"External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) being added to a house in Blackrock, Co Dublin."
This case study is one of a series produced by www.wallinsulation.ie to illustrate different aspect of external Wall Insulation projects.
This is a traditional Dublin terraced house, which fronts directly on the street and is bounded by a narrow alleyway to the side. The front and side elevations have a lovely brick facade. It is technically possible to deploy insulated brick systems to externally insulate brick facades. So it is not a problem to reproduce the look of the original brick. The problem is moving the facade 11 mm or 4 inches forward on to the public footpath. After discussions with the client and the client’s architect we decided that external insulation would encroach to an unacceptable level on the narrow footpaths. This left quite a small area behind the house that was suitable for normal external insulation.
Some contractors might whinge and complain that they “lost” in this discussion. We don’t. We believe that it is far better to have a happy customer who will tell all their friends about us, that make a few quid and do a bad job. So we were very happy to advise the client to limit our scope of work.
The great thing about small areas is that they cost small amounts! Some clients wonder if there is any point in only insulating half the house. Our answer is yes, it is always worth while trying to reduce waste. With just the rear wall and a small kitchen extension to insulate we were in and out very quickly.
From a householders point of view getting half a house insulated eliminates half of the heat loss. The kitchen 
and rear rooms are now nice and warm. Suppose you were walking on a cold day without gloves and someone offered you a single glove. You would take the single glove and at least one hand would be warm. It is the samewith this house. The partial solution makes the house a lot better than it was before.
Several times we have been asked to insulate just the gable wall of a house. Some householders see big gable walls as a major source of heat loss. Indeed they are correct for a semi-detached home in Dublin the gable wall can often amount to 50% of the total wall area. Since heat loss is proportional to surface area, 50% of the wall is 50% of the heat loss.
On the other hand SEAI grants come with conditions. One of the SEAI Home Energy Saving Scheme conditions is that all of the house be insulated. This means that only insulating one wall leads to no grants. As much as we all like getting money back from the government we should not redesign our homes just to maximise the level of grant funding. Following this reasoning we don't always advise clients to go for a grant supported measure.
These are matters which we discuss with our customers face to face, to decide on an optimal strategy to insulate your home. We understand the various technologies and grants available, but you are the expert on how you live in your home. We never tell customers what to do, we advise and guide so you get the very best insulation solution for your budget.
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If you would like to learn more about External Wall Insulation please contact us now to learn how your home can benefit..