Flurry of energy price rises set to fuel demand for insulation

The massive energy price rises announced in recent days are likely to spark an increase in demand for retrofitting energy saving measures, believes innovative insulation firm Actis.

With NPower becoming the third company to hike its prices, householders are faced with heftier outgoings which can be reduced in one of two ways – being colder or ensuring the heat they do generate stays in the building.

Actis UK and Ireland director Matthew King says interest in its ranges – including a new mix and match Hybrid range which has been dual tested to address the DECC recognised performance gap – was on the rise even before prices went up.

And he says the size of the fuel price increase is likely to act as a catalyst to many homeowners who may otherwise have taken it on the chin.

“With around 25 million houses across the UK, many of which are energy inefficient to a greater or lesser degree, the potential for reducing heating bills is vast” he explained.

“With the average dual fuel bill likely to rise by £137 to £1,459 a year it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that ensuring your home is efficiently insulated will be self funding within a matter of time, depending, of course, on the type of construction.

“In fact, insulating your roof with our very thin products means you can still use your loft space.”

While some of those homeowners may be after funding under the Green Deal, Matthew anticipates that the bulk will be paid for by the householders’ own resources.

The new Actis Hybrid range is the first insulation to be dual tested in lab and in real life conditions to address the performance gap recognised by DECC, which can be as great as 35% in roofs and walls. The range consists of a honeycomb structured insulation, Hybris, a vapour control layer with built in thermal performance, H Control Hybrid and an insulating breather membrane, Boost ‘R Hybrid. These can be used individually or in any combination to exceed U-values demanded by current building regulations.

All three products have been fully certified in the UK and Europe by accredited bodies and are suitable for use in newbuild and refurbishment projects.

The range is complemented by a free online simulator enabling builders to estimate the likely U value of the finished project before committing to purchase.

Even by using just the vapour control layer and the breather membrane the U-value in a standard 89mm timber frame wall is shown to be lower than current building regulations dictate. With the addition of the insulation layer, the simulator shows that U-values within standard thickness walls reach 0.16, and are even lower in a thicker wall.