Energy Saving Tips
As we all know, the news is full of stories about global warming, renewable energy, and energy-saving devices. The good news about energy-saving is that everybody wins! The government wins, because energy-saving commitments are being met, you win, because you pay less for your heating and energy, and, if you spend money on energy-saving in your home, there is a very good chance that you will improve the value of your house.
Not all energy-saving tips are of the same value for money, and in fact, some energy-saving tips will actually cost you nothing. Here are some ways in which you can put energy-saving to immediate use:
• Turning your thermostat down by 1° could cut your heating bills by up to 10% and save you around £40 per year.
• Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat shouldn't be set higher than 60°C/140°F.
• Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.
• Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
• Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily.
• Fill any gaps between skirting boards and floor. This can be done with a standard filler available from DIY shops.
• Draughts are one of the main reasons why homes feel cold and cost a lot to heat. Draught strip windows, outside
doors and the loft hatch and fill gaps in the ground floor floorboards and below the skirting board. NB. Do not cover
vents/air bricks
• Dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath. So fix leaking taps
and make sure they're fully turned off.
• Replace your light bulbs with energy-saving recommended ones. Just one energy-saving lightbulb can reduce your
lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of one bulb-and they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary lightbulbs.
• Increase the insulation in your loft to 250mm. This can add up to 10 SAP points. If you have less than 50mm in your
loft at present you may be eligible for a grant to assist you in this. Don't forget to insulate the loft hatch and any pipes
or tanks in the loft.
• Increase the lagging on your hot water cylinder.
• Although a more expensive option, changing to a gas condensing boiler is the most effective single measure you can
take.
• More heat is lost through the walls of an average uninsulated house than by any other route. Most homes have cavity
walls (two walls with a gap in between) which can be filled with insulating material. To install cavity wall insulation
most people will need to employ a specialist firm.
• If your house has solid walls cavity filling is not an option. You can, however, consider external or internal insulation of
the walls but this is an expensive and disrupting task for which specialist advice should be sought.
• As much as 10% of your expensively created heat can be lost through floorboards. If there is easy access to the
joists under the floorboards, you can insulate from below by filling the spaces between the joists with mineral wool
mat or expanded polystyrene boards.
• Even draught-proofed, single glazed windows allow a lot of heat to be lost. Heat loss through windows can be halved
with double-glazing. Professionally fitted double-glazing can be expensive, but if you need new windows, having
double-glazing fitted is the sensible thing to do as it makes rooms more comfortable. Put double-glazing in the rooms
you use the most and on large windows first. Where double-glazing can halve the heat loss through windows, double-
glazing with low emissivity glass can reduce it by a further 30%.
• If you cannot afford double glazing, various methods of secondary glazing can be fitted on DIY basis.
Cling-film:- attached to the inner window frame with double sided tape. Then heat is applied to stretch the surface - a
hairdryer can be used for this.
Rigid or flexible plastic sheeting ca be attached in a similar manner as the cling film and is more durable. The second
pane is placed in an aluminium or plastic frame and fitted either by hinges or runners.