Insulating Your Home
There are many ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home. As well as replacing your old energy wasting boiler, insulating your house can save hundreds on your energy bills and reduce your CO2 emissions.
Cavity Wall insulation
The majority of post-1920s homes have been built with cavity walls. This consists of two layers of brick with a cavity in the middle. The cavity itself is a corridor between the bricks which causes up to 33% of heat loss in the home. Having this gap filled is one of the simplest ways to save money on your energy bill.
Insulating the Floor
One of the cheapest and easiest ways to insulate your home is by carrying out a little DIY and filling those gaps around skirting boards, doors and between floorboards which create cold drafts that lose heat.
Insulation for the Loft
Insulating your loft won't save as much energy as installing cavity wall insulation, however the heat lost in this way still makes up to 15% of heating costs. You can install loft insulation yourself which will cut the cost by half.
Fill in the Gaps
Fitting draught proofing to doors, windows and letterboxes is simple. Many draught excluding strips are self-adhesive, and fitting brushes to doors and letterboxes needs only elementary DIY skills.
Double Glazing
If your budget can stretch to it, replacing standard windows with double glazing can save between £80 and £100 a year on heating bills. According to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), replacing single panes of glass with double panes and a cavity of trapped air in between, the heat lost through your windows can be cut by half.
Pipework and Tanks
Any hot water tank in your home should be fitted with a British Standard 'jacket'. This should cut heat loss by up to 75%. Costing around £12 they will save you almost double that in the first year alone. Most importantly you don't need an expert to fit them.
Financial Help
If you are daunted by the cost of insulating your home but want to save money, use the EST grant checker or your local authority to ascertain whether you might qualify for a home efficiency grant. Warm Front awards grants for improving the efficiency of heating systems also.