As snug as a bug or as draughty as a barn, how warm is your home?

You’ve sweated over the taps, tiles and towel rail. Imagined

yourself soaking in your luxurious Victorian roll top bath and ordered your

blinds.  The makings of a beautiful bathroom

have been set in motion. Then the plumber arrives, scratches his chin, pokes

his index finger into the outside wall and it crumbles away as if made up of

dust. The bathroom wall was made of fibre board, a popular

material after the war when supplies were scarce (so my fantastic plasterer

informed me!) but not so effective at insulating. With only lath and tile

making up the rest of the wall there was absolutely no insulation and the

toasty warm bathroom of my dreams vaporised into the cold autumnal mist.  Eric the plumber quickly took pity on me,

having clearly underestimated my utter ignorance on all things practical, and

assured me that with a new wall stuffed full of insulation all would not be

lost.

Apparently in a typical British home, around one-third of

the heat produced by a central heating system is rapidly lost through the roof,

ceilings and walls, windows and floors. 

This means that for a poorly insulated property up to £1 out of every £3

spent on heating is being wasted.  By

improving the insulation and heating in our homes the average household can cut

fuel bills by approximately £300 each year and will reduce the household carbon

emissions that contribute to climate change.

It seems that 95% of home owners think that the heating of

their own home is currently effective despite the fact that the last review of

the Sustainability

of Existing Buildings revealed that 6.1 million homes lacked an adequate

thickness of loft insulation 8.5 million homes had uninsulated cavity walls,

and that there is a potential to insulate 7.5 million homes that have solid

external walls. These three measures alone have the potential to save 8.5

million tonnes of carbon emissions each year. The government have announced

their ambition that all new housing should be built to zero-carbon standards

from 2016 with every new home to be powered by a green

energy plant to offset its environmental impact

So if you are gearing up for winter by digging out your

winter woollies and M&S thermals think about how much money you could be

saving by having your home effectively insulated. Before you begin the arduous

search for tradespeople in your area, and let’s face it, it doesn’t compare

with the shopping thrill a new Bottega Veneta Brick handbag promises, but as

every pound you save on your heating bill could go [somewhat] toward this

season’s must have, it is a job worth concentrating on, first things first,

make sure you check for local accredited gas people.  Visit this site to find a registered gas

business in your area and here to

find your Insulation

experts.  Tunbridge Wells has heating

specialists and plumbers a plenty but it would be good to hear any great

recommendations. There really is nothing better than word of mouth when you’re

inviting tradespeople into your home.

Our house renovation is being managed by Nick Weller Carpentry and Building

contractors of Tunbridge Wells and I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. With plumbers, plasterers, electricians and builders

as part of their repertoire you needn’t look much further.  Our plasterer (Nigel Littlechild  NPLittlechild@googlemail.com  07801 414824) is probably the best plasterer you’ll

ever find. Having removed more artex than you could care to imagine our house

was left without a spec of plaster anywhere but on the ceiling. Utterly

brilliant!

Visit these lists

to search for more plumbers and tradespeople.