Thermal bridging is the name given to the flow of heat through your home from one object to another. Wood and other traditional construction materials can conduct heat easily, and this means that despite having insulation in place, heat can still escape via objects or materials in the home. This is far from ideal as it means efforts to contain the heat through insulation are wasted. That is not to say the problem wouldn't be worse without any insulation in place at all, but the effectiveness is certainly compromised by thermal bridging.

There are some measures that can be taken, and more often than not new build houses have these included in their design as standard. Having effective cavity walls with a layer of insulation will reduce this problem, as will fitting good quality, well insulated windows made from uPVC. By using cavity closures around the window frames and door frames in particular is a big help in insulating the home and reducing the occurrence and effect of thermal bridging.

Many older homes do not have such features however. For homes that are a little older, fitting insulation into the walls isn't very practical and will be costly too, however insulating the roof well is a step that can be taken. This is a must for anyone wishing to get their electricity bills down by retaining as much heat as possible in the house. When laying insulation in the attic, an important part is covering the joists of the ceiling with a thick layer of insulation as this is a thermal bridging hotspot. Every cavity should also be covered well too. A common mistake with attic insulation is to only go as far as the framing of the ceilings, leaving the frames themselves exposed. This will easily enable heat to transfer to the frames and ultimately disappear into the ether. Although the frames of the roof cannot be covered, the joists certainly can and this is extremely important too.

There are some other tricks that people with older homes can employ to help keep in the heat. Thermal paint is becoming quite commonplace - give your home a lick of specialist paint and you could help reduce thermal bridging and keep the heat in. Any exterior electrical outlets can have a specially designed thermal pad placed behind them. Electrical outlets are big offenders when it comes to letting heat escape so you can reduce the problem with some insulating placed between them and the walls of the house. You could even do as the Normans once did and hang tapestries on your walls. They did this in their castles to retain heat and I'm sure they wouldn't have bothered if it didn't work!

The windows and doors in the home are possibly the number one hotspot for thermal bridging. Aluminum frames in particular will let heat through easily as will single panes of glass. Replacing any windows and doors in your home with uPVC windows that are thermally insulated will effectively help heat stay in your house. As well as keeping your fuel bills down, uPVC is an environmentally friendly material because it is 100% recyclable and extremely long lasting. You won't need to replace your uPVC windows for decades.

Thermal bridging can be a big problem in homes, especially older ones that are less likely to be fitted with cavity walls and the very best insulation. In order to reduce the problem of heat lost caused by this phenomenon there are some things you can do. Removing old windows and fitting uPVC windows in their place is one effective trick. Around the window a cavity closure goes even further to prevent heat from escaping through and around the windows. Insulating the roof is another important step too.