Mr Roofer

I read this on a popular website why insulation is installed. These, apparently, are the reasons:

• to comply with Building Regulations or Standards
• to reduce heat loss
• to reduce running costs
• to control temperatures
• to reduce the risk of freezing
• to provide condensation control
• to reduce heating plant capacity

These all sound like corporate objectives to me, did the writer just have a staff appraisal before he wrote that?

We would not need any insulation if we humans did not get cold or become too hot! I don’t doubt the financial arguments of installing insulation but we as a company never get an enquiry where the customer says that they want to make an investment in insulation but rather they want to keep warm and there ice box home means that the heating boiler can’t keep up!

Funny how the human has been taken out of it when the insulation argument resolves around “investment” as my reasons for installing insulation would be:

• to have a warm home in winter and a cool home in summer so that I am more comfortable
• to achive quicker warm up time, slower cool down times so that I am more comfortbale
• more stable indoor temperature so that I am more comfortable
• to have a warm, cosy home, not an ice box, so that I am more comfortable
• to have more affordable heating and cooling systems so that I am more comfortable with my wallet

Of course the financial arguments all make sense too but the human condition means we want to stay warm when it is cold and stay cool when it is hot. And that is the reason why we install insulation, for human comfort. Would you install insulation otherwise?

To be fair, I do get on the odd ocassion a customer who says that the “pay back” is too long. They have got their calculators out, calculated I don’t know what and then come to a conclusion that the “investment” is not as good as keeping the money in the bank. Stay cold then, contribute more to green house gases and be happy.