Cavity wall insulation question

[mcslemon]

Hi,

I purchased a new house last year which was built in 2007 and have a few questions about the insulation.

Between the brick and block there is a thin layer of uFoil for insulation and nothing else. I've heard that changes to building reg's have replaced this with foam insulation as this is a more effective way of insulating the wall.

Can anyone tell me when these changes came into effect, and if in fact foam is better than uFoil?

I'm asking this because my lounge in particular is very cold compared to the rest of the house and I'm concerned that the insulation is lacking in some way.


Thanks for any help you can give.

Neil.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

On paper and in theory this meets the required thermal resistance required by the standards as required of it in 2007 when combined with appropriate masonry. Roughly speaking and without getting into the what are now fairly complex issues of achieving the thermal requirements of the building regulations, now and in 2007, the wall construction must achieve a certain minimum heat loss standard (U value) in order to achieve compliance. This can be achieved with an array of different construction methods utilising different materials and different types of insulation including foil insulation or rigid foam insulation.
http://www.euroform.co.uk/ufoil_walls_traditional.shtml It may look pretty flimsy but apparently the calculations and tests prove it works.

To sum up there's nothing wrong (on paper) with its use.

Having said all that, if I was building my own house or drawing up a building regs package I'd avoid it and stick to rigid foam.

 

[mcslemon]

Cool thanks for the info.

I guess at the end of the day I might be able to have extra insulation added at a later date, injected into the cavity next to the foil?

Neil.