Insulation

Insulation in your home is important as it is estimated that the heat losses in your home could be up to 25% through the roof, up to 20% through windows and up to 33% through walls.

Make sure that there is still enough ventilation for gas fires, solid fuel fires and boilers with an open flue.

Here are some tips on how to increase your home energy savings.

Hot water cylinders and pipes.

One of the easiest and cost effective measures is to fitting a hot water cylinder jacket. If you have already got a jacket fitted check that it is at least 75mm thick and if not it may be worth replacing it.

A cheaper alternative is to use an old duvet that you no longer use.

Heat in the water is also lost through the pipe work fitting a moulded tube around them will help reduce the loss.

Draft Proofing windows and doors.

Make sure that your windows and doors are well sealed; you may need to fit draft excluders (self-adhesive sealant strips and fitting brushes to doors and letter boxes).

If there is a lot of heat loss then it may be worth look at replacing the windows or fitting secondary glazing.

Loft

This works by trapping the heat in your home like a blanket. Without this you could be loosing up to 15% of your heating costs. The recommend depth is 270mm. This can be a DIY project or you can get a professional to complete the job for you. Don’t forget to do the hatch as well!

Cavity wall

Cavity walls are at least 12 inches thick and have an inner and outer wall with a gap in the middle. To insulate the wall you need to pump special foam through small drilled holes in the outer wall to fill the cavity. It may save up to a third of your running costs.

Solid wall

Older properties made out of solid walls are likely to lose more heat, it is possible to either insulate the inside or outside. To do the outside a layer of either cladding or render needs to be added between 50 and 100mm. To do the internal wall you can either use speciallaminated plasterboard or a dry lining.

Unfortunately, solid wall insulating is expensive and difficult to install.

Floor

In older houses with floor boards, you can lift the boards and lay fibre between the joists. You may also notice drafts coming in through the gap of the skirting board and the floor boards this can be filled using a sealant.