Read below for the top ten tips for energy efficiency in your home from EPC Bromley.
- Replace light bulbs with LEDs – Gone are the days when energy efficient light bulbs made your light fittings look ugly and were as bright as a flickering candle. Modern LED spotlights, for example, are now bright enough to replace your halogens and they come in all shapes and sizes to fit any light fitting.
- Control your heating – Your heating and hot water take up over half of your monthly fuel bills. Ensuring you have a heating programmer, a room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves and using them effectively could save you a ton of money each year.
- Draught proofing – Unless you have a particularly modern home you will be losing heat through gaps around doors and windows, or through the floorboards or chimney. DIY draught proofing can prove to be incredibly cheap.
- Insulate your hot water tank – Your tank should have highly efficient foam insulation fitted around it. If it doesn’t, then purchase a hot water cylinder jacket. It’s far less efficient but better than nothing!
- Wall insulation – Cavity wall insulation is efficient and cheap (sometimes free!). If you need solid wall insulation then it is far more expensive, but will save you hundreds of pounds in heating bills each year.
- Ensure you have double glazing – Double glazing fitted after 2002 is far more efficient than before. If you are unable to install double glazing then secondary glazing can be just as effective.
- Loft insulation – Very important, if you have no loft insulation at all then this will seriously affect the energy efficiency of your house. Remember, the recommended minimum depth is 270 mm. If you place floorboards over the top of insulation it is only as effective as the depth it is squashed to.
- Use your shower rather than a bath – Showers use far less water than a bath, therefore your boiler is working less time to heat the water.
- Install solar energy – Solar thermal panels for hot water and Solar PV panels for electricity will not only make your home more energy efficient, but they will also save you a lot of money. If you live in a rural area it is also worth considering a wind turbine.
- Track your energy usage – Energy monitors help you to keep an eye on how much energy you are using. Most energy providers will be able to supply you with one.
If you need any other advice regarding domestic energy efficiency, call EPC Bromley to speak to an expert.