Free cavity wall insulation Wales

Grants for free cavity wall insulation Wales

What is cavity wall insulation?

Cavity insulation is installed by placing insulating material between the inner and outer layers of bricks in your walls. Modern insulation is waterproof and breathable.

As a result, less heat is transferred from your house to the outside. Your exterior walls allow more than a third of the heat inside your house to escape. Installing wall insulation can therefore result in significant energy cost savings.

Is cavity insulation suitable  for my house?

In Wales, buildings constructed before the 1920s have sturdy brick or stone walls. If your house was built after this period, there’s a considerable likelihood that your house has a gap between the bricks of the exterior walls.

There aren’t many Welsh properties after this era that have solid walls. Our surveyors can verify this by making a small hole in your wall and using specialised equipment called a borescope to check inside.

Cavity wall insulation is typically an option for your home if:

1. Your exterior walls are hollow walls with no filling.
2. the brickwork is in good shape and the structure was constructed after the 1920s
3. the cavity is at least 50 mm wide.

Cavity wall insulation helps reduce your energy bills because it keeps the heat in. Therefore you can turn down your central heating or run it for shorter periods of time. This lowers your heating expenses while lowering the amount of harmful emissions that are emitted into the atmosphere.

Additionally, the thermal barrier that cavity wall insulation provides, helps keep your home cooler in the summer months.

Why should I insulate my home?

Insulation that is effective keeps the heat inside your house, essentially covering your home in a thermal blanket. This makes it possible for you to keep your rooms at a more  comfortable and affordable temperature. Your boiler can be fired at a lower temperature or your central heating can be in use for less time throughout the day and night. This can lead to substantial savings

Your loft and roof also let out an additional 25% of the heat you generate with your boiler or heating system. This alone amounts to around 60% heat loss and means you are paying far more to heat your home than you should be.

Cavity Wall insulation

Cavity wall insulation prevents heat from escaping through your  walls. Specialist material is placed in the gap between your bricks. This sops heat escaping through your walls and helps lower your heating bills.

The average property in Wales loses about 35% of its heat through its exterior walls if they are not insulated correctly.

Solid Wall Insulation

If you live in a traditional or older stone built property you may need to insulate the walls with internal insulation. This type of property is constructed without a gap between the inner and outer bricks.

Internal solid wall insulation is an effective method of preventing heat loss. Insulation is placed in a frame on the inside of your wall then plastered.

This can be installed free of charge with an ECO grant, including all new plaster work.

Loft Insulation

Around 25% of the heat you generate with your boiler escapes through your attic or loft. Free loft insulation grants are available under ECO for Welsh households on benefits.

Room in Roof Insulation

If your property has rooms built into the roof it can still be insulated with specialist materials. The full cost will be covered with a government grant if you or a member of your household is eligible.

How do I apply for free cavity wall insulation in Wales?

Getting a free cavity wall insulation grant in Wales is an easy, no hassle process. In fact, you don’t even have to even apply for a grant. We do all the paperwork for you. We install the wall measure, then claim the money back from the energy companies. You don’t have to do anything.

1. Simply provide us with your contact details and some basic information regarding your property and benefit status.
2. We will arrange a home visit with an accredited energy assessor. The assessor will gather information about your property and assign an energy rating, similar to an EPC for a home report. This will include an inspection of your walls using a borescope camera.
3. The assessor will then look at the energy efficiency of your property and provide a recommendation for wall insulation, if it is required.
4. Your free cavity wall insulation will be installed, and we claim the money back from one of the utility companies in the ECO scheme.

How is the insulation installed?

Installing cavity wall insulation is much simpler than you may imagine. It takes about three hours to insulate a typical three-bedroom semi-detached house. The install project consists of several phases:

1. House survey
   Before the work begins, a qualified surveyor will have come to your house to collect some measurements and photos. This will include a borescope inspection of your cavity walls. They will also sketch out a plan for the installation team. This will provide measurements and access details, indicate where your doors and windows are, and list any potential safety hazards.
2. Drilling the holes
   Holes of around 1-inch-diameter are drilled into the mortar separating your bricks. No brickwork is drilled during this process.
3. Installing the CWI
   The insulation will be blown into your walls at this location. The insulation installer has specialist instruments to ensure that your walls are completely filled, and there are no “cold spots.”
4. Cleaning up
   The holes will be filled with mortar that matches your existing cement, and the work area will be thoroughly cleaned.
5. Completion
   You will be prompted to “sign off” the installation if you are satisfied with it. You will receive a 25 year CIGA guarantee for the work shortly after it is finished.
   locating a certified installation of insulation.

What is the Energy Company Obligation?

ECO is a government-led energy efficiency program designed to help reduce energy bills and help meet the country meet net zero targets by cutting the amount of harmful emissions we release into the environment. The sheme is funded by medium and large utility companies who have a customer base in Wales. This includes British Gas, EON etc. The government has ruled that these companies have an obligation to help the most vulnerable households reduce energy costs by installing energy efficient measures like insulation, solar panels and air source heat pumps, free of charge.

The recent rise in energy prices means that more and more people are struggling with the cost of gas and electricity and find it difficult to heat their home properly. For some it is a choice between eating and heating. If at any time your household is facing this type of choice you are deemed to live in fuel poverty.

Who qualifies for a free cavity wall insulation grant in wales?

ECO grants are available for homeowners, private tenants in Wales who live in a property with a low energy rating of between E and G and are off the gas grid. Rural properties and properties heated by electric heaters, oil bloilers and LPG are often the least energy efficient. This type of property also often has the most room for improvement.

where a member of the household currently claims one of the following means tested government benefits:

1. Universal Credit
2. Child Tax Credits
3. Working Tax Credits
4. Income Support
5. Income Based JSA
6. Income Related ESA
7. Housing Benefit
8. Pension Savings Credit
9. Pension Guarantee Credit

In addition to the above, families on a low income who claim basic child benefit may also be eligible if their total household income is below the following relevant thresholds:

Free cavity wall insulation in Wales – FAQ

Free cavity wall insulation in Wales is available for homeowners and private tenants who claim an income-based benefit. Properties which are off the gas grid are given priority under the ECO4 grant scheme.