Loft Insulation

Insulating a Loft is an important part of a Loft Conversion. Afterall, you would like to have a comfortable, safe and warm space which is cost effective in terms of heating. In the Summer your loft conversion will need adequate ventilation to keep it cool and also enough insulation to keep out the unwanted heat from rooms below. Whilst in the winter your loft will need to be well insulated to keep the warmth in and the cold out. When insulating a loft there are 3 main areas which need to be insulated to prevent heat loss, these are the walls, floor and roof. Loft insulation materials are designed for these areas and prevent the loss of heat through them.

Floor Insulation

It is a normal requirement to lay insulation between the floor joists, of which the most common material used is Glass Fibre, 250 mm should meet the building regulations for thermal, sound, fire and high temperature insulation. There are a number of manufacturers which can be consulted over the requirements for your loft conversion, some of the leading names are Knauf Insulation , Rockwool and Kingspan Insulation.

Ceiling/Rafter Insulation

Alot of the heat loss from a loft will be through the ceiling and walls, so it is extremely important to insulate these well. The typical method for reducing heat here is to use a Roof Insulation Board. Kingspan Insulation  manufacture Kooltherm K7 Pitched Roof Board which is ideal for this purpose and they also manufacture a number of solutions for flat roof conversions as well. Knauf Insulation produce the Polyfoam Pitched Roofboard and Polyfoam Flat Roofboard which are high performance boards for this purpose

Wall insulation

To avoid the loss of heat through walls or party walls then the use of insulating boards is the normal method adopted. Kingspan Insulation manufacture a range of insulation boards including Kooltherm K8 Cavity Board designed for partial fill cavity wall construction and Kooltherm K12 Framing Board for insulating Dwarf walls and partition walls between the studs. Knauf Insulation manufacture the Polyfoam Cavityboard which is a high performance, 100% ozone friendly, extruded polystyrene, rigid board insulation. It is lightweight, yet has excellent rigidity and long term effectiveness, even when exposed to moisture. Polyfoam Cavityboard is also used for the insulation of partial fill cavity walls.

Further details and some useful information about requirements and regulations for Loft Conversion Insulation can be found in these articles, although they are meant for people living in the areas associated with that council.

Further details of the Kingspan Insulation products can be found on the Kingspan Insulation Ltd page of this website.