There are so many quick and simple ways to save energy in the home that will keep you warmer, help you reduce your energy bills and make your home kinder to the environment.
If you want to improve your home’s energy efficiency then read our handy energy saving tips and start making changes to your home today.
Draught excluding
There are numerous changes that you can make in your home to save energy, but draught exclusion is one of the simplest and most effective.
To make sure your home is draught-free it is a good idea to check all your windows and doors. If you’re not sure if a door or window is draughty then get a piece of toilet tissue and hold it at various places around the perimeter of your doors and windows. If you have cold air coming through the toilet tissue will move.
Once you’ve found out where the draughts in your home are located you can use draught excluders at the bottom of doors and place rubber seals around windows that will stop cold air from getting in.
Draught exclusion can cost absolutely nothing if you’re willing to make a draught excluder yourself, or you can hire a professional to do it, which normally won’t cost more than £200.
You can save significantly on your energy bills if you improve draught exclusion and your home’s CO2 emissions will also be greatly reduced.
Insulation
There are three main types of insulation that can make a significant difference to the warmth of your home. These are loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and solid wall insulation.
Experts agree that effective loft insulation needs to be about 6” thick, so if yours is less than this you should consider replacing or removing it. Laying loft insulation is a fairly simple job that you can do yourself, or if you choose to hire a professional it should cost between £200 and £300.
Cavity wall insulation is more complicated and needs to be done by a qualified person. Many homes have cavities in their walls which should be filled with insulation. Over time this insulation can degrade or, if the home is older, the insulation may not be up to modern standards. Having your cavity walls insulated will cost around £300 and can improve your home’s efficiency by up to 20%.
If your walls are solid it’s still possible to improve insulation by adding insulation plaster board to the inside of your walls or thermal wall lining under plaster.
Solid wall insulation can be time consuming and it’s best to carry it out when decorating. Be aware that when you add insulating plaster board your walls will be thicker so window sills and plug sockets may also need to be altered.
Thermal wall lining can be papered onto a wall and plaster can be laid over the top. This type of insulation is very effective but can make walls feel spongy which means they’ll be more sensitive to any impact. Improving insulation around your home can reduce CO2 emissions by more than two tonnes every year and can save more than £500 per year on energy bills.
Double Glazing
Much of your home’s heat can be lost through the windows if you don’t have double or triple glazing. However, changing windows is a big expense and probably not the most cost effective solution if you want to save energy.
If you don’t want the expense of changing your windows you can consider secondary glazing, which is significantly cheaper but can be just as effective. There are lots of different types of secondary glazing that you can fit yourself, such as heat sealed film and Perspex panels. Secondary glazing is the most cost effective option and perfect for listed homes where windows aren’t able to be changed.
Appliances
Making small changes to the way you use appliances around the home can make a huge difference to your energy bills and your carbon footprint.
Firstly, when buying a new appliance, it may be wise to try to choose one that has an A* energy rating. This means that it has been built to modern regulations and is already as energy efficient as possible.
Any appliance that cools things down or heats them up will use a lot of energy, so making sure that your oven seals are in good order and trying to avoid opening the oven door when you’re using it may be good ideas.
Check that your fridge temperature isn’t too cold as if it is you will be using more energy than necessary. If your fridge or freezer is packed full of food then it will take more energy to keep it cool, many people leave a third of the space in their fridge or freezer free to avoid this.
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