There are a number of ways you can insulate your home with external wall insulation, internal wall insulation and cavity wall insulation. In this article, we will look at cavity wall insulation for your home.
Insulating your cavity walls could save on energy and cut costs. Cavity wall insulation doesn't change the aesthetics of your house, so if you are insulating an existing home, you won't notice any visual changes.
In this article, we learn about:
- what is cavity wall insulation?
- the different types of cavity wall insulation
- the best cavity wall insulation for your project
- how much does cavity wall insulation cost?
What is cavity wall insulation?
Cavity wall insulation is the insulation material that is installed into the cavity of a building, which is the space between the inner and outer wall. Cavity wall insulation traps the warm air in and prevents air from circulating around the cavity. By reducing heat loss through the cavity, you could save on your heating bills as well as your home having a better insulating performance.
There are a few different types of cavity wall insulation available, but your project's best insulation will depend on your budget and building type. If you are developing a home or building from scratch, you have many options, including cavity insulation boards or mineral fibre. However, it's not often possible to use cavity wall boards in existing properties. So if you have a retrofit project, you would need insulation that can be blown into the wall.
Cavity wall insulation boards
Cavity wall insulation boards, such as Kooltherm K8 Cavity Board, Kooltherm K8 Plus Cavity Board, and Thermawall TW50 can achieve the same wall U-value as alternative products, with a thinner profile. Also, their low thermal conductivity means you may be able to use a thinner board than with other, worse thermally performing, materials. This could maximise usable internal floor space while reaching the target U-values required.
Pumped cavity wall insulation
Pumped cavity wall insulation is where insulation is blown into a property through small holes in the wall. It is often used for retrofit projects, where it is near-impossible to install a more traditional cavity wall insulation as the walls are already built. Learn more about EcoBead Platinum.
Mineral fibre cavity wall insulation
Mineral fibre such as our K-Roc Partial Fill Cavity Wall Slab is another option for new build projects. Compared to cavity wall insulation boards, mineral fibre insulation has a lesser performing thermal conductivity which means that you will require a thicker amount of product to reach the target U-value.
How much does cavity wall insulation cost?
Each project will vary - contact our sales team who will be able to assist you with any questions or quotations you may require.
Cost of cavity wall insulation in new build projects
As we have shown above, if you are a developer working on new build properties, you have many options available to you. The 'cost' depends on whether you are more concerned about an upfront cost of the actual insulation material or are looking at overall build costs.
While selecting a cheaper insulant may seem like a cost-saving upfront, this means the insulation will need to be much thicker to reach target U-values. This could end up costing much more in the long run due to other knock-on effects. For example, the walls may need to be thicker to accommodate for the thicker insulant. If the walls are thicker, so are the foundations.
Although it may seem obvious to use a cheaper product to save money when it comes to cavity wall insulation, you may be better off investing in a more thermally efficient product to achieve overall savings.
What is the best cavity wall insulation?
This depends on your project. If you are retrofitting, pumped insulation is the best approach. If you are a developer working on a new build project, we hope we have given enough information in this article to help you decide which is the best cavity wall insulation based on your own requirements.
However, if you are still not sure which cavity wall insulation type would be best, please speak to our technical team , who will be happy to help.
Are there grants available for cavity wall insulation?
The Kingspan Insulation One Stop Shop helps homeowners improve their home's energy efficiency by providing a comprehensive, end to end solution for domestic retrofit and refurbishment projects.
The Kingspan Insulation Retrofit Team can offer advice, organise assessments and manage the whole project from start to finish. They also provide access to a range of grants offered by the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) to support your home energy upgrades.
Learn more here.
