Loft insulation

Uninsulated loft space or attic

An uninsulated loft allows a huge amount of heat from your home to be lost, unnecessarily increasing your fuel bills.

Even if you already have some insulation, check to see that it is adequate. The current thickness recommendation for mineral wool is 270mm. For other materials, the thickness may be different.

To insulate the area is a relatively cheap and easy job to do.

Measuring for insulation

Measure the overall area of your loft in square metres.

Clear the area to make the work as easy as possible. You will need a couple of boards to lay across the joists giving you a platform on which to work.

Remember the ‘floor’ is actually the ceiling of the room below and will not support any weight.

Your boards should be large enough to span the joists but be careful not to allow them to overhang and tip when stood on.

Equip yourself with a suitable mask as the insulating material will emit a large amount of dust while being installed.

You should also wear protective clothing and gloves, particularly when handling glass fibre insulating material as this may irritate the skin.

Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes.

Lighting in the loft or attic

If you have no lighting in the loft, you will need an inspection lamp hung from the rafters and connected to a power supply socket on the floor below. Alternatively, you could consider installing a permanent fixed light with a switch near the access hatch - refer to the lighting section.

• Loft insulation - blanket or wool
• Loft insulation - loose granules
• Loft insulation - tanks and pipes
• Frozen pipe thawing