Insulating your house is not rocket science. Or it shouldn’t be. But in the UK it is apparently easier to send a man or woman into space than to fill the nation’s attics with fibreglass or sheep’s wool. The easiest and quickest way to reduce dependence on Russian oil and gas, stop energy bills rising and tackle climate change is to stop wasting energy. So why can’t the UK get its act together on insulation?
The UK has the leakiest homes in western Europe, and homeowners who have tried to plug the gaps generally have tales to tell of complications, delays and significant costs. The UK’s building stock is relatively old – 20 per cent of homes were built before 1919 – and highly reliant on gas for heating. At the same time, buildings account for 42 per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions.
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