From Guest Blogger in the UK "Domestic Generation Insulation": External Wall Insulation — What is it, How Does it Work and Why Should I Have it?

Insulation. It’s hardly the most glamorous of topics is it? Compared to much more fashionable renewable energy solutions like solar panels and geothermal installations it could even be considered positively boring. After all, how can anybody get excited about the process of stuffing a gap full of material? You can’t even see it working! What possible use could it have when it doesn’t even generate energy for your house to use?

Well, as it turns out, it has plenty of use. In fact, as bold a statement as it may be, a good insulation solution should always be the first step towards making a home as energy efficient as possible, even before solar or any other renewable technology comes into play.

Insulation is the very definition of functionality over fashion. You don’t see it working and you don’t get to show it off to people and demonstrate your green credentials. What you do get is an energy efficient house that sees a massive reduction in the amount of heat energy being lost through the walls or loft in addition to savings of upwards of £100 on your heating bills.

But what if you have a solid wall home? Cavity wall and loft insulation have both been staples of the UK construction industry for a number of years, as houses built in the country post-1930 were all constructed with a cavity wall and filling them with an insulation material was a fairly simple process. However, in the UK alone, that still leaves more than 7 million properties with solid walls that can’t make use of the traditional cavity wall insulation for the simple fact that they do not have a cavity to be filled.

For many years, owners of solid wall properties just had to grin and bear it, stuck in the knowledge that their home would always be draughty and their heating bills would always be higher than their better insulated brethren and their new-fangled cavity walls. However that has all changed now with the advent of external wall insulation.

External wall insulation not only solves the problem of insulating solid wall properties but also makes the very idea of having insulation installed a lot more attractive, as it is the only solution that offers the prospect of improving the visual aspect of a home in addition to providing the practicality that is so often associated with the work.

In theory, external wall insulation is quite simple. Construction workers will fit solid insulation boards to the outside of the home before coating it with mesh. The boards will then be rendered over and finished off with a render of the homeowner’s choice. That’s the simplified version of the process, however this work will generally take place over 5-7 working days as it involves expert construction skills if it is to be done properly. It is not as simple a process as cavity wall insulation, which is simply the unfortunate by-product of solid walls being much more difficult to insulate.

When compared to the likes of cavity wall and loft insulation, external wall insulation is also not cheap. As mentioned, it is a full construction project and is priced as such. Thus the return on investment is not as immediate as other forms of insulation, which has the effect of putting people off from the solution before they have even taken time to recognise the benefits.

There are benefits aplenty as well. In the long run, like any insulation solution, external wall insulation stands to save the homeowner a ton of money on their energy bills. Those living in the property will see an immediate improvement in heat retention, meaning that less fuel will be required to generate the same heat levels that the homeowner is used to. This then continues to have the added benefit of reducing the emissions generated by the property in addition to reducing wear and tear on the home heating system as it will not need to be used as heavily or as often.

Furthermore, many of the properties that would be able to make use of an external wall system will, at least in the UK, generally be quite old. This means that many of them will have been subject to the passage of time and may not have the most attractive brickwork in the world. External wall insulation solves this for the simple reason that, as mentioned, homeowners will be able to select a render to go over the top of the insulation boards, modernising their home in the process.

If this isn’t an attractive enough prospect, the work will also go some way to increasing the value of the property. Not only will the home be more energy efficient, thus making it a more attractive prospect for potential buyers, but it will also have an eye-catching new render to further bump the overall value of the home up.

To round the benefits off, the solution can also work to prevent penetrating damp that had previously seeped in through the walls of the home, making the property a much more comfortable and safe place to live. Couple that with the long-lasting nature of the insulation in addition to the fact that it will require very little, if any, maintenance and you have a whole slew of reasons that make the investment much more worthwhile.

There is no way around the fact that having external wall insulation installed can be a costly procedure. However, the benefits associated with the technology far outweigh the initial outlay in the long term and the energy-conscious amongst us can also be happy with the knowledge that the solution provides yet another means of reducing carbon emissions. After all, every little bit helps when it comes to the environment.

For more information about insulation solutions, in addition to a range of heating and renewable technologies, head to http://www.dgi.org.uk