Solid Wall Insulation

Solid walls lose even more heat than cavity walls; the only way to reduce this heat loss is to insulate them on the inside or the outside.

External solid wall insulation

Solid wall insulation will help stop heat being lost from your home and help to prevent condensation on the walls and ceilings. It's not cheap, but you will soon see the benefits to your heating bill and it's another way of playing your part in reducing CO2 emissions. There are two types of solid wall insulation: external and internal.

How external solid wall insulation works

This involves adding a decorative weather-proof insulating treatment to the outside of your wall. The thickness of the insulation needs to be between 50 and 100mm and is usually installed where there are severe heating problems or the exterior of the building requires some form of other repair work providing the opportunity of adding solid wall insulation.

The savings

External wall insulation is more expensive than cavity wall insulation but it could save you around £400 a year on your energy bills every year. A three bedroom semi-detached house could save around 2.1 tonnes of CO2 a year.

If you are going to be renovating or repairing the exterior walls of your house then it would be a very good time to consider installing solid wall insulation. In this case, the marginal cost of external solid wall insulation (i.e. the material costs and labour when other wall repairs are being undertaken) will be lower than the full cost of installation.

Internal solid wall insulation

Solid walls can also be insulated by applying internal wall insulation. Types include ready made insulation/plaster board laminates or wooden battens in-filled with insulation.

How internal solid wall insulation works

Insulation/plaster board laminates usually consist of plasterboard backed with insulating material, typically to a total thickness of up to 90mm. The construction of the laminates reduces the amount of heat which would otherwise pass through into the wall and outside.

The savings

Internal wall insulation can be cheaper than external wall insulation and you could save around £380 a year on your energy bill. A three bedroom semi-detached house could save around 2 tonnes of CO2 a year.

How is solid wall insulation installed?

The boards are fitted directly to the inside of the wall. The thicker the board the better the insulation. You can also attach wooden battens in-filled with insulation to a wall. This involves attaching battens to the wall, filling the spaces between the battens with insulation and then covering them using a plasterboard finish.