If you are finding that your house heats up quickly in summer and gets cold during winter, it’s possible your ceiling insulation is either non-existent, or isn’t up to modern home standards.

Installing effective ceiling insulation is generally considered to offer the simplest and greatest improvement to energy efficiency in houses.

In fact, correct insulation can save up to 20% on your heating and cooling costs (Sustainability Victoria).

The Energy Efficiency Centre (also known as Southern Insulation), has been installing insulation into Adelaide homes for over 50 years and are specialists in helping owners of existing homes improve their ceiling insulation to achieve far greater living space comfort, improved performance of air conditioning and significantly reduced energy bills.

Whether your home has a pitched roof or flat roof, we have the experience, resources and longevity in business to get the job done with a great attention to detail and a minimum of fuss.

LEARN MORE: Download a Bradford Ceiling brochure here

The key elements to effective ceiling insulation are to ensure that the insulation has a uniform coverage, has sufficient thickness and with as little or no gaps in the insulation coverage as possible.

Unfortunately, over time ceiling insulation in existing homes can lose is effectiveness when compared with newly constructed homes for the following reasons:

1. Gaps in insulation can be caused by tradespeople or homeowners moving batts and not replacing them. Over the years this can result in very poor coverage and hence poor efficacy of the insulation.
2. Compression of insulation can occur over time, particularly blown in forms of insulation.
3. Insulation requirements in the past have not demanded the great levels of insulation that newly built homes enjoy today. For example, insulation in older homes is typically 50 – 60 mm thick, whereas new insulation can be as much as 240 mm thick!  This difference could be likened to going to bed at night with just a light sheet to keep you warm, compared with two or more thick duvets.

None of the problems above should be considered major as they are relatively easy to fix.

Where gaps are caused by people lifting batts and not putting them back, it’s a very simple fix for a home owner or professional installer to simply put them back, ensuring there is an even connection between the batt and the ceiling.

Where compression of older batts has occurred or where the existing batts are simply too thin compared with modern batts, it is often possible to salvage the existing insulation and simply overlay new batts to bring the total level of insulation up to modern standards.

This is often referred to as a top up.

This is only possible where the existing batts are neat and of a uniform thickness (such as older rock wool batts installed in the 60s and 70s) which ensures that the new batts can be placed with an even connection between the new and old batts and the ceiling timbers (joists).

The general approach to blown in forms of insulation is to use a trailer mounted vacuum to remove the existing insulation, which leaves the roof space clean and ready for fresh insulation.

A clean roof spaces ensure that there is a very tight fit for the new batts against the ceiling and hence a great quality install.

As mentioned above, where blow in forms of insulation are present, it is not possible to overlay new batt types of insulation.

It is also possible that the fire retardation properties of the blow in insulation may degrade over time, leaving home owners with a troubling feeling of insecurity about their roof space.

Using a trailer mounted vacuum, we will suck out all the insulation to provide a clean roof space ready for new batts.

We will always remove roof sheets or tiles to make sure that we prevent dust and debris entering the living space.  In fact, often the work can be done without anyone being home.

Call in to our showroom, drop us a line or enter you details to get a free appraisal.

Leaf litter and debris can be cause for concern in a couple of ways, including increased fire risk and, where is it extensive, reduced performance of insulation due to dust penetration.

Unfortunately leaves and debris also make it impossible to install new installation as a “top up” to old insulation as the new batts would sit unevenly against the existing batts, which means and lack and ineffective installation.

Similar to blow in insulation, generally the best way to remove leaf little and debris is using a combination of manpower, a trailer mount or large domestic vacuum, dust pans and bags.

The Energy efficiency Centre is highly experienced in solving this issue and can provide all the necessary removal services.

It is quite common for insulation to be poorly installed.

This could be the result of other trades disturbing well laid batts or just a lazy job by the original installer.

Luckily, this issue is not a hard problem to solve.

Either yourself as the property owner or a professional installer can easily pop into the roof cavity and relay and tidy up the existing insulation.

Remember, insulation is only as good as how it is installed.

Even small gaps between batts can greatly reduce the effectiveness of the insulation.

The Energy Efficiency Centre has trained, professional installers that are more than happy to tidy your existing insulation so that it is working properly.

We often come across rear extension to homes (i.e. lean to’s) that were constructed prior to the 1990s.  It is very common in these cases for home owners to complain that these parts of their house get really hot in summer and really cold in winter.

This is normally because there has been no insulation fitted in the ceiling cavity.

We can generally lift the roof sheets or tiles and fit insulation to the empty or partially empty cavity.

At times this is not possible on iron roofs where no roofing screws are visible.

We also often see homes that have raked ceilings (i.e. the ceiling is parallel to the roof as opposed to conventional flat ceiling) that again do not have insulation fitted between the ceiling and roof lining.

In most cases there is room between the roof tiles or iron and the ceiling to fit batts and we can do this by lifting the tiles or iron and carefully fitting batts.

There are some cases where there simply isn’t room to install batts due to presence of exposed ceiling beams (rafters).  In these cases the ceiling is fitted directly beneath the roof tiles / iron, which leaves no space for fitting insulation.

The most common and financially viable option to fitting insulation in this case is to fit a second ceiling at the bottom of the rafters which usually creates enough of a cavity to fill with insulation.

Most people would be familiar with having cold feet in winter after walking around without slippers on.

You may have also experienced draughts coming up through your floorboard if you live in an older home.

It is very common for older timber floor homes to have no underfloor insulation and retrofitting underfloor insulation can be a brilliant solution to cold feet and broader heat loss and gain problems in general.

Underfloor insulation can be retrofitted where there is sufficient crawl space beneath the house to allow access to the underside of the floorboards.

For example, imagine you are laying on your back, pushing an insulation batt up to sit directly beneath the floor of your home.

Could you get in there to do it?

Could you pass the bags of insulation through to a workmate?

If you believe there is access, then underfloor insulation can definitely be retrofitted.

We have successfully fitted underfloor insulation to dozens of homes, particularly in the hills and regional areas where access to the underfloor is available either due to ground slope or homes being built on stilts.

LEARN MORE: Download a Bradford Optimo Underfloor brochure here

During the construction phase of your home, wall wrap can make the building process more efficient by allowing some internal trades to commence work before completion of the external cladding or if bad weather interrupts the build.

This is called a ‘reverse build’ process and allows the internal rough-in of electrical and plumbing, wall batt installation, Gyprock linings and some internal trims to continue while the external bricks or cladding is being applied

As wall wrap is a pliable building membrane certified in accordance with AS/NZS4200.1, it is typically a water barrier which offers excellent weather protection and allows trades to continue inside even if work cannot continue outside.

When the weather presents a problem, employing this solution can save 2 to 4 weeks from a typical build cycle. Not only is the construction time generally quicker, the finished home also benefits from the additional protection and thermal performance of wall wrap.

Similar to roof blanket, building wraps can be an excellent way to insulate your shed, or ‘man cave’. The wraps can be used ether in new builds or for retrofitting existing sheds.

Building wraps also improve the overall ‘R’ rating of a building. This is important when it comes to energy star ratings and overall energy efficiency.

LEARN MORE: Download a Bradford Thermoseal Wall Wrap Brochure here

The Energy Efficiency Centre has been servicing Adelaide residential and commercial customers with their insulation needs for over 50 years. We specialise in the supply and installation of ceiling, wall and underfloor insulation for both new and existing homes and commercial premises.

We have a wide range of thermal and acoustic insulation products to suit both residential and commercial applications including Acoustic Batts, Ceiling Batts, Floor Insulation, Polyester Batts, Wall Batts and Building Wrap. Additional products include Roofing Blanket, Fire Protection and Steel Frame Batts. We offer expert advice to the Trades and Professionals on how to improve energy efficiency across existing and new-build homes and businesses. Ask us about our special Trade and Professional pricing.

Bradford offers a Lifetime Warranty Certificate with every job and is the only manufacturer to offer a Fire Safe Warranty. The National Asthma Council only endorses Bradford Insulation products as they will not rot, pack down, support mould or deteriorate.

Without insulation, even the best designed and constructed home will allow heat to pass through external surfaces – as much as 42% of a home’s heat can transfer through the ceiling alone. The result is that in summer, your home will get hotter faster and in winter it will be harder to keep warm. Indeed, according to the Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand, insulation reduces home heating and cooling costs by 30%.

Installing insulation is the most effective way to keep your heating and cooling energy costs down. It works by slowing the transfer of heat to keep your home more comfortable and reduce your heating and cooling energy use.

Adelaide’s own EEC makes insulating your home easy and affordable and is a one stop shop for all your insulation needs. We can quote, supply and fit.