Insulation pays back faster now: the sums have changed
The payback period on glazing and wall insulation has come down by about three years.
On the calculation used five years ago, external wall insulation paid for itself in eleven years. The same sum now lands around eight. What changed was not the material, it was the bill.
On a block of flats the real obstacle is not the money, it is the vote. In many buildings the majority needed simply is not there.
In a small room every centimetre gained has a price: the space you win in one place comes out of another.
How the sums changed
When reading reviews, skip the ones from the first month and look at the ones written after the second year.
Measuring up before you start is dull, and almost every expensive mistake begins exactly there.
Getting it through the block
What looks right in the showroom looks like something else at home under different light. Taking a sample away always pays.
Insulating a single flat is possible but returns little. Because the heat leaves towards the neighbouring flats, the gain is roughly half what a whole-building job delivers.
This season’s colour is dark green — but do not paint the whole room
Interior designers suggest one wall and a few wooden details, and nothing more.
September on the balcony: five things that will reach winter if you sow them now
For leaves that cope with the cold, the first fortnight of the month is the window.
Three changes that free up space in a small kitchen — none of them a refit
An extra shelf, a hanging rail and order under the worktop. The gain is surprising.