Heat will always flow from a warm area to a cold one. In winter, the colder it is outside, the faster heat from your home will escape into the surrounding air. In general, houses built from the 1990s onwards have wall insulation to keep the heat in, but if your house is older than that it may not have any wall insulation. If this is the case then you may be losing a lot of heat from your home, as heat can escape more quickly through uninsulated walls. Most types of walls can be insulated in one way or another. If you have a typical house with cavity walls, you could save up to £690 per year (based on a detached house) in heating bills just from insulating the walls. The first thing you need to find out is what sort of walls you have.

Can I get free cavity wall insulation?

The short answer is YES!

In February 2023, the Connected For Warmth Scheme has been announced with Dyson Energy chosen as one of the delivery partners.

The new fund is available to anyone who falls into Council Tax bands A-D without the need to be in receipt of benefits. You can read more about the free cavity insulation fund here and apply.

So what is Cavity Wall Insulation?

Most homes built after 1935 will be constructed with a masonry cavity wall. This is where there is a gap between your internal and external wall which can be filled by drilling a series of holes and pumping in either mineral wool or a polystyrene bead. The work only takes around half a day to complete. Homes built after 1995 should already have adequate levels of insulation in the cavity.

If there is a drilling pattern within the mortar joints on the external walls of your home, this usually is a good indicator that your home has been insulated.  The drilling pattern will vary depending on the type of insulation material used to insulate your walls.

For example, if your home has been insulated with mineral wool, typically the drilling pattern on the front of your house will look like the below:

The drilling pattern is different if your home has been insulated with polystyrene bead insulation, typically like the below:

If you’re still not sure, you can contact Dyson Energy Services, a professional insulation company, to come and take a look for you. They have special tools such as a borescope that can allow them to drill a small hole in the mortar and view the cavity.

Do you get a guarantee when you have cavity wall insulation installed?

If you have cavity wall insulation installed, for peace of mind you will receive a 25-year industry backed IAA (Installation Assurance Authority) guarantee. Not only that, but you have the peace-of-mind learning that we were the first business to be awarded the TrustMark Licence Plus.

This scheme has been designed so that consumers can feel at ease, knowing that they have has a full house assessment to confirm if the cavity insulation measures are right for their home. Homeowners will also be advised on other measures which may be beneficial in saving energy.

Benefit from 0% VAT when you install energy efficiency measures

Now is the perfect time to consider upgrading the energy efficiency of your home.  Not only because energy bills are rising at an incredible rate, but you can also benefit from 0% VAT thanks to an announcement made by the government.  This VAT cut will be available from 1 April 2022 until 2027.  As a result, households looking to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes will benefit from further savings with this recent incentive.  This is applicable when installing insulation and renewable measures.

Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) funding

Funding may be available from the governments Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) scheme.  This is an obligation on energy companies to provide funding for energy-saving measures, by government, to upgrade the energy efficiency of the country’s worst performing housing and to provide fuel poverty support.  ECO4 funding is available for households with low incomes, in receipt of qualifying benefits and with a low property EPC rating. This is part of a wider government strategy to reduce carbon emissions, tackle fuel poverty and help householders save money on their energy bills.

“We have to do our bit for future generations”

Neil and Karen, a couple from Somerset, recently had cavity wall and loft insulation installed, which was funded through the Energy Company Obligation scheme and installed by Dyson Energy Services.  They were keen to tell their story in the hope that it encouraged others to benefit from energy-saving insulation too.

Read their story.

How much money could I save?

According to figures from the Energy Saving Trust website, cavity wall insulation could save up to £690 per year on your energy bills (based on a detached house).