How to improve the energy efficiency of your home

Energy efficiency is something that homeowners are increasingly concerned with. We’re always bombarded with news stories of soaring temperatures across the world, fires burning across towns and cities, horrendous floods that take out whole cities. And this is all the result of climate change, impacted by our energy usage.

Energy efficiency involves making the most of the energy that is generated, and making it go a bit further. Ideally, we want to be using less energy to protect the planet and keep our bills down at the same time.

It’s a worthwhile thing to be concerned about, too. Let’s look at why – and then at how we might make our homes more efficient.

 

Why is energy efficiency important?

There are two main reasons that energy efficiency matters.

First, it will lower your bills, especially during winter, when the boiler is running for hours and the radiators are cranked.

Second, it will make your property more environmentally friendly. Less energy consumed means less gas, coal, or oil burned to provide your home with the energy used that is then wasted through inefficicencies.

It’s also worth thinking about the effect that energy efficiency might have on the value of your property. A few choice modifications might make the building cheaper to run in the long term – and therefore, more appealing and to buyers looking to purchase the home in the future. This will also help you to increase the asking price due to the fact that the heating system will be cheaper to run for the homeowner.

 

How can you improve your home’s efficiency?

You can make your home more efficient in many ways, but a handful stand out as particularly effective.

Insulation

Insulating is one of the best methods of improving energy efficiency. Insulating material can be placed between the space you’d like to keep warm, and the outside. It will thereby slow the transfer of heat from the interior of your home to the exterior. It might come in the form of mineral wool, which can be installed in your loft, or in cavity-wall insulating foam, or in double-glazing (where the insulator is actually a layer of inert gas sandwiched between two glass panels).

For most, loft insulation will make the biggest difference. Check how much is already up there, and invest accordingly. Similarly, for homes with hollow internal walls, cavity wall insulation can prevent heat being lost to the cold air between walls.

Pipe insulation is useful to prevent the warm water from your system losing heat while travelling through pipes exposed to cold air, such as in the loft or outside.

Heating system

The way that your heat is actually generated will also matter. The UK uses most energy to heat buildings, so having a more efficient system could positively impact climate change.

Older boilers might be swapped out for newer ones, as might older radiators which are usually much more ineffienct. It’s also worth bleeding your radiators regularly – since any air pockets that collect in the top will prevent warm water from getting there. This is a little bit like having a smaller radiator, therefore preventing the heat you have paid for to reach the rooms in your home.

You may also want to consider a heat pump. Heat pumps work by transferring natural heat from the ground or air outside and using it to warm up your home (yes, even in winter).

Draught proofing

Draughts are cold breezes that can enter your home via any available cracks. They’re most prevalent in the spaces around doors and windows. Take a candle or an electronic detector, determine where the drafts are, and block the hole. For the space under your doors, you can do this with a special cushion known as a draught excluder.

Renewable energy sources

For some homeowners, it might be practical to actually generate the energy locally. This might mean installing a ground-source heat pump in the back garden, or a solar panel or two on the roof.

The former will extract heat from deep beneath the ground, and transfer it into your home. The latter will take the sunlight hitting your property and convert it directly into electricity. Both require considerable investment – but if you intend to remain in the property for the long term, they likely represent a long-term saving.