barnsleymat

As a typical Yorkshireman I truly love a bargain, first it was the kitchen and now it's the loft insulation.

Knowing I needed to sort some loft insulation out I decided to get a few quotes, I enquired with 3 local companies that were offering the EECA Government grants of upto $1300 and I asked one other company that weren't involved in the scheme. Only one EECA company got back to me and the non EECA also got back to me.

If you want to know what EECA is check this out www.energywise.govt.nz

So I had 2 quotes, the first non EECA company quoted me $2600 including a $1350 discount, more than any EECA company which I thought was a bit strange. Then the EECA company came around and said I'd only need 90sqm in the loft insulating as there was some pink batts up there already, he quoted me $1800 for the loft doing which included the $1300 government discount.

I was pretty sure both companies were taking the piss so I decided to do the loft myself. Funnily enough right next to where I work is a big company that makes duvets and pillows, it also turns out they make loft insulation too. I got some insulation priced up from them, it was roughly the same quality both companies quoted me for all for the princely sum of $600.

So last weekend me and my mate spent the afternoon cutting, dragging and fitting the stuff in our loft. It was a bit of a challenge but nothing most people couldn't do, we had plenty left over after fitting it between the joists so lots of the loft is double insulated.

So if anyone is interested in getting some cheap loft insulation the company is called Ellis Fibre and is in Dunedin.

chc4me

Good Job Matt. You're right, those quotes are ridiculous! Thanks for the pics of your loft, looks quite good - did you notice any difference after installing the batts? What do you do about any lighting in the roof (such as downlights)?

Couldn't pop next door and ask if they will send a few packs to Christchurch could you?

Bo-Jangles

Those quotes do seem a bit steep, we got 136sqm of Pink Batts fitted by Pinkfit via Mitre10 for $1,158 last year.

RobClubley

So the government grant is to be used for contractors to make extra profit, not benefit the home owner?

barnsleymat

Exactly. They should just offer up to $1300 of free insulation, that'd be enough for nearly every house in NZ. Most people could fit the stuff themselves no problem, it's not a skilled job doing it.

And to answer the earlier questions... We just used 2 bed side lamps in the loft plugged into a long extension lead. Now the mild weather has been and gone we are noticing a much warmer house.

MattandJax

I think they meant what did you do about covering up downlights which are for the room below but recessed into the attic. It's a fire risk if you cover them up.

When ours were done the fitters left a massive gap around each downlight. I used a bucket to cover the light and insulate around the bucket and changed the bulbs to much much cooler LED ones.

Woodlea

I covered my downlights over three years ago and replaced all the bulbs with energy savers which don't produce much heat and it's all good. I check for any discolouration of the insulation but none has appeared. Un-enclosed downlights shouldn't have passed the building code. To be compliant with the code a new house has to be energy efficient and it can't be if the ceiling has holes in it!

Charismatic

My understanding is it comes down to CA v.s. IC fittings. CA (closed abuted) are the old type that cannot be covered and IC (insulation cover) are the newer types that can be covered by insulation.

There could be insurance implications to ignoring the fitting style.

lardyl

Yep and I can post some photos of the results of using insulfluff on open LV recessed ceiling lights if you like.

Further, you need to be sure that you have enough ventilation to prevent mositure condensing in the roof space or you might be in for a little rot.......

http://www.brebookshop.com/details.jsp?id=556 has the classic guide on the subject