Home Energy Advice
Heating accounts for 47% of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions and 60% of average domestic energy bills.
The most important energy improvements to your home should be to install insulation in your loft space and to fill your cavity walls. If you have a solid wall then internal or external insulation is needed. Underfloor insulation can also be retro-fitted.
How can I tell if my wall is cavity or solid?
The next important thing to get done is double or even triple glazing for all windows. If you are in a conservation area or your building is listed, then secondary glazing should be considered.
Next is to renew your heating system to include a condensing boiler. All new boilers have to be condensing and new buildings are now all fitted with condensing boilers that are much more energy efficient. If you have storage heaters then upgrade them to the fan assisted types as these are more energy efficient.
Other heating improvements to include a programmer or timer, a room thermostat, TRV's to all radiators (thermostatic Radiator Valves), or zone controlled systems.
Fit a jacket on your hot water cylinder if you have a vented system. This should be at least 120mm thick. Put on a thermostat if there isn't one on the hot water cylinder as this controls the water temperature. The recommended temperature for this is 60c.
Put in as many low energy light fittings as possible & use low energy lightbulbs. There are a vast number of outlets selling these so a wide variety of types are now available. Nowadays, there are even halogen and dimmable energy saving lightbulbs on the market.
Higher cost measures include installing solar water heating or photovoltaics. Although you may think that this is a very expensive option, the cost of it has come down considerably lately & when you generate your own electricity (photovoltaics), you get paid for the electricity that you generate whether you use it or not.
