Private house, Limerick
Darren Lee knows about insulation. As Managing Director of EcoWarm Insulations Ltd, Darren turned to Rockwool to insulate his new home to help save energy to reduce his €3000 a year energy bill.
Darren moved into his home a year ago. Like many homes built in Ireland in the 1970s, this one had virtually no thermal insulation. As a result its energy performance was G-rated, the worst possible under the Building Energy Rating (BER) scheme. However, by installing Rockwool insulation in the building’s roof as part of a major refurbishment, Darren has successfully transformed his house into one of the most energy efficient homes in Ireland.
The house has both pitched and flat roofs, so two types of insulation were used. For the pitched roof Darren opted for Rockprime mechanically blown loft insulation. This gave a superfast and totally flexible solution. “It took very little time to install,” he says. The insulation was swiftly installed to a depth of 600 mm to achieve a U-value of 0.08 W/m2K, significantly better than current Building Regulations.
The flat roof was insulated with a combination of 100 mm of Rockwool Flexi between the joists and 50 mm of high density Rockwool slab to give a U-value of 0.2 W/m2K, equivalent to current Building Regulations.
Using Rockwool’s products has not only helped Darren make his new home 85% more energy efficient but its unique properties have provided other benefits too: “Having Rockwool in the roof has given us additional benefits of sound insulation and fire protection to the house,” explains a delighted Darren Lee.
