You may be looking for ways to cut costs on your energy usage and are ultimately wanting to make your home a more comfortable place to live.
Improving the energy efficiency in your home is imperative to reducing costs, as well as cutting your carbon emissions. We’ve put together some tips on how to reduce your energy usage and make your home more efficient.
Why is energy efficiency important?
Using less energy and making your home more efficient is significantly better for the economy and is a great way to lower costs.
Reducing the amount of energy you use is also good for the planet and can help minimise air and water pollution caused by different types of energy generation. It’s an important way to create a cleaner energy grid and is hugely beneficial for our society overall.
Insulation
Insulating your home is one of the best ways to reduce heat loss. There are a number of insulation methods you can use: loft insulation, wall insulation and pipe insulation.
Loft insulation traps heat inside the rooms below your loft, so the warm air in your property can heat your house for longer. It also stops cold air entering, allowing you to use less energy to keep your house warm.
Wall insulation can be a selection of insulating materials placed within the walls of your home, helping to increase climate efficiency to make it easier for you to heat up and cool down your space.
Pipe insulation can assist with temperature maintenance and can significantly reduce energy loss, resulting in a decrease in costs.
Energy efficient renovations
Perhaps you’re looking to renovate your house in order to make it more energy efficient, however renovations can be incredibly expensive.
There are a number of ways you can improve your home, including adding double glazing or solar panels. You could use a home improvement loan to spread the cost over multiple repayments – making an investment into energy efficiency will help to decrease your costs in the long run.
Government grants
If you’re eligible, you can apply for a government grant to make energy efficient home improvements.
Your property must fall into the EPC energy efficiency rating of D1, E, F or G and have a household income of less than £30,000 if you are looking to apply for the grant.
Inexpensive ways to increase energy efficiency
You can make some small and inexpensive changes to your home to increase its energy efficiency. Ensuring your boiler has regular maintenance checks and fitting insulation yourself can be a cost-effective way to reduce energy usage.
Additionally, bleeding your radiators can get rid of any air pockets, reduce their heating efficiency.
