Cheap DIY home insulation: How to make your home warmer on a budget

UK residents live in some of the oldest, coldest, least insulated properties in the world – and it’s costing us hundreds of pounds a year on our energy bills.

Many shy away from the idea of ​​paying thousands of pounds on professional insulation, especially during a cost-of-living crisis.

But insulating your home – and breaking record high energy prices – doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Even cheap, simple DIYs can have a big impact on reducing energy costs and saving you money.

With some experts arguing that energy bills will remain high through 2040, here are some of the simplest ways to make your home warmer on a budget.

Simple ways to insulate your home

The typical property loses 25 percent of its heat through the roof, 35 percent through the walls, 15 percent through the doors and floor and 10 percent through windows, according to insulation experts LoftZone.

Draft resistant – saved £60 a year

Have you ever wondered why we put radiators under windows, despite these being the coldest parts of the house? It all has to do with trying to beat checkers.

When radiators were first installed in the 1930s, they were placed under windows in the hope that the ever-present draft would push the heat from the radiator further into the home.

That practice has continued to this day, even if the logic has been debunked.

But draft need not be a fact. The charity Energy Saving Trust says the average UK home could save £60 a year in energy bills by draught-proofing windows and doors, or £50 a year in Northern Ireland.

The simplest form of draft protection is thick curtains, which keep out the cold coming from the windows. This costs between € 15 and € 50 per curtain.

Dave Raval, of LoftZone, said: ‘Draft proofing is the first thing to do. You can easily feel it on a cold day if you put your hands near a door or window.’

Raval points out that thick fabric curtains are one of the most effective draft-barrier techniques out there and have stood the test of time.

“There’s a reason medieval buildings had tapestries on the walls, they really help keep the heat in,” he explained.

The Energy Saving Trust also recommends using weatherstripping to tape around the window frame, which helps fill in the gap between the window and the frame. These will set you back around 90p for a meter of strip.

For doors, the charity suggests putting easy-to-access covers on keyholes and letterboxes, as well as ‘sausage’-type draft strips that go along the bottom of the door.

These cost over £5 but can also be made at home for free using old tights and something to stuff them with.

If you have an open chimney that you are not using, a chimney draft stopper will help prevent drafts and heat loss through the chimney. These look like thick plastic balloons and cost around £18-£20 from DIY stores.

However, be careful not to completely block the ventilation. Some airflow is necessary to prevent mold and carbon monoxide buildup in rooms with fireplaces or open chimneys. The same applies to rooms that produce a lot of moisture, such as bathrooms and kitchens.

Secondary glazing – savings vary

As the name suggests, secondary glazing is an extra sheet of plastic or other insulating material next to a single-pane window — a bit like cheap double-pane windows.

There’s no easy way to calculate how much secondary glazing will save you, as “systems range from very cheap and temporary to expensive and highly effective,” according to the Energy Saving Trust.

But on the cheaper end of the scale is a thin, sticky plastic film that you can peel off and stick on your windows. This costs pennies per square foot, but provides only a small energy-saving improvement.

One level up are thicker plastic sheets that attach with magnets or clips. The next level is professionally installed secondary glazing and then double glazing.

If you want to try out front glazing for free, bubble wrap might work.

“It’s kind of Heath Robinson, but bubble wrap left over from Christmas gifts is a good insulator, and the bigger the bubbles, the better,” Raval said.

Heat relief: insulating a roof means going up to the attic and pushing the wool between the joists

Ways of medium difficulty to insulate your home

Installing roof insulation – saved £640 a year

By insulating your roof you can save a lot on your energy bill. A person living in a semi-detached house with no roof insulation could save £640 a year by installing 270mm of insulation in their attic, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

Most roof insulation consists of large rolls of wool spun from basalt, a type of rock. Prices vary, but £25 will buy you about 8-10 square meters of insulation. Insulating an entire loft may therefore cost a few hundred euros, but most homes earn that money back within 12 months if their energy bills drop.

To assemble it, go to the loft and push the insulation between the joists, taking care not to squash the wool as it will become unusable.

However, there are some safety points to be aware of.

First, wear gloves and a face mask, as some people may find the wool irritating to their skin.

But the biggest safety concern is not falling through an attic hatch or through the ceiling by stepping between the joists. Each year, about 2,000 people go to the hospital with injuries from falling from an attic, Raval said.

Floor Insulation – Saved £110 a year

For houses with wooden floors, insulating your ground floor can reduce energy bills by more than £110 a year for the average home, or up to £180 for a detached house.

Those figures rise to £90 and £145 a year in Northern Ireland respectively, according to the Energy Saving Trust.

As with roof insulation, this involves lifting the floorboards and laying mineral wool insulation on top of the mesh between the joists. Depending on how big your house is, this could be up to £100.

But if you don’t feel like pulling up your floorboards, there’s an easier way to insulate your floors: carpets with a thick underlay, or, failing that, rugs.