Cavity Insulation vs Continuous Insulation

When considering the insulation you wish to apply to the walls inside your home you will need to consider either using cavity insulation or continuous insulation. To decide which one works the best you will need to carefully compare the different types of insulation used.

If your homes insulation is outdated or isn't up to scratch, you could be wasting a lot of money in heating costs. As winter fuel costs get more expensive every year, the cost savings from your investment will increase without fail.

Purpose of Insulation

Insulation is a very important building material which should be applied to all houses. The whole point of insulation is to minimize the amount of heat which escapes your building. This has become increasingly important during recent years because of the ever increasing heating costs which are making it more difficult for many homeowners to stay within their budgets.

There are also some types of insulation which are designed to prevent sound from escaping a room. This type of insulation is normally used in recording studios although they might also be used in some homes.

Upgrading Insulation

Most modern homes are already properly insulated while older homes might have inferior insulation which will need to be upgraded in order to prevent too much energy from being wasted. Insulation can be upgraded fairly easily although it is a time consuming project.

What is Cavity Insulation

Cavity insulation is probably the most common type of insulation which is installed in modern homes today. Most homes are built using cavity walls. These exterior walls are made out of two layers of bricks which can then be filled with an insulating material to prevent heat loss.

The cavity insulation is installed between the wall studs which means that there are gaps in the insulation. Although these gaps are filled with wood or metal, they do not have the same thermal properties as insulation. It has long been argued that cavity wall insulation is inefficient and that there could be a much more efficient solution to the problem.

There are however some advantages to using cavity insulation. Firstly, you won't lose any space inside your room because the cavity is the only thing that's filled by the insulation. You will also have a much greater choice of insulation materials. Loose fill, fiberglass and rigid foam insulation are suitable for use in cavity insulating projects.

Continuous Insulation

Continuous insulation is normally made possible using rigid foam insulating materials. These materials can be fixed to either the inside or outside of the exterior walls which has the advantage of being a continuous sheet of insulation rather than needing to have breaks for studs or other wall fittings.

Continuous insulation is also much easier to install than cavity insulation because you don't need to worry about cutting the insulation to fit in between the walls. Instead the material can be cut so that it fits tightly together and is then fixed directly to the wall. The wall can then be finished using the technique of your choice and nobody will know that your wall has been insulated.