How to insulate an early 20th century home

If you are living in a semi-detached home, how can you cut energy bills this winter by improving your home's ability to hold heat, and even generate your own energy?

- ALISON WALL

We continue this insulating series with a look at early-20th-century semi-detached houses with gas boilers. Four experts share their suggestions on what you can do to insulate your home on a variety of budgets: Paul Ciniglio, a refurbishment lead with the National Energy Foundation; Tim Pullen, an expert in sustainable building methods and energy efficiency; David Hilton, an expert in sustainable buildings and energy efficiency; and architect Paul Testa, who has carried out extensive energy efficiency improvements in his own home.

First steps

“The overall approach with an early-20th-century house is to insulate first, then to address airtightness (chimney, draughtproofing, replacing rotten windows) and finally, when that’s all been addressed, to look at the heating controls,” says David Hilton.

“You also need to make sure that any remedial action is compatible with the building. Many properties of this period are solid brick, so the materials you use need to be breathable.”

BUDGET: £200

For £200, the first task, say all four experts, is to insulate the loft (you’ll need to more than double this budget if you’re paying for professional installers).

“Loft insulation is generally the easiest type of insulation to deal with, and one of the measures that makes the most difference in terms of warmth, comfort, energy bill savings and reducing carbon emissions,” says Paul Ciniglio.