Insulation is material that slows down the transfer of heat. In winter it helps keep us warm and in summer it can keep us cool. A lot of insulation makes use of trapped air. Air is not very good at transferring heat. Examples are wool, fibres, expanded foam and insulation made of many layers. We make use of similar materials in our winter clothes.

In the UK we burn a lot of gas to keep us warm in winter. We can burn less gas by wrapping our homes in more insulation. To halve the gas we burn we would need to double the insulation we use.

We can add insulation to our roof, to our walls and to our floors. Our windows and doors can also have better insulation with double and triple glazing and better frames. Not all insulation requires builders in. In fact, an easy way of adding insulation to our windows happens when we draw our curtains at night.

Just like when we wrap up warm, it is important we keep dry and not sweaty. So insulation must stay dry and our house must have good ventilation too. Is your home as snug as it could be?

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