Insulation
Insulation helps cut your energy bills by keeping more heat inside your home. It can be highly cost-effective, as well as cut your carbon emissions and create a warmer environment to live in.
Some types of insulation can be installed yourself, and there are Government schemes and green finance options that can contribute to the costs.
To find out more about which energy efficiency measures might be suitable for your home, take our Home Energy Assessment.
Make your home warmer, greener, and more energy efficient.
What is insulation
Insulation prevents heat escaping by installing specific insulation materials in different parts of your home. Cavity wall and loft insulation can be cost-effective ways to save money on bills and typically last around 40 years.
Cavity wall insulation is installed in the space between the inner and outer walls of a property and can typically be fitted in homes built after the 1920s. You could save around £140 per year, a total of £5,880 over the lifetime of the product, with installation costs of around £1,000-£3,000.*
Roof and loft insulation is installed in your loft, attic or roof space. Depending on the circumstances, it can often be possible to install loft insulation yourself. Adding the recommended 270 – 300mm thickness could save you around £40 a year, a total of £1,680 over its lifetime, with installation costs of around £400 to £1,200.*
The benefits
The benefits of insulation include:
- cutting your energy bills by reducing the amount of energy needed to heat your home
- lasting over 40 years meaning you’ll feel the benefits over a long period
- reducing your carbon emissions by over 600kg per year according to Energy Saving Trust
- working well with carbon heating systems like heat pumps
- boosting your home’s EPC rating which can make your home more desirable and potentially add value to it
- creating a warmer home with less heat lost and draughts, meaning your property gets warmer quicker and stays at a more constant temperature
Financial help
You may be able to get financial support for insulation through government schemes. You can check eligibility through your energy supplier, local authority, or social housing provider. Alternatively, it may be possible to access green finance if you speak to your bank.
Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) requires energy suppliers to offer energy efficiency and heating improvements, including insulation, to eligible low-income and vulnerable households across England, Wales and Scotland. You can visit Ofgem’s website to find out more about the scheme, and can contact your energy supplier directly to check if you’re eligible. Some suppliers also have their own referral portals on their websites.
Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) also requires suppliers to install household energy efficiency measures. You could be eligible if your home has an Energy Performance Certificate of D to G and is in Council Tax bands A-D in England or A-E in Scotland or Wales. Visit GOV.UK for more information.
Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (formerly the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund) will provide funding for social housing landlords in England to support the installation of energy efficiency measures, including insulation. Wave 3 of the scheme is expected to be delivered from Spring 2025 – tenants can contact their social housing provider or visit GOV.UK for more information.
Warm Homes: Local Grant will fund eligible local authorities to deliver energy performance upgrades for low-income households living in privately owned homes in England. This scheme is expected to be delivered from Spring 2025. Visit GOV.UK for more information.
Find out more about other support available in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Is insulation right for me
Cavity wall insulation
If your home was built between the 1920s and 1980s it may have been built with uninsulated cavity walls.
To insulate cavity walls, the installer drills small holes at regular intervals in an outside wall and then blows insulation into the cavity. For an average house, this can be done in a day. If you live in a flat, cavity wall insulation may be possible but depends on specific circumstances. In most cases you will likely need to get agreement from the other residents in your block before getting installation installed.
For more information on wall insulation, visit Energy Saving Trust.
Roof and Loft insulation
To insulate lofts, insulation is laid on and in between the joists on the loft floor. In many cases, it may be possible to install loft insulation yourself, particularly if your loft is easy to access and you don’t have damp or condensation problems.
When installing loft insulation, it is important to ensure that adequate ventilation is maintained to allow air in and out of your home.
For more information and advice on roof and loft insulation, visit Energy Saving Trust.
Find an installer
If you are installing cavity wall insulation, it should be carried out by a registered professional installer.
It may be possible to install loft insulation yourself. However, you should speak to an installer if your loft has damp problems, is difficult to access, requires a more complex insulation system, or if you plan to use it as a living space. A professional installer should be used for flat roof insulation.
*The figures above are based on installation in a typical property type – a gas-heated semi-detached housein EPC band D. These estimated figures are calculated using Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) methodology, with adjustments to account for real-world heating demand. The costs and savings you experience will be affected by a range of factors including: how much you heat your home, your home’s current EPC rating, the details of the installations, and energy prices. The savings displayed are based on the January 2025 price cap. As energy prices change, so will the estimates of savings.