Loads of people are concerned that they will lose too much space by installing internal wall insulation. This video takes you through the process so you can make an informed choice.

If you want to make your home more energy efficient and climate friendly, as well as reducing your energy bills, insulation has to be a first port of call. You have the choice between internal and external.

External wall insulation saves on disruption in the house, but internal wall insulation gives you more flexibility in terms of outlay, effort and timing. You can do one room at a time if you want to. External has to be done in one go.

If you live in a conservation area then internal insulation may be your only option, since you won't have permission to change the appearance of your home.

Does internal wall insulation take up a lot of space? I was very concerned about this before we did it. We installed 100mm and it looks remarkably small in reality. We noticed very little difference and we soon got used to it.

The ideal time to install insulation is when you are already working on your home. You already have the mess and you may well already have gone back to the brick, which is beneficial when adding insulation materials. It will reduce both disruption and cost.

You only need to insulate the external walls since this is where the cold will be coming from. You can also choose to insulate internal walls for cold or sound (especially if you have a drumming grandson like mine!). And if you have noisy or very cold neighbours you can include the adjoining wall.

Insulation works by creating a thick barrier between inside and outside as well as a warm surface in the house. Warm air is drawn to cold surfaces so your heat is quickly lost. Providing a warm wrap around the house ensures the heat stays where you want it.

You can choose to insulate throughout in one go or work one room at a time. If you do the latter just remember to keep a barrier between warm and cold rooms or your heat will travel to even up the heating overall. We did this by putting an automatic door closer on the door to the cold room that was waiting for improvement.

There are two main ways of attaching insulation:

1. build a wooden framework to hold insulation batts (large pieces of insulation) Wood is a natural insulator so works well in this situation. (Include an airtightness membrane to cut out an extraneous draughts - see this video about airtightness [ Ссылка ]) Plaster board is then added and plaster put on top. Lime plaster if you have an old house - see this video for an explanation: [ Ссылка ]

2. Use a skim of thermal plaster to give an even surface (we used Diathonite which is breathable), then glue a rigid insulation to the skim. (If you live in an old house remember to use a breathable glue). Once this is done, plaster can be added.

Do you need to make any changes as a result? Two places that will need attention: If you have a cornice around the ceiling, this will need to be taken off and replaced. It is very difficult to take it off without damage so it may need to be custom made or the whole thing replaced.

The second adaptation is around the windows. The insulation will have made the wall thicker, increasing the size of the window reveal. So the surround and architrave will need to be adapted. This is a simple job for a good carpenter.

We could have done some of our house externally, but we were already working on the home so the cost and effort was less in the long run and the benefits have been huge.

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If you have any questions please let me know.

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