Saving Energy
Saving energy is important! Reducing energy consumption in your home will help to reduce your carbon footprint and (more importantly?) it will also save you money.
1. Insulate your loft
Up to 25% of the heat lost from our homes is lost through the roof. Have a look in your roofspace and see if it is properly insulated. If not, and depending on the size of your loft, you could insulate it with 170mm thick mineral wool for as little as £150. If you live in the UK, you could even qualify for a 50%-100% government grant (100% for those on low income). Click here to find out if you qualify.
Estimated Cost = £200-£300
Estimated Saving = £150-£200 per year (assuming you currently have no insulation)
2. Fix Leaking Taps
A dripping tap can waste as much as 15 litres of water a day (over 5000 litres a year!). A dripping hot tap can also waste energy as the boiler will need to reheat the water more often.
Estimated Cost = Under £1
Estimated Saving = £10-£20 per year
3. Use Energy Saving Bulbs
The price of energy saving bulbs is coming down all the time and good quality bulbs can be bought for as little as £1 each. Each energy saving bulb you install could save you between £3 and £6 a year in energy costs, and should last 10 times longer than standard lightbulbs.
Estimated Cost = £10-£15
Estimated saving = £30-60 per year (assuming an average of 10 lightbulbs replaced)
4. Insulate your floor
Draughts coming from between wooden floorboards or under skirting boards will all lower the temperature of your home. The quickest and easiest way to stop this is to fill the gaps with a silicone sealant. A more expensive option is adding mineral wool insulation beneath the floorboards. To do this, you will need to lift the floorboards and pin netting to the bottom of the floor joists. The mineral wool can then be used to fill the gaps between joists, held up by the netting.
Estimated Cost = £40-£100
Estimated Saving = £25-£50 per year
5. Draught Proofing
Any areas where the skin of you home (i.e. the brickwork) is broken such as doorways and window can be a cause of draughts. Stopping these draughts is a simple and cheap task. Buy foam sealant strips for doors and windows, fit brushes to the bottom of doors and to the letterbox and cover keyholes with an escutcheon. Make sure you don’t seal up any ventilation designed to stop the build up of dangerous heating fumes.
Estimated Cost = £100 (assuming sealing of all windows, doors, etc, in the average house)
Estimated Saving = £30-£40 per year
6. Insulate Your Hot Water Tank
A very quick and easy way to save energy and energy costs. Visit any DIY store and buy a new hot water cylinder jacket (75mm thick ideally). These cost around £15 and are very simple to fit.
Estimated Cost = £15
Estimated Saving = £45 per year (if you currently have no cylinder jacket in place)
Some more ways to save energy and save money…
Turn your thermostat down to lowest comfortable setting. JUst a couple of degrees lower could save you £60 a year.
Set your water and heating timer to only be on when you need them. If you are out all day, there is no need to be heating the water. Just set it to come on 30 minutes before you normally arrive home.
Turn off, don’t leave on standby. Leaving TV’s, DVD players, etc, on standby instead of turning them off completely can waste £30-£40 per year. Turn things off at the wall socket when leaving the house or when you go to bed. Even when turned off, electrical appliances can still use small amounts of energy if they are still turned on at the socket.
Buy energy efficient products. We aren’t suggesting you just throw out your existing washing machine and tumble drier, but if you need to replace them, try to go for energy efficient replacements. They might be a little more expensive, but should save you money in the long term.
Fit a washing line. if you have space, using a washing line instead of tumble drying all of your washing can save a serious amount of money and energy each year.
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