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Comment by noja | Hacker News Reader

Anyone who has ever stayed in an English house will know that the majority of them are terribly insulated (walls and floor - windows are often fine) and require lots of heat. Some are even windy when the windows are closed! (I don't know how).

A lot of people won't be able to afford fixing this, even though it will save money long term. This is where the government could step in to promote a greening england energy plan with tax credits. It would provide an economic boost after covid too.

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There was actually a scheme a few years ago to get cavity wall insulation for free. I know because I took advantage of it, although the work was not exactly first class.

Insulating the loft ought to be cheap because it's simple and material is cheap. I DIY'd it.

On the other hand, insulating the floor is a b*tch. I did it myself as well and lifting the floorboards of the whole ground-floor was a massive pain but now I have 10cm of Celotex underneath and enjoy warm wooden floor all year long with no draft.

I keep being tempted by retrofitted cavity wall insulation, but then I read some of the horror stories and it puts me right off. However our house is reasonably well insulated otherwise, and mid terrace do I’m not sure if it would make that much of a radical difference.

I've had cavity wall insulation added to the last two houses I've owned. Made a huge difference to both, especially noticeable was how much longer the house stayed warm when the heating was off. Both were detached which will make a difference in terms of surface area impacted.

Yeah, I know the benefits, just worried about the damp issues. We are on the boarder line of areas where it can start to be an issue, worked out based on amount of rain and wind as I understand it.

Poorly insulated houses are windy with the windows closed because cold air drops. Air close to the windows gets cold (a single pane of glass doesn’t provide much insulation) and the cold air drops to the floor displacing the other air in the room, thereby creating a current. It’s like opening the fridge with bare feet. You can feel the cold air falling on your toes.

And the fact it used to be standard to leave small holes in walls and floors for ventilation. Then when the wind blows outdoors, it also blows indoors.

The Green Homes Grant covers 2/3rds of the cost for improvements up to £10k. Part of the issue is people don't use the schemes and they get scrapped for not hitting targets.

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