I saw this story a wee while ago on a family in Scotland who built a house worth £1million totally from recycled material. They got all their inuslation from a disused supermarket and have saved thousands on their bills. Just found an interview with the owner online.

http://deadlinescotland.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/1m-eco-house-opens-its-doors-to-visitors/

This is an extract from another of my posts.. follows a similar thread and may be of assistance.

There are grants towards, or even free, insulation available thru goverment programmes. The link below will give you more details.

Besides the reason these were originally set up (to combat climate change and meet the UK kyoto targets) you also stand to save a fair bit of money in the long term.

These grants and free offers are funded by energy suppliers, not your taxes. They stand to invest around £1B in the next few years on this so you may as well get your share, and save some money.

http://www.government-grants.co.uk/

http://www.ukhomeinsulation.co.uk/?gclid=CMmjgNG1iZYCFRSb1Qodoy2aDw

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/home_improvements/home_insulation_glazing