Insulate your home
BE WARMER, SAVE MONEY ON FUEL BILLS, FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOUR HOME AND GET A HIGH RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT. SAVE UP TO 2 TONNES OF CO2 PER PERSON PER YEAR.
The key step to saving energy and cutting CO2 in our homes is to stop most of the heat leaking out.
Keep heat in with insulation
A good duvet keeps you warm in winter, even with the window open. Insulation does the same thing, it acts like a duvet over your home, keeping most of the heat in.
A house with 300mm of insulation on all surfaces needs no heating at all, unless it freezes outside. Un-insulated older homes use around ve times more energy than modern homes, but they can be ‘retro- tted’ with insulation.
Insulation makes you warm, saves CO2 and saves you money, offering up to 10% return on investment per year (like getting 10% interest on your savings.) Cold, damp homes can cause respiratory and other health problems. So as well as doing your bit for the climate insulating your home is good for your health, happiness and pocket.
Sponsored post by Mitchell & Dickinson
Heating our homes is a major contribution to the production of greenhouse gases. Draughty doors and windows mean you are wasting thousands of pounds heating air that ends up outside your home.
And if you live in a listed or period property, you’ll know the financial costs too.
Our advanced secondary glazing, draught-proofing and loft insulation reduces heat loss by up to 40% in a detached property and 50% in a mid-terrace
Imagine, a warmer home, lower fuel bills and a high return on investment. Plus save up to 2 tonnes of CO2 per person each year. That’s positive change.
Download our report on the ten most important steps to insulate your period or listed home warm. You’ll be warmer and you’ll save money.
Download your FREE report: 10 Ways to Insulate Your Period or Listed Home
With thanks to our Sponsors:
Practical Points from Carbon Savvy
1. Easiest and cheapest are loft isolation, draught-proofing and secondary or double glazing. These can save 40-50% of heat loss.
2 Wall and floor insulation are more costly but with these fitted old homes can save up to 80% of heat loss, which means heating bills cut to just 20%.
3 Loft insulation requires careful pipe-lagging to avoid burst pipes; this is because an insulated loft is no longer kept warm by heat coming up from the rooms below.
4 Good draught-proofing will keep you warm, but once fitted you need to keep your home well-aired.
5 For most homes, external wall insulation is better than internal as it avoids the risk of trapping condensation between the wall and insulation material.
6 Flooring. Hung doors can be lifted and insulation placed under floorboards. Solid floors can be excavated, fitted with a damp-proof course and insulated before replacing floorboards.
7 Even a listed building can be insulated. Advanced secondary glazing systems such as plexiglass are highly effective; they allow windows to open as usual and are almost invisible. External wall insulation may be approved for rendered walls, otherwise internal wall insulation can be fitted. Check with your local conservation officer.
U who?
Ask for the u-value of the insulation or glazing. This is the speed of heat loss through the surface – and the lower the number the better. U-values to aim for are: lofts 0.15, walls 0.35, oors 0.2, double glazing 1.6, secondary glazing 2.6.
Go natural
The use of natural materials such as sheep wool loft insulation, lime plaster and render, hemp, cork and wood bre boards is usually recommended for old buildings because they allow moisture to escape, which avoids problems with damp, mould and condensation.
Quick hits
Radiator reflectors are panels fitted behind the radiator that reflect heat into room, saving around
7% of heating fuel. Radiator-enhancing fluid makes the heating system more efficient. Adding a litre
of this fluid to the heating system and can reduce energy use by 15%
Switch to electricity which comes from renewables
Taking your custom to a clean energy supplier is an easy way to instantly reduce the CO2 emissions of your home, because you are dealing with the problem at its source.
