Pipe insulation
Lagging your pipes with foam insulation is simple to do for most diyers and is another piece of the jigsaw in making your home as efficient as you can to keep your heating bills to a minimum. It is relatively cheap to do and will cost around £1 per metre to buy. You will probably do all your pipes for less than £40
Benefits of insulating pipe
1. Insulating your hot water pipes reduces heat loss and will raise water temperature ( up to 4 degrees hotter ) than uninsulated pipes can deliver. 2. Allows you to lower your water temperature setting. 3. Protects your pipes from freezing and limits condensation. 4. It helps any exposed hot water pipes retain their heat when running through unheated parts of the house. 5. Prevents condensation on cold water pipes in humid weather.
Important – Pipe work in lofts
Very important that these pipes are lagged. Loft Insulation prevents heat from entering into lofts which does keep your house warmer. However this does make the loft space colder and so all water pipes in the loft are at risk of freezing. Protect these pipes by lagging them.
What is used to insulate?
Pipe sleeves made with polyethylene or neoprene foam are the most commonly used insulation. Polyethylene has a high R-value of 0.030 and is an excellent and cheap choice. Other benefits of this insulation are : · This material is flame retardant · sound-absorbent ( less noise in the pipes) · It’s easy to apply because it is flexible and easy to slide over the pipe. .
What tools are needed?
- bread knife
- hobby knife
- mitre box
- insulating tape
Installation
Cut the insulation tube to length and use a mitre box to cut angles of 30° and 45° at joints.
Pull the tube open along its length and push it over the pipe. Seal any joints with double-sided adhesive tape or insulating tape.
Job Done.
Home Heating Tips – Clingfilm on the windows.
Cheap Fix
A cheap fix for people on a budget is this simple little trick which does actually work for minimal cost. Putting a thin sheet of cling film on your window has the effect of trapping a small layer of air which does help stop valuable heat escaping.
This is more effective on single glazed windows as opposed to double glazed.
Double Glazing Effect
Taking advice from The Energy Saving Trust, ( a government body set up to advise people in energy saving ) they state that you can use any transparent and airtight material to put against windows to achieve the double glazing effect. If your windows are draughty, do seal around them too with silicone for maximum comfort.
Secondary Glazing
This is really only recommended as a short time fix and secondary glazing should be on the menu for the near future.
Please check out our other posts for more tips on Home Insulation And Home Heating Tips.