Overview

If you have a pitched roof with an attic space, one of the simplest ceiling insulation methods is to lay a quilt of glass fibre. The quilt will be installed in two layers and in two directions, in order to ensure the maximum benefit of the insulation is achieved.

Case Study Example

Anne has a 4 bedroom detached house 150m2 (1615ft2) in size with an annual heating bill of €1,600. Her attic had the usual 100mm of fibreglass insulation so she decided to upgrade to the recommended 300mm following a consultation from A-Rated Energy. Not only did Anne feel an immediate increase in heat of her home, this simple low cost measure now saves her over €250 a year on her home heating bill. Anne availed of €250 grant aid from the Home Energy Savings scheme to help the overall cost of this, which typically costs between €800 to €1,000 in total.

Sizing and Design

Glass Fibre is a cost effective method of insulating your attic area while also meeting the recommended u-value levels (0.13W/m2K). To achieve the recommended u-value of 0.13W/m2K 300mm of glass fibre will be required.

It is important that your attic area is ventilated, poor ventilation leads to condensation forming in the loft and this condensation can rot roof timbers and cause structural damage. If there are no roof windows, then ventilation will come from eaves (point where roof comes down to met floor of loft). This gap should be 25mm wide and contain a mesh which stops birds from getting in.

To anticipate how much insulation is required. It is important to measure the area of the loft floor. At this stage the amount of insulation needed to meet the desired u-value can be calculated. Compression caused by storing belongings in the attic can cause insulating materials to lose some of its insulating properties. It is therefore important to minimise the amount of items stored in the attic which may compress insulating materials. If you do need to use the attic for storage laying a second roll of insulating above the joists is impractical, instead set aside an area over of the house that has a low heating requirement, e.g over bathroom.

Attic Insulation

The proper installation of insulation is very important. Where insulation is installed between joists, it is important that it is cut tight and installed with no gaps. Gaps between insulation causes heat loss, and reduces the effectiveness of insulation. When an attic is insulated, the temperature in the area will drop as heat will remain in the house. It is important that water tanks and pipes in the attic area are insulated to prevent freezing during the cold winter. A permanent walkway in your attic will be installed to ensure that you have easy access to cold water tanks or other appliances

Costs and Payments

A-Rated Energy price all work on a per client basis. Pricing terms and conditions vary on the service provided.

After Sales Service

In recognition of the importance of having a first rate back up service, we have invested heavily so that our customers have access to unrivalled levels of back up service. All products offer extensive manufacturer warranties.