A recent study has shown that the vast majority of UK homeowners are not benefitting from the energy savings from loft insulation that they have been led to believe they would.
On the eve of Ecobuild, one of the world's largest sustainability exhibitions, new research completed by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has revealed that loft insulation in most homes is typically providing only 50 per cent of the insulation levels advertised.
With Green Deal just launched, homeowners will not be reassured to learn that this under-performance is not just a few isolated incidents, but the vast majority of applications.
The NPL research shows that squashing loft insulation halves its performance. Further research, sponsored by the Carbon Trust, showed that 82 per cent of households use their loft for storage, compressing insulation either by boarding the loft or simply putting belongings on top of the insulation.
"This is not a recent problem, it has been around since lofts started to be insulated"Â said Dave Raval, chief executive of LoftZone, a company that manufactures loft insulation solutions.
"We all know that people use their lofts for storage. But compressing insulation halves its performance and what's worrying is that so few households realise this. If you live in a house, and are worried by your fuel bills, don't use your loft for storage unless you have protected the insulation first."Â
This is a double blow to household bill payers. According to the Energy Saving Trust, a quarter of a home's heat (and hence the heating bill) goes out through an un-insulated roof, therefore squashing loft insulation has a significant impact on peoples' energy bills.
Also, over the past few years, the Government has forced energy companies to charge a premium on energy bills to subsidise insulation in homes. Since 2008, homeowners have paid £5 billion as a result. Yet poor guidance to homeowners means that most loft insulation is not working properly.
Dave Raval continued: "Engineers from NPL pointed out that: 'There are rigorous requirements for manufacturers of insulation to quote performance values based on accredited measurements', but these further measurements have shown that achieving this in practice requires correct installation and use.
"This is an opportunity for energy companies to provide better information to their customers on how to protect their loft insulation, and for Government to ensure that future insulation installations are protected so that consumers don't end up paying more than they need to heat their homes, and that further subsidies aren't wasted."
