If you are concerned about the fluctuating prices of electricity and gas you may well be on the lookout for ways to make your home more efficient. We are at a time that most people are looking for cost effective ways of making more out of what they have or improving their homes to make them more energy efficient.
The truth is that most households can’t afford to spend £20k in installing solar panels and waiting 5 years to make a return – it’s simply not viable. So we look for more affordable ways for us to improve the efficiency of our homes or at least prevent energy leakage that contributes to high utility bills.
Easy fixes to improve energy efficiency in the home:
Change all halogen bulbs to LEDs
LED Bulbs used to be expensive. However, the market has made a huge shift from the older style energy style bulbs (the ones that need to warm up) to LEDs. In fact, it is now hard to buy anything but an LED bulb. To put this into context, a pack of 6 LED bulbs can be purchased for under £20. These bulbs use 8w and produce the same amount of light as a 60w bulb. At an average price of 20 pence per kilowatt, if you were to run a set of 6 standard bulbs burning 60w each for 24 hours (8,640 watts), it would cost £1.73. The 8 Watt LED bulbs would cost £0.23 for the 24 hour period. It’s no wonder that people are making the shift to Led – they also last a lot longer too!
Fit draft excluders to doors
During the winter months, you would be amazed at just how much heat is lost through our own doors. Whether it the gap underneath the door or on the side where the handle is, it costs money. To resolve this, you will need to fit draft excluders. For the edges of the door and to seal it when closed, look at using weather stripping tape. It is simple to fit and extremely cost effective. For internal door this simple doorstop will prevent all draughts and can be put away when not in use.
Aside from these simple changes that can be made, you can also invest in some simple gadgets that will also make a difference to the energy that you are already using.
1Install Radiator Fans
Cost of installation: Low/Moderate (depending on product)
Ease of installation: Easy
Radiator fans are a great way of maximising the heat that is produced by your radiator. There are many different models that you can purchase from ones that sit on top of the radiator to those that attached to the bottom. The main difference being the visual, one you see and one that you don’t. However, we prefer those that sit on the bottom as you can’t see them and they drawer the cold air from the floor and pass them through the radiator to help warm the room quicker meaning that your boiler needs to be on less. It is claimed that this could save up to 22% on your heating bills. And with rising gas costs, this saving could increase over time.
To see this product and others similar, visit Amazon
2Add a fan to your stove
Cost of installation: Moderate
Ease of installation: Low
If you are fortunate enough to own a wood burning stove or a multi fuel stove, you may want to look at adding one of these gadgets to the top of the unit. They use no electricity and when the fire gets hot enough, the fan will kick in and then blow the heat out into the room instead of using the natural convection that it creates. Again, this will save heat being lost and also put the heat to where you want it, in the room. They are a moderate cost to purchase but with no ongoing cost, you begin to get the benefit immediately. They are most suited to an open plan room but will also make smaller rooms extremely cosy.
To see this product and others similar, visit Amazon
3Install thermostatic radiator valves
Cost of installation: Expensive
Ease of installation: Complex – Plumber may be required.
A more expensive solution to add to your home. However, electronic thermostatic radiator valves allow you to control the temperature in each of your rooms wirelessly to ensure only the rooms that you want to be heated, will be. For example, you main heating system might be on during the day but as you won’t be using your bedroom, you might want to drop the temperature of this room to 10C during the day and 16 – 18C at night. This means that the boiler won’t need to work as hard because the valve will shut off the radiator during the day. You won’t need to install these on all of your radiators, just those rooms where you can shut them off for longer periods of time.
To see this product and others similar, visit Amazon
4Use a plug in thermostat
Cost of installation: Moderate
Ease of installation: Low
If you use any electric heaters in your home, you may be lucky enough that they already have thermostats built in so that they will only come on when the temperature falls below that of the thermostat. However, in some cases, this isn’t always the case. So you might want to purchase a thermostat that is attached to the plug. With this gadget, you can place the thermostat in the room, and it will control the plug, turning the unit on and off as and when the temperature drops in the room.
To see this product and others similar, visit Amazon
5Install a Radstik radiator refelctor
Cost of installation: Low
Ease of installation: Easy
If you are looking for an effective and non visible way to improve the efficiency of your radiators, the radstik radiator reflector might be something to consider. They are incredibly quick to install and require no DIY knowledge. Simply put them down the back of the radiator. Once installed, they will reflect up to 95% of the heat that is produced by the back of the radiator back into the room as opposed to into the walls that will simply absorb the heat, resulting in loss. This product is also the most efficient energy saving trust’s recommended radiator deflector with reviews on amazon to verify that this product really works for a very reasonable price.
This product is available through Amazon
6Easy install energy monitor for homes without a smart meter installed
Cost of installation: Moderate
Ease of installation: Easy
One way of reducing energy is actually not by installing any measures but starting with an energy monitor. For those that do not have a smart meter, it can be hard to understand where and when your energy is being used or even how much. It is staggering when you are able to see daily or hourly usage and makes you realise just how much you need to change around the home to bring the usage down – it almost becomes a game (once a few arguments have been had). A very worth while investment. It is worth noting that energy companies are actively moving people onto smart meters and you might be able to get one installed for free with your provider.
This and similar products are available through Amazon
We hope that this has inspired you to look at your usage and provided you with inspiration to make small, yet effective changes around your home to help save you money and save the environment at the same time.
