Home insulation guide

Insulation in walls can make a huge difference to the comfort of your home. Find out how to improve your wall insulation.

Is your house not keeping out the neighbour's noisy parties? Perhaps you're intending on setting up a home theatre? Find out more about how to improve the soundproofing in your home with better insulation.

What sort of insulation can you install yourself - and when might you need to hire a professional do the job properly? Find out more about what's required to install different sorts of acoustic insulation.

Ever wondered about what insulation actually does - or what it's made of or how it works? Find out everything you need to know with our introduction to insulation.

Different types of insulation work in different ways to help control the way heat and sound travel through your home.

Different sorts of insulation vary in terms of how effective they are at controlling heat and sound, how they can be installed and how much they cost. Find out what's right for your home.

Effective insulation plays a starring role in how well a house is able to separate the climate inside from that outside - and is therefore a critical part of passive house design and climate control.

There's a bit of an art to properly soundproofing a house. Mostly it comes down to knowing how sound travels through different materials, and which parts of your home are the weakest spots.

There are all kinds of options when it comes to thermal insulation. Find out what sorts of insulation are available, and what's likely to suit your house.

Find out what sort of insulation is required in different parts of your home, and why. Learn more about roof, wall, under-floor, door and window insulation.

Once the plumbing and wiring have been roughed in, it’s time to put in insulation and internal linings (normally plasterboard) on the internal walls and ceilings of your home. This can all happen either before the lockup stage (i.e. when your home can effectively be 'locked up') or afterwards, depending on what’s been agreed upon in your contract.

• Reduces heat transfer very effectively
• Excellent acoustic insulation
• Costs much more than single glazing

• Improves solar and thermal control
• Reduces UV transmission
• Relatively expensive
• Can reduce solar heat gain in winter

Artificially cooling an area depends heavily on how well you can keep heat out of it. Good insulation is vital to ensuring that your house remains cool.

Insulation can make a big difference to how long your bathtub is able to retain its heat, and as a result, might also significantly affect your gas or electricity bills.

Asbestos, which was used for many years as an insulation material, can pose a serious risk to anyone renovating a home. Find out more about what to do if you suspect you have asbestos insulation in your home.

Walls can play a big part in how energy efficient a house is - particularly in terms of how much heat they absorb and release.

Keeping heat and sound in (or out) are two of the biggest jobs a wall is expected to fulfil. Find out how this is achieved.

Walls can absorb a tremendous amount of heat. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on where you live.

A properly insulated floor can help lower your heating and cooling bills, and reduce unwanted noise from wooden floorboards.