What is floor insulation?
Insulating a floor means adding an insulating material beneath the floorboards, thereby reducing heat escaping through the floor into the ground. Approximately 15% of heat is lost from a house via this route. Insulation also acts to prevent draughts coming up through the floorboards. In addition the household should also consider insulating the gaps between the skirting boards and the floor, which also helps in reducing draughts.
Floor insulation is most commonly done when putting a new floor in place, but most floors can be retrofitted with insulating material, and this will make a large saving to your overall heating bill. Depending on how confident you are with DIY, it is possible to install floor insulation yourself.
Benefits
- Filling the gap between the skirting boards and the floor can save about £25, recouped within the year (assuming a £20 material cost).
- Since the insulation will slow the movement of heat through the floor, the home will feel more comfortable and warmer in the winter, but cooler in the summer months.
- You can reduce your carbon footprint by about 240kg per year by installing floor insulation and almost 100kg if you fill the gaps between the floor and skirting boards.
- According to the Energy Saving Trust, installing floor insulation underneath a wood surface saves about £60 per year, which would mean a payback of 2 years based on recouping the material costs (approximately £100).
Limitations of floor insulation
- If you are wishing to installing the floor insulation as a DIY project, you will need to move furnishings and potentially remove carpets and floorboards.
- Additional costs may add up, if once you remove the floorboards, you discover that some are rotten, therefore the overall insulation costs may be higher than previously predicted.
Cost of floor insulation
- Professional installation costs start at £770, dependant on the size of the floor space installation.
- DIY Cost for wooden floor insulation cost approximately £100 and it will cost about £20 to buy the materials to fill the gaps between the floor and the skirting boards.
Installing floor insulation
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