Roof Insulation

What is Roof Insulation?

Roof insulation is insulation material installed between the joists or the rafters of the roof to create barrier within your roof space.

Roof insulation board is designed to create a vertical thermal barrier on the building, hence significantly decreasing the amount of heat that leaves your house in the winter as well as reduce the amount of thermal heat entering your home in the summer.

However, you will need to adopt a different method if you are dealing with a pitched roof or a flat roof, and then choose if you will insulate your roof at rafter level for a warm or cold roof.

Things to Consider Before Insulating Your Roof

You need to consider several aspects before insulating your roof so that you can get the optimal solution for it. Ask yourself these questions.

• Do I need warm or cold roof insulation?
• Is there existing insulation in my roof?
• Do I have a flat or pitched roof?
• Does my house suffer from condensation?
• Where are the water tanks and pipes located?
• Is the roof’s hatch insulated?
• Are there recessed halogen lights in the room before the roof?

If you get answers to these questions, your roof insulation process would be quick and flawless.

Type of Insulation for Your Roof

Here at Insulation Wholesale we offer four main types of roof insulation;

Flat Roof Insulation

This one comes in three different forms: inverted roof, a warm deck roof and a cold deck roof. In warm deck flat insulation, the insulation is fixed over the roof deck immediately after the timbers and joists. In cold deck flat insulation the insulation is placed below the deck and the joists.

Inverted flat roof insulation is not as common as it is only used in cases where the flat roof would be transported. It is preferred in these circumstances because it provides more reliable and stable surface. Typically, the insulation is fixed as a final layer, above weatherproof membrane and the breather. This also protects the weather-resistant membrane.

Pitched Roof Insulation

A pitched roof is a traditional roof with a loft space, accessed through a hatch. Pitched roof is insulated in two ways:

• Warm roof – the insulation is fixed below the roof to trap warm air in the loft space. For warm pitched roof, we recommend insulation such as Kingspan Kooltherm K07. You would also need to fit a breathable membrane such as Kingspan nilvent above the insulation.
• Cold roof – this is quite popular. The insulation is fitted over the ceiling. It is intended to maintain the rooms below warm. However, the loft remains cold, hence the name. In this, we also recommend Kooltherm K07 pitched roof panel.

Roll Loft Insulation

The likes of Quinn Therm QF, Kingspan Thermaroof TR24, TR26, TR 27, and Ecotherm Eco-Versal make up our vast roll loft insulation category. Roll loft insulation makes insulating your home quick and effortless as most loft rolls are pre-perforated so that you directly fit it into the joist centres of 600mm or 400mm.

Rigid Roof Insulation

With various top brands including Recticel and Kingspan, rigid roof insulation boards from Insulation Wholesale are suitable for almost all types of applications. Apart from being used in roof insulation, the rigid boards are also utilised in floors and walls for retrofitting old structures, new build and large scale construction jobs.

Benefits of Roof Insulation

Here are three main benefits of roof insulation:

• Long-term prevention – let’s assume there would be a ‘big freeze’ next winter (this is a common occurrence nowadays in the UK). In this case, your house could be covered with up to 5 inches of snow. This is where the problem starts. If your roof is improperly insulated, heat will escape from the roof and speed up the snow melting on the roof, thus creating ice dams. House dams, condensation, and moisture can have adverse effects on your home. To get the best performance, you need to have rigid roof insulation, not only to your roof but also to all other building parts.
• Energy and cost savings – there is no doubt you will save energy and some bucks if you have proper roof insulation. Roof insulation helps you regulate the amount of heat leaving or entering your home. Generally, a homeowner saves up to £200 per year through roof insulation.
• Environmental sustainability – roof insulation not only benefits you in terms of savings on energy costs, but it also benefits the environment. You actually take an active role in reducing the concentration of pollutants from the environment.

Conclusion

Ready to insulate your roof? Browse our wide range of roof insulation products and choose the right one for your project along with any other roofing material you may need.

For any questions or queries regarding roof insulation, or product recommendations, feel free to call our team of experts on 02033 187 316 and they will be more than happy to help.