The insulation debacle

It was one of the reasons Kevin Rudd was turfed out of office and linked to the deaths of 4 people and 93 house fires, the Household Insulation Scheme was a disaster of epic proportions.

The Household Insulation Scheme was pushed out last year as part of the Government’s $42 billion stimulus package and was a disaster of epic proportions.

The $2.5 billion insulation program was supposed to play the dual role of creating jobs and reducing household greenhouse gas emissions, but was riddled with problems from the get-go.

The Homeowner Insulation Scheme offered ceiling insulation worth up to $1600 to owner-occupiers. The average cost to insulate a home is estimated to be $1200, so in most cases there was no more for homeowners to pay.

While this was great for homeowners, a heap of unqualified workers swooped in to cash in on the excess work, leading to a bunch of shonky – and ultimately  dangerous – insulation installation practices.

The fallout of this scheme continues – of particular concern are homes insulated with foil. The Government has completed roughly half of the 50,000 inspections it will conduct of homes with foil insulation – with some truly shocking findings. 15% of homes insulated with pink batts are also being audited to check there is no fire or electrocution risk.

With all this negative publicity owner-occupiers are discouraged from insulating their homes. Although the Household Insulation Scheme debacle has left a bad taste in many people’s mouths, home insulation is something that should definitely still be pursued.

The benefits of insulation are well-known and with energy prices rising and the increased concern for climate change installing adequate – and preferably sustainable – home insulation is still extremely important.

An efficiently insulated home will use less energy to heat or cool your living space and therefore will reduce greenhouse emissions and your energy bill.

A recently released study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Environmental Issues: People’s Views and Practices (No. 4602.0, 29 Nov. 2005), found that only about half of Australian homes are insulated, and that 20% of people do not even know if they have insulation installed. So there are still lots of households that may need/want insulation down the track.

But amid all the recent safety concerns how do you make sure your insulation is installed correctly?

Tighter restrictions are now in place to ensure all insulation installers have the correct accreditations. To be extra cautious, it’s a good idea to double-check your insulation installer’s licence before hiring them for the job.