In these days of soaring energy bills, how to make your home more energy efficient is a very prudent quest to be on. There are a number of ways to reduce the energy consumption of your home. While some methods may be more expensive, others do not require large sums of money or expertise.
Some simple and inexpensive measures to reduce the energy consumption of your home include replacing incandescent light bulbs with LED ones, installing draught-proof strips, and installing a heat pump.
Or you could do what Robin Charlesworth did and build a sustainable home where the energy bills cost just £200 per year!
The Evening Standard reports that Robin Charlesworth dreamed of building his own home and in 2019, he designed and constructed a carbon-neutral bungalow in Colliers Wood for his family to live in. According to them:
Robin rarely turns on the heating, and his house is a balmy 20 degrees year-round. His energy bills are about £200 per year — almost 10 times less than the average UK household, following April’s energy price rises.
It’s very, very quiet. The consistency of temperature is really odd. You can wake up at night when there’s no heating on, and your bedroom will still be 20 degrees. Even if it’s snowing, it’s this lovely temperature. It’s simple — it’s insulation — but it feels like something quite amazing,” says Robin
What you’re doing is building a very low energy home and then generating the energy you need via solar. You’re not taking many resources from the grid, you’re fairly self-sustainable and your bills are obviously very low.”
They also reported that:
To avoid heat loss, they installed Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) – “basically big bits of insulation” – in the walls and where they joined the roof. Insulation was also fitted under the floor, while the windows are triple-glazed and the whole building is airtight. And got a £360 grant for their heat pump.
The UK’s housing stock is notoriously inefficient and many homes are inefficient to heat, resulting in high energy bills and a large carbon footprint. We have some of the most outdated and poorly insulated buildings in Europe, and statistics show that only a third of owner-occupied homes achieve the most energy-efficient A-C ratings.
And so, the government is encouraging all homeowners to improve their homes’ EPC ratings by the year 2035, to make them as energy-efficient as possible. Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) measures the energy efficiency of a property at the time it was issued.
Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar panels are an excellent way to reduce your energy bills while improving the look of your home. If you’re unable to produce your own renewable energy, you can try switching to a green energy supplier.
You can even use a wood-burning stove to provide heat, which won’t lose heat through the chimney. The key is to find a source of renewable energy for your home that is both efficient and inexpensive.
If you have an old property, it may be worth considering retrofitting it. The National Trust is working on retrofitting 300 historic buildings in order to reduce energy use by 20% by 2020.
Often, it is not possible to control your heating system, but you can improve the airtightness of your home and make it more comfortable, as well as reduce your fuel bills. By improving airtightness and insulation, you can save money while still reducing your energy bills.
Some of the best ways to save money and make your home more energy efficient are insulation, draught-proofing and double glazing. Energy-saving light bulbs are also highly recommended.
Considering the government’s targets for reducing carbon emissions by 2030, it is worth doing everything you can to cut energy costs in your home.
Leaving electrical appliances on standby consumes a significant amount of electricity. Some people think that leaving one appliance on standby overnight won’t make a difference, but these actions add up to huge amounts of energy wasted.
If you’re concerned about your carbon footprint, consider installing LED energy-saving light bulbs. LED bulbs reach full brightness instantly and last for more than 25 years. The New Economics Foundation has called for government investment and tax changes to help homeowners make their homes more energy-efficient.
If you don’t want to invest in expensive upgrades, you can install solar panels on your roof. Solar panels are a great way to generate electricity from the sun, and you can even sell the excess back to the National Grid.
This will reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint by as much as one tonne per year. And you’ll be saving money and the environment in the process.
How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient: Smart Meter
If you live in the UK, you can make your home more energy-efficient by using a Smart meter. These new meters use an internet connection to measure how much energy you use, and update in real-time for both electricity and gas.
You will also need to install a communications hub. This hub helps the meters communicate with one another and link to the secure national network.
Smart meters are being introduced across the UK, and your energy supplier is legally required to install them. You can arrange for them to be installed for free or pay a fee.
Smart meters come with an In-Home Display that shows how much energy is being used. The information is displayed in pounds and pence. Smart meters make it easier for consumers to monitor energy usage and control costs.
By helping you save money and reduce emissions, smart meters also lower the cost for energy suppliers. They can offer some of the most competitive tariffs to consumers, and they will make switching suppliers a simple process. In addition, they will not interrupt your energy readings.
As for the cost, it’s important to remember that a Smart meter is not necessarily cheaper than a conventional meter. Some smart meters have accidentally charged customers a small fortune. These mistakes were never rectified, and rates have actually increased as a result.
The energy suppliers will continue to offer free installations, but you’ll have to look out for them. Smart meters are becoming the norm in UK homes, so it’s important to understand the benefits before opting in for the technology.
How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient: Insulate Roof
There are many benefits of insulating your roof space. First of all, it will stop the heat from escaping your home. Insulating your roof can cut your annual energy bill by as much as half! This simple and cheap home improvement can save you money and make your home more comfortable.
The most common benefits of insulating your roof include keeping your home warmer in winter and preventing excess heat from escaping. In the summer, insulating your roof keeps your home moderately warm. It also helps keep your energy bills low.
There are two types of insulation that are suitable for your roof. You can choose to use mineral wool or foil-faced rigid urethane insulation boards, which are suitable for loft conversions. Multilayer foil and bubble wrap insulation is more space-efficient, but it is not accepted by all local authorities. Make sure you carefully tape the insulation together.
Another type of roof insulation is polyurethane spray foam. This is a spray-applied plastic that works well as a sealant. Once applied, polyurethane prevents heat from entering the home and keeps it cool in the summer. When installed properly, this process can save a lot of money on energy bills.
The cost of insulating your roof depends on how many layers of insulation are present in your home, and whether your home is built in a climate zone that has high temperatures or a low temperature.
Unfortunately, a lack of energy efficiency can mean your energy bill is rising. With the price cap lifted on April 1 2022, the average energy bill for UK homes increased by 54%.
For default tariff customers, this increase will amount to about £693 a year. For prepayment customers, the cost will be even higher. It will cost around £1,100 to retrofit a home’s roof.
How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient: Heat Pump
If you’re looking to increase the energy efficiency of your home in the UK, you’ve likely heard about the benefits of installing a heat pump. Heat pumps are a great option for both new-build and heavily renovated homes, and you could have taken advantage of the Government’s Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.
This scheme gave you £5,000 to install a heat pump in your home, and it transferred the money to your account quarterly. It however closed on the 22nd March, 2022. And is replaced by the Clean Heat Grants – which has again been replaced with the current Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Heat pumps operate on electricity, and the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of a heat pump is extremely high. As the temperature outside decreases, heat pumps become even more efficient.
While installing a heat pump in your UK home is not cheap, it can help you lower your energy bills. However, installing one isn’t right for every home. Depending on your property’s size and location, you may need special planning permission in order to install one.
The UK ranks behind most European countries in heat pump installations. Out of 21 nations, the UK ranks joint last when it comes to heat pump sales. France, however, is well on its way, with 8.6 million installs expected by 2020. And the French government’s energy efficiency scheme has been increasing in popularity, with nearly 190,000 applications in 2020 and 380,000 in mid-2020. The average response time to these applications is 11.5.
The government hopes to see as many as 600,000 homes install heat pumps in the next few years. By installing heat pumps, the UK government hopes to reduce its overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. Various government grants encourage the installation of heat pumps in the UK. By 2030, around 600,000 heat pumps will be installed. There are also plenty of incentives for heat pump installations, so don’t wait any longer!
How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient: LED Light Bulbs
By using energy-efficient lighting, you will be helping the environment by lowering your electricity bills and reducing your carbon footprint. Each bulb in your home uses 40 watts less energy to produce the same amount of light, which saves 40 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year. This is equivalent to avoiding the emissions of 140 cars. Lighting accounts for 11% of a UK household’s energy bill. Using LED light bulbs will save you money too.
LEDs don’t get very hot to emit light. Instead, they need a small current to work. They are also much longer-lasting than incandescent bulbs. They can last up to 40,000 hours compared to 1000 hours! This is an impressive difference, and the money you save on energy costs will pay for themselves in a short period of time. Using LED light bulbs to make your UK home more energy-efficient can be easy if you follow a few simple guidelines.
LED bulbs come in various colours. Warm white is similar to the yellowish glow of an incandescent bulb, while cool white is slightly blue. These colours can be easily measured using the Kelvin scale. You can find warm white bulbs with temperatures of two to three Kelvin, while cool white lights with a temperature of 5,000 to six Kelvin will give off a light that is close to daylight.
How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient: Solar Panels
If you are looking to make your UK home more energy-efficient, using solar panels may be a good idea. You can generate free electricity from the sun and reduce your energy bills. Installing a solar panel system will also cut your carbon emissions. Home heating and powering are responsible for about a fifth of the country’s carbon emissions, and cutting this figure is important to achieving a net-zero UK by 2050.
If you want to use solar panels, there are some precautions that you should be aware of. You must keep in mind that solar panels are more efficient in very hot weather, so you should install them in areas that receive clear, sunny days. You should also ensure that your solar panels are clean as dirt and debris can reduce their efficiency. To keep them clean, use rain or hire professionals to clean them for you.
How to Make Your Home More Energy Efficient – Top 10 Ways: Video
In addition to storing excess solar energy, you can also use batteries to store it. Batteries can be bookcase-sized and expensive, and they only store energy for a limited time. The main barrier to installing solar panels is the lengthy time it takes to see a return on investment, and the difficulty of calculating how much you could save by using them. To make sure your investment pays off, you should follow the advice provided by the manufacturers.
Solar panels are an excellent way to become more energy-efficient and reduce your dependence on the National Grid. Solar power requires much less energy than the electricity that is provided by the national grid. You can also store excess solar power in a solar battery and sell it back to the grid. This will give you complete independence. Unlike other forms of energy production, solar panels don’t require FIT payments or maintenance.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How can I improve the energy efficiency of my home?
Using energy-efficient light bulbs is an obvious way to cut back on your electricity bill. You'll be saving energy with your new LED bulbs. The same light output is produced by a new energy-efficient LED bulb. And uses less than one-tenth of the energy used by an old one.
What are 10 ways to save energy in your home?
1. Switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs
2. Updating your air-conditioning system
3. Installing solar panels
4. Turn electronics off when you leave a room
5. Invest in a power strip to turn off multiple electronics at once
6. Replace old appliances with more energy-efficient ones
7. Installing heat pumps
8. Insulate/ air-tight your home
9. Turn electronics off when you're not using them
10. Try air-dry options with your washing machine and dishwasher
How can I make my house more energy efficient in the UK?
It makes sense to start with heating. You'll notice a decrease in energy bills almost immediately if you improve the efficiency of your heating.
Next, you'll need to find out what your house's walls are made of. If your walls are solid (one layer of bricks), they will lose heat more easily than homes with thin, porous walls.
Another important way to make your house more energy efficient in the UK is to switch to LED bulbs. These are more energy-efficient and come in a variety of brightness levels.
Additionally, lowering the temperature of your home - even by 1 degree will save you money on your energy bills.
Another simple tip is to seal your windows. Weatherstripping will prevent gaps from forming around the windows. A tighter seal will reduce the amount of heat your home loses.
