What loft insulation to use?

[Anna Kettle]

Two winters with no loft insulation is quite enough and I have been costing the various options, which turn out to be

Wool batts Conductivity 0.038 W/mK £11.30 /sqm

Flax rolls Conductivity 0.037 W/mK £15.00 /sqm

Isowool rolls (glass fibre) Conductivity 0.04 W/mK £1.70 /sqm

Even if VAT needs to be added to the glass fibre option it still looks loads cheaper than either of the others so I can see why the eco-products haven't hit the mass market yet. I'd be prepared to pay a bit more for them, but an order of magnitude more sticks in my gullet

Anyhow whats eco-unfriendly about glass fibre. Its only sand, isn't it?

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Rob Morley]

The energy required to produce it?

[Chris Bacon]

You could use Rockwool, it's (just) a little less unpleasant than glass fibre. They've a website at http:

with some "environmental" info. What about insect larvae etc. with "eco-products"?

[Holly in France]

We got a roofing quote for a client a few weeks ago and I noticed that the roofer is automatically quoting for wool based insulation now. Unfortunately the quote has been posted off since we would have no further involvement and so I didn't keep a copy! But...this would suggest that it is competively priced here in France. I'll investigate and post back if I find anything worthwhile. Whether it would be worth a trip to fetch it is another matter :-)

[Anna Kettle]

I thought rockwool was for stopping sound transmission rather than heat transmission

Thats dealt with. They lace it with something or other

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Anna Kettle]

Spose so. I know nothing about the processes requried to turn sand into glass. It sounds a bit unlikely though so maybe it takes lots of energy

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Anna Kettle]

Yes wool batt insulation originated in France. There is a producer here in England now and one would hope that their prices are competitive with importing from France

I haven't spoken to the grant people yet but what I am hoping is that cos the government is putting lots of money into energy saving so its possible that they subsidise the cost of wool batts. Thats what I'm hoping anyway cos fleece has no value now. Isn't it shocking that farmers have to burn fleeces

For hundreds of years, England was rich from selling wool to the rest of the western world

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Chris Bacon]

Erm, no. It's an alternative to glass, looks similar, usu. brown in colour, slightly less irritating to handle. See the website.

Hmm. More poison in the roof.

[Andy Hall]

One can think of a number of other reasons to visit your part of the world, Holly.

Most are to do with eating and drinking. The people are OK as well. :-)

[Ian Stirling]

The cynical might also suggest that a 20% markup on a wool insulation is much better than a 20% markup on glass-fiber.

[Mark S.]

I used the Pink Panther stuff after the mess clearing the old style stuff out.

Comes in nice compacted pink rolls, very few stray fibres to get all over you and make your skin nice and itchy.

Costs more than the normal stuff but worth it for the ease of use. :-)

Mark S.

[chris French]

In message , Anna Kettle writes

There is also Warmcel, which is a loose fill type insulation, made from recycled newspaper AIUI

No experience.

According to the price on this place:

it's about GBP4/m^2 at 100mm thick

As others have said, the energy consumption for one. And sand has to come from somewhere - either big hole in the ground, or from the sea

I hate glassfibre or rockwool, not just installing it, but I find I'm very susceptible to irritation from it, so just going into a loft with it in starts me itching, and I soon get rash on arms, neck etc. The stuff encased in thin plastic sheeting is an improvement in this aspect, but still not brilliant for me.

[Mike]

All ours go for insulation nowadays. The fleeces were never that good for wool or sheepskin clothing anyway so the prices fetched are quite similar.

[Anna Kettle]

Do you know why? English wool used to be highly prized and I always assumed it was something to do with the climate rather than the sheep itself cos otherwise why didn't them foreigners sheepnap some of ours and set up in competition?

Are you unusual in selling it for insulation or has the trade expanded sufficiently to take most of the nation's fleeces?

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Anna Kettle]

I will check that out but if I get a grant then someone else puts it in place so the itchiness is not a big problem for me :)

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Anna Kettle]

I discounted that one cos I live in a very old house and one of these days I will have to do some ceiling repairs from above and I want something that I can remove easily

Luckily I'm not particularly susceptible. I'd still prefer to use wool though

Anna

PS Hope the house move goes OK. Very stressful time

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Mike]

I think it's because the demand for UK wool isn't there anymore plus hill sheep are never going to have the best fleeces for spinning wool from. But the stuff is naturally so dense (you can see them shiver when they lose it :-) that it's great for insulating houses.

[chris French]

In message , Anna Kettle writes

Getting there - after what seems like a month of nothing much really happening half the time, finally, bumpf and contracts etc. should be going out this week this week. Just need to push for quick completion date.

Interested in the insulation discussion as we will need to up ours in the new house

[The Natural Philosopher]

Per unit insulation rockwool is the cheapest, but needs good depth.

[Holly in France]

Sorry to be so long replying to this. Have done a bit of research into prices here, which was a good idea anyway since my sister is likely to be interested later in the year. Found lots of sites about DIY wool insulation, this one is quite detailed but all in French - has some pictures too though :-)

prices as follows, with rough transations from

(chanvre) panels panels of 0,625 x 1,20 m price inc VAT per sq metre panels 50 mm thick 10.20 ¤ 7,5 Euros panels 80 mm thick 16.30 ¤ 9 Euros

This following refers to hemp insulation on a roll, comes in 10m rolls:

EPAISSEUR PRIX TTC / m² thickness price incl vat/sq m

50 mm 10,20 7,5 Euros 80 mm 20,20 9 Euros

Wool insulation on rolls EPAISSEUR PRIX TTC / m² thickness price incl VAT/sq m

30 à 40 mm - Longueur 15 mètres 6 Euros 60 à 80 mm - Longueur 10 mètres 9 Euros

Hope you can make some sense of that.

Didn't know that, yes, it is indeed shocking, and sad. Perhaps you could find a friendly farmer and go the DIY route?! No grant of course, and more work, probably wouldn't be worthwhile....

More info on the way in the post and from the local BM, will post back if prices are very different.