A new research project to accurately predict the potential energy usage of homes with solid wall insulation and understand heat losses in insulated homes across Britain has begun.

Funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the project will look at how the walls perform before and after they are fitted with solid wall insulation in the seven million insulated households. It will also examine the behaviour of consumers towards their energy use and the accuracy of techniques for measuring heat losses.

The study will include a series of tests and surveys on UK households and aims to find the difference between the energy savings predicted and those actually achieved from solid wall insulation.

John Riley, Director of Housing Stock Performance at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) Group which will be conducting the study said: “Solid wall homes may be significant consumers of energy and this project will allow more accurate predictions of the energy consumption of these homes and identify the potential for energy savings from solid wall insulation.”

The project is expected to run for just over two years.