As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly recommend the right insulation for your home.

What to actually do

1. Use a tool built for this

   The route this page recommends

2. Do it yourself

   Second choice

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open GOV.UK guidance relevant to your UK nation and gather the property age, construction type, room or building element, existing insulation, ventilation and any planning or building-control information you already have.
   2. Take clear photographs of the area from several angles, including existing insulation, ventilation openings, damp or mould, roof spaces, wall finishes and access points, without removing materials or entering an unsafe space.
   3. Measure the accessible length, width and depth of the area, and record which measurements are estimates; do not guess the construction of a concealed wall, roof or floor.
   4. Paste the prompt and your gathered details and photographs into a chatbot, then ask it to separate known facts, assumptions and questions requiring a site inspection.
   5. Compare each suggested approach with current GOV.UK guidance and the installation requirements for the specific products being considered, including moisture, ventilation, fire and access requirements.
   6. Send the AI-generated question list and photographs to at least one suitable insulation installer or building professional, ask for a written specification and quotation, and ask them to explain any survey findings that conflict with the chatbot's suggestion.
   7. Before agreeing to work, compare the written specification with the property condition, the product instructions and the professional's explanation, and do not proceed until damp, ventilation and concealed construction issues are resolved.

   Prompt

   Act as a cautious UK home-improvement research assistant, not a building surveyor or installer. Help me compare suitable insulation options for this home using only the information I provide. Do not invent construction details, thermal values, savings, prices or building-regulation conclusions. If an important detail is unknown, say so and explain how it affects the recommendation.
   
   Home details:
   - Location in the UK: [England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland]
   - Property type and approximate age: [details]
   - Room or building element to insulate: [loft, roof, cavity wall, solid wall, floor, pipework or other]
   - Construction, if known: [details]
   - Existing insulation: [details]
   - Signs of damp, mould, condensation or leaks: [details]
   - Ventilation and heating arrangements: [details]
   - Access restrictions: [details]
   - Measurements and photographs available: [details]
   - Main aim: [comfort, lower bills, preventing heat loss or other]
   - Budget and disruption limits: [details]
   
   Give me:
   1. The information that is still missing and why it matters.
   2. A short list of plausible insulation approaches, with advantages, disadvantages and situations where each should not be used.
   3. A provisional recommendation only where the evidence supports one. Otherwise say that a survey is needed.
   4. Questions to ask an independent insulation installer or building professional.
   5. Checks for damp, ventilation, fire safety, moisture movement, access and compatibility with the existing construction.
   6. Which parts I must confirm against current UK government guidance, product instructions and the installer’s written specification.
   
   Do not tell me to install anything where damp, structural problems, unsafe access or uncertain construction could change the answer. Separate facts from assumptions, and do not present this as a professional survey or guarantee of performance.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

3. Hand it to a person

   The distant third

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.