Reduce Your Fuel Bills and Live in an Energy Efficient Home

Here are a few suggestions for becoming more energy efficient at home.

As the struggle to control climate change hots up, we all want to do our bit towards reducing our contribution to this global problem.

A green home can certainly save on both carbon emissions and financial costs. This page details some easy ways to make a more energy efficient home.

One way we can reduce our home's carbon footprint is to simply use less fuel and run a slightly cooler house. We can also hang onto the heat we do use for longer. And of course we can learn how to save electricity by using LEDs and CFLs.

Read on for details of how to achieve energy savings without compromising your lifestyle or comfort levels.

Energy efficient home: Lets start with the kitchen - the centre of the home.

A Cosy Kitchen

Everyone knows the lovely warmth that pervades the kitchen, with pleasant scents of food to match, when there is cooking or baking going on. That's a good argument for cooking a family dinner as often as practicable. But what about the other appliances?

Noisy white goods!

However, fridges and freezers are not so very noisy and they give off heat from the heat exchanger at the back all the time. If you have some or all of these appliances in the kitchen or at least just adjacent to the kitchen you can benefit from their heat.

The benefits of foil

It may be worth installing foil behind your fridge or freezer to take good advantage of this heat. If the appliance is against an outside wall this is especially worth doing, because otherwise a lot of that heat is lost. Heavy-duty foil is available from DIY outlets but even ordinary tin foil will make some difference.

If you are buying aluminium foil from a DIY outlet, look for the R value, which tells you how much insulation the foil provides. The higher the R value the better the insulation provided.

Timing

Your washing machine and tumble drier also give out quite a lot of heat. So, if they are in the kitchen area, it makes sense to run them at times when the heat generated helps keep the family warm, too.

Here's a book which has lots of practical advice and home projects to help you save money on energy: Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings - Save Money, Save the Earth

Energy efficient home

Heating rooms - the rest of the house

If you have central heating you can adjust your automatic switches so that the heating comes on at the most effective time.

The same goes for in the morning. If your heating is set to come on at 5.30 a.m. and you rise at 6.30 a.m. try putting the heating forward to 6 a.m. and see if you or anyone else notices.

Fitter and warmer!

If all this sounds a little spartan, try becoming fitter! Fit people generally feel the cold less.

We also adapt to a cooler climate, given a little practise, so persevere and soon you may feel that other peoples' homes are ridiculously hot! Generally, living in slightly cooler conditions is better for your health, too.

If you are a UK citizen, you may qualify for a grant to insulate your loft or add cavity wall insulation to your home - which will certainly make your heat go further. Click here to find out if you are eligible. The UK government is now making funds available to enable all families and home owners to get upgraded insulation. Even if you already have some loft insulation, you may still qualify as the recommended depth of insulation has been increased. While full grants are available for many people on low incomes, there are also grants of 75% for everyone else, so maybe this is the time to upgrade your home to be more energy efficient!

Of course, to save money on your electricity bills and be more energy efficient you also need to check out that your electricity supplier is doing their bit. If you are in the UK, Scottish Power is one of the greenest outfits around. We've been with them for a few years now. Their service is good - you can manage your account on-line and they are very quick to sort out queries.

Much of their energy is from hydro and wind farms - in fact they are the largest developer of wind power in the UK. Whether you opt to get your supplies from them or elsewhere, it is worth checking out the options as you could save on your bills and be a little greener too.

There are plenty of other green energy suppliers to choose from. Ecotricity is probably the best in the UK.

Energy efficient home: Some ideas for holding onto the heat!

Keeping hold of the warmth

One quick way to make your heat energy go further is to get heavy curtains for night-time.

These should ideally cover the whole window and some. They should overlap the window pane effectively so that colder air behind them is effectively trapped. This slows down the heat exchange between the window and the outside world and between the window pane and the room.

Lined curtains of a heavy material such as brocade are best for this.

Picture right: High hedges cut down wind and so help retain a warmer house for longer

Plant hedges for insulation

If your house is at all exposed it may be worth planting trees and shrubs or a high hedge to cut down the effects of wind. Just like us, houses lose warmth quickly on windy, chilly days. Vegetation can offer some degree of protection.

Take professional advice if you want to plant trees close to your property as the roots can affect the foundations.

Single and double glazing

Single-glazed windows are responsible for up to about 25% of heat loss from houses. Even double-glazed windows still lose a lot of heat - about half the rate for single-glazed. This is one of the reasons why modern houses are often built with small windows. So even if you don't mind the neighbours gazing in, you might want to fit snug curtains for the winter at least!

If you are considering getting double glazing go for the best you can afford. There should be a gap of at least 2mm between panes and it should be factory-sealed against leakage.

Using soft furnishings for warmth

Have plenty of soft furnishings to soak up and help retain warmth. Rugs and carpets with good underlay will help. Wallpaper is also some help. Fabric wall hangings can also contribute, if you like that kind of thing. (Centuries ago it was standard practice amongst the wealthy to have rich wall hangings to help retain heat - now it is just one supplementary approach to energy efficiency.)

It is also be a good idea to position sofas away from walls as drafts and cold air are commoner by walls. If you have floorboards, think about sealing the gaps with sealant to cut down draughts and heat loss. Gaps in doors and window fittings can be dealt with by buying draft-excluders. These are usually quite easy to fit. In old houses with loose fitting doors and windows you might need to consider getting professional help.

Energy efficient home:

The humble draft-excluder

Energy efficient home:

Effective radiators

If you have central heating make sure that your radiators are not blocked by furniture. If any of your radiators are beneath a window the curtains are better short but down to the windowsill so that the heat is kept in the room rather than sneaking up behind the curtain.

You can also make radiators more effective by placing aluminium heat reflectors behind them, especially the radiators which are on the outside walls of your house.

This works just like tin-foil - which is pretty much what it is! You can even use tin foil as a cheap short term fix.

Tin foil is of course one of the least environmentally friendly products as it is very energy intensive to produce. However, if it is serving a long term environmental purpose, it's use is perhaps justified - at least until a better alternative is widely available!

Energy efficient home:

Insulate that loft!

There are many different types of insulation to choose from: buy the best you can afford. The loft space inside houses is a big source of heat loss, partly because of the large surface area of the roof itself but also because there needs to be ventilation channels between the main joists and the roof. So a good level of insulation on the attic floor will help keep your home warmer and easier to heat.

The deeper your insulation the better for your energy efficient home. 4 inches (10cms) is minimum; 6 inches (15cms) is better. You can even buy wool insulation now, which is very environmentally friendly. Other common types include polystyrene foam and fibreglass which can be a health hazard.

See Best attic insulation for the different types of attic insulation now available and their benefits.

If you have an unused chimney you can restrict the air flow to cut down heat loss. You should not completely block it as adequate ventilation is always important.

If you don't have double-glazing, consider installing temporary insulation which will help cut heat loss through the winter months.

There are more pages about creating an energy efficient home in Green Energy

Energy efficient home:

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