Our walls and roof will be filled with stories, before we even begin to make our own! 600 bags of cellulose insulation were pumped into our walls and roofs, that’s 9 tonnes of recycled newspaper that will have its second life in our home. It blew my mind to see the insulation up close and the traces of words and think about all the stories, jumbled up together. It gives me great satisfaction that all this material is not a waste product, but like a fluffy coat keeping us cosy through our lives.
We are using Ecocel cellulose insulation, an Irish product manufactured in Cork. It’s a sustainable and energy efficient, because it uses locally sourced paper and inorganic salts. The salts make the cellulose safe in a fire and acts as a natural pesticide. Cellulose insulation outperforms synthetic insulation in all these regards: thermally, acoustically and carbon footprint.
It’s delivered to site in 15kg bags, the bales are emptied into a large drum which is pumped around the house. The installers are kitted out in masks and suits looking like astronauts. It’s a messy process, but easily cleaned up at the end. Holes are made in the membrane and pipes fill each bay between the trusses and the walls, it’s a manual process, but thanks to our steadfast team Adrian and Gary from @Irishecohomes, the insulation was completed in a week.
We immediately began to feel the benefits. When we opened the house in the morning, we felt the warmth, with no additional heating operating. I also couldn’t believe the difference it made acoustically. When I went into the main living space, it sounded like a recording studio. I could also hear the difference when there was torrential rain outside. In the bedroom area that was uninsulated, I could hear the rain on the roof, but not in the rest of the house. It’s satisfying that something so soft and seemingly useless could provide so mush substance and functionality to our home. As you browse through your weekend papers, just think it might end up in someone else’s walls one day, having a second more useful life.
