Cavity Wall Insulation

Revealed – The Benefits Of Cavity Wall Insulation

Cavity wall insulation is becoming more and more popular these days. Builders of contemporary homes take advantage of the many natural phenomenons’ to make them comfortable. They make plans to erect walls that can absorb maximum heat from the sun, and minimum humidity from precipitation. By studying the construction of thermos bottles or flasks, they had found that the empty space or cavity between two layers of glasses keeps its contents warm or cold for hours. When the same principle was applied to homes, they observed that those who live within can be kept warm in winter and comfortable in the summer.

And so, they started constructing homes with two sets of external walls, keeping a vacant space or cavity between the walls. However, it soon struck them that filling the cavity with suitable insulating materials will act as a better barrier to heat loss. And this gave birth to cavity wall insulated homes. Although this entails additional cost, it nevertheless compensates with lower monthly utility bills.

Cavity Wall Insulation Materials

This includes mineral wool, PVC granules, polystyrene beads, fire-proof materials and foam that are appropriately accredited as building materials and guaranteed by the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency (CIGA). While most of the insulating material is inserted between the walls by breaking open a part of it, foam is injected into the cavity by drilling a hole into the external wall. But while doing this, the R-Value of the material or its ability to resist the heat flow must be measured. Sometimes CIGA approved agents supervises the entire operation.

Benefits Of Cavity Wall Insulation

Here are some of the principal benefits…

1. Allows comfortable living. While a conventional wall gives a chilly feeling in extreme cold weather or gets heated up at the height of summer (especially in the sunny states), the cavity insulated wall remains neutral all through the year. Naturally, you can set the thermostat at the desired level – you will find that the home will remain close to that level. This can be achieved because nothing is lost due to conductional leakage.
2. Provides relief from moisture problems that gives rise to mold, mildew, rot and others. Humidity, rainwater infiltration and condensation are similarly eliminated from such a home. In fact, a rainwater soaked exterior wall will never affect the interior wall since it is well protected by the insulated material.
3. Other benefits include relief from sound pollution. Insulated double walls keeps all kinds of neighborhood noises at bay. Pipelines passing through the walls are also protected from freezing or bursting during the long cold winter months. Some degree of fire protection is also available in the cavity wall insulated homes where fire preventive insulation material is knowingly used.
4. There are government grants that can help you save money when you are willing to save energy by cavity wall insulating. The requirements for this however are quite rigid, and so you will have to follow them to get approved for the grant.

Are you looking at an older home and do you want to turn it into a cavity wall insulated home? You must first ensure that the building has two sets of walls – an exterior and an interior. While filling the cavity with insulation material is not very costly, building another set of walls certainly is. Besides, in most cases it becomes impractical too. Also, timber structured homes are not suitable for cavity wall insulation.