Relying on junk solution costs £549m

New research from E.ON, one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies, has revealed around a quarter of UK households could be wasting the nation more than £549m annually by giving energy efficient loft insulation the cold shoulder.

This wastage also adds over 4m tonnes of CO2 emissions a year – the equivalent of taking over 28,500 cars off the road.

The study, which coincides with the announcement of E.ON’s sponsorship of Five’s property and lifestyle programming, reveals that up to 600,000 homeowners are unsuccessfully trying to cut corners by lining their lofts with a layer of old clutter, adding up to an estimated £54m worth of wasted energy. 

Of those householders who do have insulation, 4.2m admit that it’s not as efficient as it could be.

The findings also highlight worrying levels of ‘loft-lag lethargy’. Nearly two-thirds (60%) of those with insufficient loft-lagging admit they have avoided insulating their attic properly because they cannot face clearing out years of accumulated junk in order to do the job well. 

And, despite evidence showing that investing in the recommended loft insulation material can lead to a 14% reduction in heating bills, over half (52%) of those without efficient loft insulation say the expense has put them off making the effort, whilst a further 52% blame lack of time. 

A quarter of heat is lost through the roof of an uninsulated home and installing the recommended 270mm of loft insulation material in a roof space can save up to £90 a year in energy bills.  However, only half of respondents say they have implemented this advice.

Phil Biddle, E.ON UK’s energy efficiency anger at E.ON UK, says: “With so many households desperately in need of better insulation we’d advise homeowners to have a proper clear out of their loft.  By selling on unused stuff they could use the proceeds to pay for loft insulation.” 

“It really is a false economy to rely on other methods, whether it’s years-worth of hoarded clutter or patchy levels of old or thinning insulation.  Effective loft insulation can cost as little as £180 and leads to genuine savings both on energy bills and the cost to the environment in terms of CO2 emissions.”

More information: www.eonchallenge.com