Livinghouse

Love it or hate it, winter is fast approaching and that means colder temperatures. Whilst it might be tempting to just turn up the heating dial, rising energy costs mean we need to think smarter about how we keep our homes warm.

Insulate your walls

Just as we benefit from popping an extra layer on when it’s chilly, our homes benefit from extra layers too. Insulating your home is a great way to keep it warmer, more energy efficient and save money on your heating bills.

Scarily nearly a third of your home’s heat escapes through its walls, so if you haven’t already invested in cavity, solid or external wall insulation, you’d be wise to. Depending on the age of your house and whether it features a solid wall (one layer of brick) or a cavity wall (two layers of brick), insulation is available to minimise the heat loss.

According to the Energy Saving Trust you could make substantial savings by insulating your home. Cavity wall insulation could save you up to £275 a year and solid wall insulation could save you up to £455 a year, so it’s worth looking into.

Insulate your roof and loft

In the winter we’re encouraged to wear hats to stop essential heat escaping through the tops of our heads and our roof is no different. As heat rises, uninsulated roofs and lofts allow much of your home’s costly heat to escape.

Loft and roof insulation could save you up to £240 a year. The Government recommends that ‘your loft has at least 10-11 inches (270mm) of insulation.’

Insulate your windows

Single glazed and old windows are prone to letting draughts in and the heat out. Effective ways to reduce heat loss, draughts and cold spots include double glazing, draught proofing and drawing your curtains before it gets dark.

Give renewable energy technology a go

Those savvy enough to utilise renewable energy to heat their homes and hot water are already making savings on their energy bills. Although the outlay for installing solar panels is quite hefty, the Government’s Feed-In Tariff allows you to benefit from payments for the energy you generate and export back to the national grid.

So, if you’ve got money burning a hole in your pocket and are looking for an investment opportunity, solar panels could be the way to go to reduce your electricity bills and be less reliant on energy suppliers. And in case you’re thinking solar panels will be useless in the winter months, you’d be wrong. Apparently they utilise light and not heat to produce energy, so the lack of sunny days shouldn’t be a problem.

You’ll find more invaluable suggestions for heating your home effectively in our Hot tips to reduce your heating bill blog and our 5 money-saving winter heating tips blog.