insulation, as potential buyers are increasingly aware of the benefits of energy-efficient homes.
Homes with insulation may be easier to sell on the market, as they offer greater comfort and reduced energy costs. Therefore, it is crucial to invest in insulation to ensure a comfortable and energy-efficient home.
What can I put on my walls to keep them warm?
Insulating a cold wall from the inside is the easiest solution to keep the heat in without requiring adjustments to any fittings on the walls. Insulative exterior wall coatings can be applied to the outside of the cold wall to keep the heat in without the need for adjustments. Another option is a thermally efficient wall coating, which can be sprayed on and skimmed over, making it just 8mm thick and seven or eight times more insulative than traditional renders.
How can I make my exterior walls warmer?
SprayCork is a popular choice for insulated exterior wall coatings, as it effectively retains heat without requiring adjustments to existing fittings. Its natural cork-based formulation insulates cold walls from the outside, preventing internal heat from escaping. This results in a snug home even in cold winters. An internal coating or external spray cork render can save up to 15 heating bills. The material is breathable and moisture-resistant, making it an excellent solution for insulate your home and eliminate damp issues.
How to heat a room with no insulation?
To keep a poorly insulated home warm, cover windows with plastic seals, hang thermal curtains, install draft stoppers in basement or garage doors, maintain your heating system with a clean air filter, and consider installing a ductless mini split system. However, some effective ways to block out the cold are neither easy nor cheap. In February 2021, many homeowners in Wichita discovered that their heating system was not keeping up with the demand of sub-zero temperatures, largely due to poor insulation.
To improve comfort and energy efficiency, consider installing a ductless mini split system, covering windows with plastic window seals, hanging thermal curtains, installing draft stoppers, maintaining your heating system, and having a clean air filter. However, these methods are neither easy nor cheap.
How can I insulate my house without insulation?
This article provides five DIY ways to insulate your home on the cheap, including covering air leaks with weatherproofing strips and caulking, adding thick curtains to windows, fixing drafty doors with a door snake, plugging your chimney when not in use, and sealing attic air leaks. Winter is approaching, and if your house isn’t well-insulated, you’ll likely spend a lot on heating bills. The average heating oil bill in Maine last winter was $2, 046, and if your heating source doesn’t heat your entire house adequately, you may see a hike in your electricity bill if you need to supplement with space heaters.
How do you fix non insulated walls?
Insulating exterior walls can be done without removing the siding by cutting holes in the studs and spraying foam or cellulose into the holes. This process can be done by replacing the cutouts, filling the holes with wood filler, sanding smooth, and painting the siding.
Basement walls can be insulated using foam board, spray foam, blown-in, or spray foam insulation. For finished basements with sheetrock insulation, contractors use similar methods to retrofit exterior wall insulation installation. Holes are cut for insulation installation, then patched and painted over.
Additional insulation can be added to attics, under the roof, or loose fill insulation like fiberglass beads, cellulose, or rock wool. Loose fill insulation should be added between 7 to 12 inches, meeting the requirement for older homes.
Do exterior walls have to be insulated?
Insulate all exterior walls, including those between living spaces and unheated garages, shed roofs, or storage areas, foundation walls above ground level, and foundation walls in heated basements. Apply insulation to floors above unconditioned spaces, cantilevered rooms, slab floors built directly on the ground, foundation walls of unvented crawl spaces, and extend insulation into joist space to reduce air flows.
Consider moisture and air leakage control in each area of your house, radon and radon-resistant construction techniques if necessary, and termite protection in areas with termites. Plan for inspections and consider radon and radon-resistant construction techniques when researching foundation insulation options.
Is it normal for exterior walls to be cold?
The interior of a domestic residence should be designed in such a way that the atmosphere is conducive to a sense of warmth and dryness. This is particularly important in areas where there is a risk of condensation forming on the internal surfaces of walls and ceilings. It is of the utmost importance to ensure that insulation is in place to prevent the loss of warm air from the interior of the home. In addition, it is advisable to apply insulation to external walls that are exposed to the elements.
📹 The Best Home Insulation Diy
Insulated the frame structure with stone wool and modern insulation “PIR” #DreamBathhouse #diy #DmitryLukin #DIYSauna.
I was not looking to look into this subject as I have/had no plans to have this fitted to our 90-year-old semi, with cavity brick walls, DGU’s and loft insulation. I came across this website seeking greenhouse bubble wrap insulation advice. That said, I am very pleased to have watched it in case the situation changes or friends/family are considering it. “To be forewarned is to be forearmed” as they say. Great information provided here (although we do use a dehumidifier to also dry the air for more effective heating, cost now being a big consideration) so many thanks for this helpful article.
Nice article. What you bring up is important. In quite new houses here (Norway) it is normal to cover the inside with plastic to stop the moist from going into the wall. Problem is when insulation is later added from the inside and the moist in the wall is not able to get out. Do those plates let the moist go out or would it be trapped behind the plates? The problem you describe is a bit different. I suspect it might help to pay attention in those places that you know there will be a cold spot on the wall and try to stop the moist go into the wall in that area. Easy to say but not that easy to do.
Our House is from 1887 and i build a 120mm thick Resol (Formaldehyd based) insulation on the Walls. Three thinks i use so we have No Problems with condenswater: Clay, Lime and Windows that are less insulaitet than the Wall. In Bathroom and kitchen we have Lime and Lime Paint on the Walls, in all other rooms there ist Clay on the Walls. The Materials absorb the Water in the Air and regulat it. The Rest condens on the Windows e.g. whenn you Take a shower or Cook. No aktive Parts, No Filters and a great Feeling (and cheaper than Concrete and Gips) Greatings from Germany
I’m a retired expat living in central Mexico (6,000′ elev)…houses here have no heating systems…no cooling systems (besides ceiling fans), single pane glazing and no insulation. Construction is concrete filled hollow bricks covered with plaster both sides. Year round high temps range between 65f and 85f degrees. Today its 78f and 20% RH. My normal electric bill is 260 pesos (US $13) every two months. Quite lovely actually.
Went to a boiler breakdown and it was still under warranty so got manufacturer out to it. They found liquid coming back into boiler casing from horizontal flue. So I went out and customer informed me that they had had EWI fitted, I found a bit of bodged up rain water pipe had bee used to bridge out EWI..! I wanted to RIDDOR it but customer was cagy about who did the EWI.
I understand that the insulation of as many properties as possible, is probably best for the planet. As you mentioned though, Roger, I feel the insulation of lots of social housing to reduce bills for tenants can be counter productive The cost of running effective air and moisture control, I feel negates any monetary benefit gained by external insulation on it’s own. Cost of purchase and running costs of dehumidification, fans or other more basic air management systems, more redecoration and replacement of furniture / curtains etc. is usually out of reach for many social tenants and with the lack of training, professionalism, technical knowledge and skill of local government staff, management and “tradespeople” alike, I wonder whether it makes any sense at all. These types of improvement to properties, as you infer, should only be carried out on a “total package” basis to prevent swathes of, especially, estates constructed primarily using concrete being destroyed by ignorance.
I have the local housing partnership doing these where I live, I am not in a local housing partnership house. They have sawn through my fence without my consent so they fit they insulation and have even come over my boundary by 20mm before the rendering has been done which will add another 10mm. currently in a dispute with them but they are not interested in resolving these issues
I wish I had been able to explain this just as clearly to my tenants. It needs to become common knowledge somehow that ventilation is just as important as insulation. How about a new movement, ‘Ventilate Britain’!! For the five years I had tenants in my flat they insisted there was something wrong with the building that I must put right. I did try. I had all sorts of experts check it out. The truth was, they dried their washing indoors, even though they had their own garden, they switched off the humidistat-controlled bathroom fan because it kept running and they refused to use the vent positions on the windows. Needless to say the flat became covered in black mould. After five years the guy started telling me he had asthma. I suggested he find somewhere more suitable to live because there was nothing more I could do. I haven’t re-let the flat since because I’m afraid I’ll end up in the same situation.
I leave in a house built in 1715. All the walls of this house are made of stone, real stone. The walls are very thick. I asked 2 companies about external insulation : the first one is working on a price offer, the second one told me that it is not a good idea as stone must « breath ». I don’t know what is true or not…btw in summer we really do not need any A/C, the thick walls keep the inside cool…
Inclusion of vapour permeability is also critical in external insulation, with an internal vapour barrier being important to stop interstitial condensation somewhere between the warm inside and the cold outside. Dehumidifiers are great in recovering latent heat from humid indoor areas. Cost alone is pushing me I think for a rigid foam plus foil backed plasterboard internal lining exercise shortly in preference to the giant cost of external insulation and challenges in coping with non existent roof overhangs on the gable wall.
Thanks for the explanation, makes good sense. We are looking at a small 1960’s semi detached concrete bungalow, and wondering if we need to insulate, and how, without reducing room size too much or experiencing the problems you highlight here. We have used Wallrock in a previous house but it’s tricky to get a good lasting finish, not keen to try that again. Love to hear any advice or anecdotes
The surprise for me is how late many solid wall houses were built. I know of one whole estate in Richmond with solid wall three story house blocks from the mid 60s. With legal agreements covering ALL owners that prevent any external insulation being added. Even though it’s perfectly practical to do it. The whole estate had blown air gas heating & zero loft insulation (where most of the air ducting runs). Terrible planning choices, plus crazy legal restrictions to prevent upgrades to them.
Perhaps we have to change the core of the problem.. Like many Builders on their foreign holidays.. we get bored and start looking at local building sites to see how ‘they’ do it.. I remember walking around a Home Depot in the US and looking at these huge garage doors and they were made of Hardboard.. I was surprised, but they were a low price..so.. Fair enough.. Looking more closely at their Housing methods and I realised it was not designed to last very long but to be pushed over and replaced completely with newer ‘up to date’ features every 10 years or so.. (Broad generalisation..) You barely get the chance to do maintenance.. I originally scoffed at this short term approach but slowly changed my mind. Trying to force changes into/onto existing UK Housing can be rediculously expensive and frequently not very successful. Example…: Although McDonalds do convert existing buildings to their use (Central London) mostly they clear the site and New Build which gives them their familiarity. I believe we have a minimum 60 year rule for works in the UK (I could be wrong..) But with Climate change and the general colapse of everything perhaps we need a shorter term view.. ps Roger.. Have you reviewed Warranties..? They concern me..
Another great article Roger👍 Just wondered if anyone has any advice on a bungalow we are buying, it has no insulation in the cavity walls and I’ve been put off filling them with foam or beads due to possibly causing damp. We are having all new windows installed, with vents but not sure about having this ewi as well, Roger talks about putting it on a solid wall, but would this be of any benefit on a cavity wall. Any help much appreciated.
does the UK not use house wrap/tyvek?????? I’m in a 200yo farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, 1ft hollow walls, added r13.5 insulation & r5 tyvek…zero leaks 4000sqft house heated by electric, last January’s bill under $300 (tyvek/house wrap lets the moisture exit but not enter the home…sounds like you should look into it)
I think there’s a lot of good information here, and being on the architectural side of things I’d normally invite people to try and talk to an architect to flag some of these issues before you go to a one-stop-shop installer. In this instance, while I still think a small amout of time or money for a quick chat with an architect is a good idea, it might be best to try and contact an MEP designer (MEP stands for Mechanical, Electrical and/or Public Health engineer) to advise on measures you can take to mitigate these effects. Ultimately, a small amount of money spent on expert advice can save you thousands in the long-run, above and beyond the savings in terms of energy reduction. This is not a poor reflection on EWI installers, but just the reality of the construction industry: they are skilled installers, not designers, and they are running a business – it’s good, if you can, to have expert advice and opinions to compliment that process and kick any unforeseen issues (like cold bridging) out of the way ahead of time.