How green is your home?
Never has the energy performance of your home been more important. If you plan to stay in your home for a while then you will want to make sure you reduce your energy usage to minimise your utility bills.
However, if you are planning to move, then your home will need an Energy Performance Certificate, showing its energy efficiency, now compulsory within the Home Improvement Pack. Either way it pays to think green.
Make sure you are well insulated
A well-insulated home needs less energy to heat it - and produces fewer carbon dioxide emissions too - and with lower utility bills, the cost of better insulation will quickly pay for itself.
The top three causes of heat loss are:
- Ill-fitting windows and doors account for 25% of heat lost from our homes. Fitting draught excluders will help reduce this.
- A further 25% of heat is lost through the roof, so it's worth checking that there is at least 200mm (8 inches) of loft insulation and if not, top it up.
- 35% of heat is lost through the walls, so insulating cavity walls provides one of the biggest energy savings in the home.
Images courtesy of the Energy Saving Trust
Simply reducing your heating thermostat by 1°C can cut up to 10% off bills. Similarly, water needn't be heated to a scalding temperature. Set your cylinder thermostat to
60°C (140°F) to reduce your costs.
Planning home improvement? - then think green!
If you are considering any home improvement work at all, make sure you consider how you can improve your home's energy performance at the same time.
For example, it is far more cost-effective to replace an old boiler while undertaking other building work. If your boiler is more than 15 years old, then it's worth replacing it with a high efficiency, condensing boiler. You could save around a third on your heating bills. By upgrading your heating controls, you could save even more.
It's also worth maximising the insulation in your home while undertaking building work to make sure you bring fuel bills down. So for example if the builders are lifting floor boards to install new pipes and wiring, ask them to install more underfloor insulation at the same time.
Generating your own energy
It's probably only worth considering energy-generating technologies such as solar panels and ground source heat pumps if you are planning to stay in your home for a few years, as the payback time can be quite long. However there are grants available to some homeowners. Talk to a specialist builder who will be able to advise on the types of technologies and planning permissions required.
For more information, visit www.fmb.org.uk/findabuilder.
Some simple energy saving measures:
- Turn down the heating thermostat.
- Fit draught excluder around your doors, windows and letterbox.
- Consider roof and cavity wall insulation and double glazing.
- Fit an insulating jacket on your hot water cylinder or install a condensing boiler.
- Turn appliances off, do not leave them on standby.
- Use energy saving lightbulbs
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To help you save energy and money whilst enjoying your favourite songs, the FMB is offering one lucky reader a stylish solar-powered Roberts radio. It's the world's first solar powered DAB radio - and can use batteries or mains-power too.
» Click here to enter
Closing date 30th June. |
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 The builders' tea, 'Make Mine a Builders' is now available at Morrisons supermarkets across the country. Originally tested by a panel of 300 builders, 'Make Mine a Builders' is an ethically sourced tea made from East African leaves, which brews to full strength in 20 seconds.
Why not pop down to Morrisons and try a cuppa? |
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The Cut the VAT Coalition is campaigning to reduce VAT from 17.5% to 5% for all maintenance and home improvement work. The FMB urges you to add your voice to the campaign by signing the online postcard now at visit www.fmb.org.uk/cutthevat.
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