Cavity Wall Insulation Grant Scotland
Check if you are eligible for free cavity wall insulation Scotland
Enter a few details and we can check your eligibility for 100% free cavity wall insulation grant in Scotland. Stopping heat loss through your walls can reduce energy bills by up to 35%
Grants for free cavity wall insulation in Scotland
Eligible households can still claim 100% grants for free cavity wall insulation in Scotland.
Scottish households deemed to live in fuel poverty can now get a government grant for cavity wall insulation and loft insulation through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) grant scheme.
The grant scheme is designed to reduce carbon emissions and help vulnerable households in Scotland cope with the current energy crisis, and reduce the cost of heating their homes.
Insulating your home properly with cavity wall insulation and roof insulation is still recognised as the easiest way to lower your heating bills quickly. Insulation acts as a thermal blanket on your property and prevents heat escaping from your home.
For many people in the private sector (homeowners, private tenants, and landlords), cavity wall insulation and solid wall insulation are currently free. That means the grant covers the complete cost of insulating your home. You don’t have to pay any money back. Additionally, the ECO4 scheme also provides 100% grants for renewable energy products including solar panels and air source heat pumps.
If you reside in a council home, each Scottish regional council has its own policies to increase the housing stock’s energy efficiency.
What is cavity wall insulation?
Cavity wall insulation involves placing insulating material between the inner and outer layers of bricks in your walls. Modern insulation is waterproof and breathable.
As a result, less heat is transferred from your house to the outside. More than a third of the heat you generate with your boiler or heating system escapes through your exterior walls. Therefore installing cavity wall insulation can therefore result in significant energy savings.
Is cavity wall insulation suitable for my house?
Most houses in Scotland built before the 1920s have solid brick or stone walls. This type of property has to be insulated internally or externally.
If your house was built after this period, there’s a considerable likelihood that your house has a gap between the bricks of the exterior walls.
There aren’t many Scottish properties after this era that have solid walls. Our surveyors can verify this by making a small hole in your wall and using specialised equipment called a borescope to check inside.
Cavity wall insulation is typically an option for your home if:
- Your exterior walls are hollow walls with no filling.
- the brickwork is in good shape and the structure was constructed after the 1920s
- the cavity is at least 50 mm wide.
Cavity wall insulation helps reduce your energy bills because it keeps the heat in. Therefore you can turn down your central heating or run it for shorter periods of time. This lowers your heating expenses while lowering the amount of harmful emissions that are emitted into the atmosphere.
Additionally, the thermal barrier that cavity wall insulation provides, helps keep your home cooler in the summer months.
How can I tell if my home has cavity walls?
If your house was constructed before the 1920’s it will be built with solid stone or solid brick. This is the period when cavity walls construction methods were introduced. There are several ways to tell if your property has cavity walls. The most obvious indicator is the type of brick patterns on your walls.
The image below shows the type of brick patterns asssociated with both cavity and solid walls. If a wall is built with a cavity gap the bricks will all run the same way. In a wall of solid construction the bricks will be criss crossed. This indicates that there is no gap wetween the inner and outer leaf of bricks.
Cavity & Solid Wall Brick Patterns
Why should I insulate my home?
Insulation that is effective keeps the heat inside your house, essentially covering your home in a thermal blanket. This makes it possible for you to keep your rooms at a more comfortable and affordable temperature. Your boiler can be fired at a lower temperature or your central heating can be in use for less time throughout the day and night. This can lead to substantial savings
Your loft and roof also let out an additional 25% of the heat you generate with your boiler or heating system. This alone amounts to around 60% heat loss and means you are paying far more to heat your home than you should be.
Cavity Wall insulation
Cavity wall insulation prevents heat from escaping through your walls. Specialist material is placed in the gap between your bricks. This stops heat escaping through your walls and helps lower your heating bills.
The average property in Scotland loses about 35% of its heat through its exterior walls if they are not insulated correctly.
Solid Wall Insulation
If you live in a traditional or older stone built property you may need to insulate the walls with internal insulation. This type of property is constructed without a gap between the inner and outer bricks.
Internal solid wall insulation is an effective method of preventing heat loss. Insulation is placed in a frame on the inside of your wall then plastered.
This can be installed free of charge with an ECO grant, including all new plaster work.
Loft Insulation
Around 25% of the heat you generate with your boiler escapes through your attic or loft. Free loft insulation grants are available under ECO for Scots households on benefits.
Room in Roof Insulation
If your property has rooms built into the roof it can still be insulated with specialist materials. The full cost will be covered with a government grant if you or a member of your household is eligible.
How do I apply for free cavity wall insulation in Scotland?
Getting a free cavity wall insulation grant in Scotland is an easy, no hassle process. In fact, you don’t even have to even apply for a grant. We do all the paperwork for you. We install the wall measure, then claim the money back from the energy companies. You don’t have to do anything.
- Simply provide us with your contact details and some basic information regarding your property and benefit status.
- We will arrange a home visit with an accredited energy assessor. The assessor will gather information about your property and assign an energy rating, similar to an EPC for a home report. This will include an inspection of your walls using a borescope camera.
- The assessor will then look at the energy efficiency of your property and provide a recommendation for wall insulation, if it is required.
- Your free cavity wall insulation will be installed, and we claim the money back from one of the utility companies in the ECO scheme.
How is the insulation installed?
Installing cavity wall insulation is much simpler than you may imagine. It takes about three hours to insulate a typical three-bedroom semi-detached house. The install project consists of several phases:
- House survey
Before the work begins, a qualified surveyor will have come to your house to collect some measurements and photos. This will include a borescope inspection of your cavity walls. They will also sketch out a plan for the installation team. This will provide measurements and access details, indicate where your doors and windows are, and list any potential safety hazards. - Drilling the holes
Holes of around 1-inch-diameter are drilled into the mortar separating your bricks. No brickwork is drilled during this process. - Installing the CWI
The insulation will be blown into your walls at this location. The insulation installer has specialist instruments to ensure that your walls are completely filled, and there are no “cold spots.” - Cleaning up
The holes will be filled with mortar that matches your existing cement, and the work area will be thoroughly cleaned. - Completion
You will be prompted to “sign off” the installation if you are satisfied with it. You will receive a 25 year CIGA guarantee for the work shortly after it is finished.
locating a certified installation of insulation.
What is the Energy Company Obligation?
ECO is a government-led energy efficiency program designed to help reduce energy bills and help meet the country meet net zero targets by cutting the amount of harmful emissions we release into the environment.
The scheme is funded by medium and large utility companies who operate in Scotland. This includes British Gas, EON etc. The government has ruled that these companies have an obligation to help the most vulnerable households reduce energy costs by installing energy efficient measures like insulation, solar panels and air source heat pumps, free of charge.
The recent rise in energy prices means that more and more people are struggling with the cost of gas and electricity and find it difficult to heat their home properly. For some it is a choice between eating and heating. If at any time your household is facing this type of choice you are deemed to live in fuel poverty.
Fuel Poverty in Scotland
In Scotland a household is deemed to be in fuel poverty if they struggle to keep their house warm at a reasonable cost. This is measured as any household needing to pay more than 10% of their net household income (after housing costs have been deducted), to maintain satisfactory heat on a daily basis.
Families who pay more than 20% of their full household income to maintain a satisfactory heating regime are deemed to live in severe fuel poverty. Scottish Government
Check Eligibility
Who qualifies for free cavity wall insulation in Scotland?
ECO grants are available for homeowners, private tenants in Sotland who live in a property with a low energy rating of between E and G and are off the gas grid. Rural properties and properties heated by electric heaters, oil boilers and LPG are often the least energy efficient. This type of property also often has the most room for improvement.
In addition a resident of the household must currently claim one of the following means tested government benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Child Tax Credits
- Working Tax Credits
- Income Support
- Income Based JSA
- Income Related ESA
- Housing Benefit
- Pension Savings Credit
- Pension Guarantee Credit
Check if you are eligible for a free cavity wall insulation grant in Scotland?
Free cavity wall Insulation Grants Scotland
How do cavity Wall Insulation grants work?
Applying for a free cavity wall insulation in Scotland is easy. There is no complicated application or forms. The process is outlined below. Simply provide us with a few details and we do the rest from application to installation and beyond
Step
01
Check grant eligibility
Use our contact form to provide us with a few details about your you and your property. We can then check your EPC rating and look at your construction type and current heating system.
Step
02
Free home survey
If you are eligible one of our accredited surveyors will visit your home and assess your home’s energy performance. They will also check to see which insulation measures are currently installed.
Step
03
Free Wall installation
We install your free cavity wall insulation measure and claim the grant from the energy company. You don’t have to do anything. Just leave it all to us.
Free cavity wall insulation in Scotland – FAQs
Free cavity wall insulation grants are still available for homeowners and private tenants in Scotland who claim an income-based benefit. Properties which are off the gas grid are given priority under the ECO4 grant scheme.