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If you've ever stepped from your bed in the morning still half asleep only to leap back in again as soon as your warm pinkies touch the icy cold floor you'll know how a draughty home feels. Gaps and draughts around skirting boards and floors are simple to fix yourself with a tube of sealant bought from most DIY stores.
Timber floors can be insulated by lifting the floorboards and laying mineral wool insulation supported by netting between the joists.
You can also use a regular tube sealant, such as silicon to fill gaps between floorboards and skirting boards to stop draughts. A note of warning, however - don't block under-floor airbricks in your outside walls. Floorboards will rot without adequate ventilation.
Using a silicone sealant to fill gaps will save you around £20 a year on your heating bills. Insulating underneath the floorboards on the ground floor will save you around £50 a year.
About 380kg of carbon dioxide (CO 2) a year can be saved by combining both these measures in a semi-detached 3 bedroom house.
The following table gives approximate savings which can be achieved by insulating your floor and filling the gaps between the floorboards and skirting boards:
| Annual saving per year (£) |
DIY cost |
DIY payback |
CO 2 saving per year |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floor insulation |
Around £50 | Around £100 | Around 2 years | Around 270kg |
| Filling gaps between floor and skirting board |
Around £20 | Around £20 | Around 1 year | Around 110kg |
Not all home insulation work has to be carried out by a professional. It may work out cheaper to do the smaller jobs yourself with materials from your local DIY store. Filling the gaps in between the skirting board and the floor costs about £20 if you do it yourself and it costs about £100 to insulate underneath the floorboards on the ground floor.
If you have other questions why not visit our FAQ section. If you still have other questions why not call your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre on 0800 512 012 for free, impartial advice on saving energy in your home.
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