Top Tips for Keeping Your House Warm in the Winter

With the Big Freeze hitting the UK, many households are feeling the heat…of big heating bills! What can you do to help keep those costs – and your energy consumption – down?

With temperatures dropping below freezing earlier than usual this year, lots of people are worried about how much they’ll be paying to heat their houses.  Read on to get some tips for reducing your heating costs this winter.

Inexpensive but Effective

1. Draught-proof your house – this is one of the cheapest, easiest and most effective ways to reduce heat loss from your house and cut down on heating bills.  According to the Energy Savings Trust, fully draught proofing your house will cut your heating bills by £25 per year on average. Blocking gaps around skirting boards and floor boards could save another £20 per year.

Additionally, draught-free homes are comfortable at lower temperatures – so you’ll be able to turn down your thermostat. This could save you another £55 per year.

To draft-proof your house, pay special attention to windows, floor and skirting boards, doors, chimneys and fireplaces. You can also block small holes around pipework with silicon fillers.  These are all places where draughts come in and heat escapes. To get tips for the best ways to block all of these draught sources, visit the Energy Savings Trust website.

2. Wrap up your tank! Insulating your hot water cylinder can save you a bundle on heating costs. Installing a “jacket” on your water heater is inexpensive – about £15 – and can cut heat loss by 75%, saving you around £35 per year! Additionally, fitting pipe insulation around your hot water pipes can save you around £10 per year. Installing the hot water cylinder “jacket” and fitting pipe insulation is a low-cost, straightforward DIY job that will pay for itself very quickly.

Bigger-Ticket Jobs

These are some bigger-ticket projects that pay hands-down in the long run.

1. Insulate your home’s walls and loft – according to the Energy Savings Trust, half of heat loss in a typical home is through the walls and loft!

Cavity walls – Around one-third of the heat lost in an un-insulated house happens through the walls. If you have a house built after 1920 or so, there is a good chance that your external walls were constructed in two layers, with a cavity between them. These are called cavity walls.

Cavity wall insulation can save you around £110 per year on your heating bills! Energy Savings Trust estimates that installing cavity wall insulation typically costs around £250, which means that this insulation will pay for itself in just two years.

Solid walls – If your house was built before 1920, the external walls of your house are most likely solid. According to Energy Savings Trust, twice as much heat can be lost through an un-insulated solid wall as through an un-insulated cavity wall.

Solid walls can be insulated from the inside or the outside – and doing so could cut your heating bills by 40%! Insulating solid walls is more expensive than insulating cavity walls – the Energy Savings Trust estimates that installing internal insulating ranges from £5,500 – £8,500 and installing external insulation ranges from £10,500 – £14,500. However, you will also save more money – around £365 – £385 per year.

Loft – Because warm air rises, ¼ of the heat from your house can be lost through the loft if it’s not properly insulated.  Even if your loft has insulation, adding a bit more can result in heating cost savings. If you’re starting with no insulation at all, you can save as much as £140 year on your heating bills by installing 270 mm of insulation. If you already have 50 mm of insulation, increasing it to 270 mm can save you £40 per year. If everyone in the UK topped up their loft insulation to 270mm, around £520 million would be saved each year!

2. Install double glazing – Another way houses lose their heat is through the windows. Switching from single-glazed windows to energy-efficient double glazed windows can save you lots of money – according to the Energy Trust, you could save up to £135 per year!

While some of the projects we’ve talked about might sound too expensive to take on, you may be able to get some help!  The UK Government, energy suppliers and local authorities all provide grants to eligible people who want to implement energy saving measures in their homes. Check the Energy Savings Trust website to see what kinds of help are available, and whether you are eligible for these grants.