Hard to Treat

Insulation is always the first, fundamental step to bringing affordable warmth to a home. There are now Government grants and other funds available to some people for cavity and loft insulation. However, many properties need more tailored specifications, for example where there are solid walls or narrow sub-50mm cavities. NEA works to identify insulation solutions for those properties considered hard-to-treat.

An insulated house keeps warm and costs less to heat. Modern building standards ensure that new buildings have high energy efficiency standards and are not draughty, but there is a lot of work we could do on existing homes to make them warmer and cheaper to live in.

Simple answers exist for some homes:

loft insulation - for houses with a roof space or loft;
cavity wall insulation - for homes built with two layers of brick; and
double glazing - replacing single thickness windows

These are widely available, and do not require planning consent in most cases.

For houses built prior to 1920, blocks of flats and other solid-wall constructed buildings it is technically and practically more difficult to achieve an energy efficient answer.

Distribution of hard-to-treat properties, Defra, BRE, EST, Energy Analysis Focus Report, 2008

We particularly seek solutions to hard-to-treat properties. Hard-to-treat homes are those that are off the main gas network, of solid wall construction or of non-traditional construction. This renders traditional solutions such as cavity wall insulation and high efficiency gas boilers inappropriate. 61.9% of people in fuel poverty live in a hard-to-treat house. EHCS, 2005

The technical team at NEA has an integral role to play. Independent of manufacturers and politically neutral, we are able to carry out our own trials, verify manufacturers’ claims, provide an independent advisory and lobbying voice to Government, and help bring affordable and low carbon heat to people’s homes.