Home insulation: how to stop your bills going through the roof

theguardian.com:

I f you have been working at home this winter in six layers of clothes and a hat, plus an ever-present hot-water bottle, you have almost certainly been wondering how to better insulate your home and make it cheaper to heat. After all, nothing focuses the mind like gas and electricity bills of £2,000-£3,000 a year.

But have you actually tried to find out in detail how to bring down your bills without spending a fortune on a complete rebuild? I have, and I can tell you that it’s surprisingly hard to get independent advice that goes beyond trite calls to upgrade your loft insulation.

While there are plenty of energy measure installers out there, how do you know if they are any good? Is what they are proposing or selling the best option for your house? Will they still be there in five years’ time if there’s a problem?

I decided to have a proper assessment done on our house, and the firm I chose has just come back to me about what options are available – and how much it is likely to cost.

There are a number of government and local schemes aimed at helping to make homes more energy-efficient, thereby bringing down bills, although these are typically restricted to certain groups, such as people on low incomes.

In April, the government will unveil Eco+, a £1bn scheme that it has previously said will result in hundreds of thousands of homes across the country receiving new home insulation, “saving consumers about £310 a year”. It will focus on installing lower-cost measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation. Although the details are still in short supply, the government has said Eco+ is aimed at helping a wider customer base who are now not eligible for support, particularly people in energy-inefficient homes – those with an