Exploring insulation options for your home

Summary

• Consumers report that it is easy to find general information on home insulation online with many using the government, and consumer organisations as reliable sources of advice.
• Whilst there may be an abundance of information out there for consumers to find, it’s not targeted information. The difficulty for consumers is finding specific guidance relevant to their situation.
• The lack of transparency of costs is a key barrier for consumers, especially when we know cost is often a key barrier to the adoption process.

Introduction 

Past research from Which? and the Resolution Foundation has repeatedly shown that cost is often a barrier to making sustainable choices. This could include making insulation improvements to the home. In a recent exercise, members of the Which? Cost of Living panel told us that they usually weigh up the cost of adoption against the benefits, such as the money they will save in the long term.

 “Cost would be my worry. As it's a cost vs benefit model, I would work upon decision making.”

“I think the main things to know about making decisions on improving home insulation on a budget would be - the cost, what insulation is there currently in the house and what areas need improving.”

This is more apparent within the cost of living crisis with consumers attempting to find cheaper or DIY solutions to home insulation.

“Just went to B&Q and bought rolls of loft insulation. Had a measuring ruler because if you go above a certain depth you will end up with a lot of condensation. Hubby just fitted it”

However, there are questions about whether the first stumbling block to adoption is even earlier in the consumer journey. To start to explore this we asked our Which? Cost of Living panel to look for home insulation options for a set scenario to help us understand how easy it is for consumers to find information and how accessible this information is.

You can access our complete library of data to understand the challenges facing consumers from our consumer data hub.

Consumers are able to easily access general information online

Overall, consumers report that it is easy to find general information online about potential options for home insulation using a simple google search, with many also finding the information simple to digest.   

 “It was really easy to find out the information just by entering 3/4 words in google search.”

“Very easy to find information and easy to digest the information for a simpleton like me”

For some consumers knowledge of trusted websites helps narrow down this search with consumers using the government website, consumer organisations and other organisations, such as the Energy Savings Trust, as reliable and trusted sources of advice. 

“[Energy Saving Trust] is useful for all-around information and pointers to progress, calculators etc.”

“Martin Lewis is reliable and provides money-saving advice.” 

“Which? often gives useful information which is up to date.”

“ I went on the government website for all the information and advice about saving energy and insulation as if I had gone on other websites I might have been led to false information. The government website has a lot of information I need  and I could possibly get a grant.”

But when consumers find the information it is difficult to know what is the best solution

 Whilst there is an abundance of home insulation information online for consumers to find, including that seen from ‘trusted sources’, this can be overwhelming for consumers, especially when they are unsure where to start.

“ It was easy to find information but there was an abundance of it - and sometimes this can be overwhelming on where to start and who to trust.”

In addition to not knowing where to start, consumers find it difficult to identify information which is relevant to their situation, with information being very general and not targeted.

 “There are different types of loft insulation but I’m not sure which would be best. Easy to find lots of information but not so easy to decide what would be best.” 

“I’d say it’s easy to find general information and that what’s out there is quite easy to understand. It’s almost impossible to find information that’s specifically relevant to your situation.”

“All information was easy to find & understand although difficult to know which areas to target first with a limited budget. The concern would be targeting the best place first to save the most money and stop long-term damage to the house.”

A lack of transparency around pricing exacerbates the search

On top of the vast amount of general insulation advice and information which can act as a barrier to identifying specific next steps, many consumers expressed that there is a lack of transparency regarding the rough costs of solutions. A few participants found they needed to call up or enter their details before being able to get rough costs.

“Lots of information but no costs unless you put in your phone number.”

“My worries would be the cost as I have no idea without giving my phone number and I wouldn’t want them calling trying to talk me into it.”

This need to share personal information, even if it’s not specific to their home, prior to getting to view rough costs impacts consumers' ability to weigh up whether this is something they would be able to afford. In addition to this, not all consumers feel comfortable giving their personal data when they are still so early in their journey, especially when it’s just an initial search and the commitment to conduct any home improvements is low.  

This is important to consider, especially when we know cost is often a key barrier to the adoption process. Consumers need to be able to see a ballpark cost upfront without them having to share their personal details (e.g not requiring consumers to phone up or leave their details for rough costs), and also have access to independent information about the financial support that may be available or financial products that could help to spread the cost. This is more pertinent now due to the cost of living crisis and consumers looking for low-cost solutions, often simple quick wins that they are able to do themselves.

Conclusion 

Our research suggests that whilst cost is a common barrier to consumers adopting home insulation improvements, consumers encounter a stumbling block even earlier in the consumer journey - the initial web search. Whilst there is a vast amount of information available online about home insulation, the difficulty lies in the ability to narrow down this information to find the most appropriate and affordable solution. Which? is continuing to explore this consumer journey and the barriers that may prevent consumers from adopting insulation home improvements in the future.