Whether you put your tinsel and baubles away on Boxing Day or keep them up until January 6, you need to be careful when storing these items in the loft as it can leave you out of pocket
Heating experts have issued a warning to consumers about a common mistake when putting away festive decorations.
Putting away boxes of tinsel, fairy lights and baubles on top of loft insulation squashes it, dramatically cutting the amount of heat consumers keep in their home. Over time, this could cost Britons thousands of pounds.
Dave Raval of The National Warm Homes Council said: “It’s estimated that the average detached home will pay up to £380 a year more in heating bills because their loft insulation has been crushed by boxes – over the years this will quickly become thousands of pounds wasted.
“Properly insulating your loft, with around 300mm of insulation, will save every household hundreds of pounds in their heating bills every year. But crushing it with boxes and boards halves its effectiveness, as it works by being fluffy and trapping air. There really is cash flying out of your attic if you get this wrong and real savings to be made if you protect your loft insulation.”
A survey of 2,000 householders for Loftzone, which makes storage systems for lofts, and which is a member of the NWHC, found that 41% of people were piling items including Christmas decorations on top of the insulation and almost half of those had no idea that crushing the fluffy material destroys its heat retaining powers.
The government says that loft insulation must be 270mm thick – squashing it reduces the air it traps and so the thermal resistance is cut by up to 60%.
The Government estimates that eight million homes in the UK have less than half of the loft insulation required. Moreover millions more used to have enough, but it has been ruined by squashing it with boxes or boards, and possessions such as Christmas decorations.
Now the National Warm Homes Council, a group of British businesses who provide energy-saving technologies, is campaigning for a change in building regulations to make property developers add protective boards above the insulation.
They are also calling on the government to protect loft insulation during the huge, planned project to refurbish housing across the country, and also the removal of VAT on energy-saving products connected to loft insulation protection.
Mr Raval said: “This is such a quick and easy way for everyone to reduce the demand for energy, so we want to see the government make it a ‘must’ for new homes when they change building regulations. There are plans to build 1.5 million new homes in the UK by 2029 and by protecting loft insulation could make a massive difference to consumers and the planet.
“During the election The Labour Party committed to investing an extra £6.6 billion over the next parliament to improve energy efficiency by upgrading five million existing to cut bills for families. The Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in energy efficiency, and loft insulation protection must should be at the heart of that plan.”
