Sheep wool insulation, ? cost?

DrPhilG

About to increase the insulation in my bungalow attic. There is a layer of fibreglass up there at the minute, I've been quoted €2k (with €454 in grants to come off that) for an extra 200mm of Isover mineralised fibreglass including light covers, stair door tent and raising the level of the existing floor boards in the attic.

However my wife is interested in sheepwool insulation. I've been reading up on the various pros and cons, but what I'm struggling to find is a real life cost comparison.

I've seen various sites (mostly UK) who state an average cost per square metre for fibreglass of around £6, and average cost for sheepwool of around £23 which is a huge difference. That would have me looking at somewhere around €7-8k to do the job with sheepwool insulation.

Has anyone had the sheepwool installed? What roughly were the price differences from fibreglass or rockwool?

Supertech

Looked at sheep's wool for a sizeable house about 4 years ago. It was four times the price of the quilt insulation we finally used, so your figures wouldn't be too far out. It simply wasn't economically attractive at that stage - obviously hasn't changed. The supplier melted the phone at the prospect of a sale, and even offered us a batch of seconds which had been cut incorrectly in order to try to close the deal. Just couldn't justify the cost to the client in the end.

DrPhilG

Thanks

The house is a bungalow, a bit under 2000 square feet or 185 square metres.

DrPhilG

Can I ask who the supplier was?

Edit, the only supplier I can find in Ireland is the guy in Wicklow. The one who doesn't answer the phone or have a voicemail...

According to his site a roll of 80mm insulation is €48 including tax. That would mean a cost (for materials alone) of almost €2k.

And that's just 80mm. The fibreglass quote I have is for 200mm. Even if the sheep wool stuff is a better insulator I can't see it being that much better as to get the same value from 80mm as 20mm fibreglass.

So if I double the depth we're looking at €4k for the material. It's a tough sell to compare that to €1500 for full installation including raising the floor etc.

Supertech

I'd say it's the same company - people I spoke with were in Wicklow as well. I can't remember the name off the top of my head. Will PM it if I can find it.

Supertech

Just reading your post. I'm fairly sure we ended up with the very same figures. It probably is slightly better performing, but certainly not twice as good.