Keep Your House Warm and Your Bills Down
There’s no denying it, winter is coming and, as usual, it is the time of year when everyone’s energy costs soar whilst trying to keep warm in their homes. To make sure you’re suitably prepared for the harsh winter conditions, and to try and keep your energy bills down, here are a few bits of advice that might help.
Insulation
In order to make your home as energy efficient as possible, ensuring it is well insulated is absolutely essential. There are various different types of insulation, including loft, cavity wall and interior/exterior cladding. Not all of these are suitable for every home, for example older houses may not have cavities in the walls as well as planning restraints that could prevent exterior cladding. In that case, interior cladding is likely to be the best option. To find out what the right course of action should be for insulating your home, it is a good idea to hire a contractor to assess the areas of highest heat loss. Once your home is properly insulated you will be able to reduce the amount you use your central heating, meaning less energy use and less harm on the environment!
Central Heating
Although quite a lot of homes still rely on natural gas to power their central heating, electric heating systems have understandably become a lot more popular in recent years. Their benefits are numerous, as you can see…
Green – Electrical boilers don’t require any form of combustion, so the environmental impact of that is obviously less direct pollution into the atmosphere. The source of energy can be a potentially contentious point for electric central heating, as if sourced directly from the national grid; the energy may come from a fossil fuel based power station. However, more and more people are choosing to install renewable energy systems in their homes. Technologies like solar panels, solar water heaters, wind and hydroelectric turbines are all allowing people to produce their own energy and even some income via the government’s Feed-In-Tariff scheme. Although costing a fairly large sum of money to set up initially, these systems are the first step towards a carbon neutral household as well as potentially cutting energy bills to zero over a long time scale.
Efficiency – Electric boilers can now boast a 100% efficiency rating so require far less energy in the first place to heat your home than traditional gas boilers. They are also much easier to install as they don’t require a flue through your wall.
Maintenance – Due to far less moving parts, electrical central heating may only need to be checked over once a year, as opposed to the regular maintenance that seems to be necessary for clunky gas boilers.
As you can see, there are various options to prepare your house for the winter months, dependent on how much you are willing to spend ultimately. The more long term solutions naturally have a higher initial cost but the benefits can be seen for years. Something that everyone should do however is ensure their house is fully insulated, as a lack thereof can result in an uncomfortably cold house!
There’s no denying it, winter is coming and, as usual, it is the time of year when everyone’s energy costs soar whilst trying to keep warm in their homes. To make sure you’re suitably prepared for the harsh winter conditions, and to try and keep your energy bills down, here are a few bits of advice that might help.
Insulation
In order to make your home as energy efficient as possible, ensuring it is well insulated is absolutely essential. There are various different types of insulation, including loft, cavity wall and interior/exterior cladding. Not all of these are suitable for every home, for example older houses may not have cavities in the walls as well as planning restraints that could prevent exterior cladding. In that case, interior cladding is likely to be the best option. To find out what the right course of action should be for insulating your home, it is a good idea to hire a contractor to assess the areas of highest heat loss. Once your home is properly insulated you will be able to reduce the amount you use your central heating, meaning less energy use and less harm on the environment!
Central Heating
Although quite a lot of homes still rely on natural gas to power their central heating, electric heating systems have understandably become a lot more popular in recent years. Their benefits are numerous, as you can see…
Green – Electrical boilers don’t require any form of combustion, so the environmental impact of that is obviously less direct pollution into the atmosphere. The source of energy can be a potentially contentious point for electric central heating, as if sourced directly from the national grid; the energy may come from a fossil fuel based power station. However, more and more people are choosing to install renewable energy systems in their homes. Technologies like solar panels, solar water heaters, wind and hydroelectric turbines are all allowing people to produce their own energy and even some income via the government’s Feed-In-Tariff scheme. Although costing a fairly large sum of money to set up initially, these systems are the first step towards a carbon neutral household as well as potentially cutting energy bills to zero over a long time scale.
Efficiency – Electric boilers can now boast a 100% efficiency rating so require far less energy in the first place to heat your home than traditional gas boilers. They are also much easier to install as they don’t require a flue through your wall.
Maintenance – Due to far less moving parts, electrical central heating may only need to be checked over once a year, as opposed to the regular maintenance that seems to be necessary for clunky gas boilers.
As you can see, there are various options to prepare your house for the winter months, dependent on how much you are willing to spend ultimately. The more long term solutions naturally have a higher initial cost but the benefits can be seen for years. Something that everyone should do however is ensure their house is fully insulated, as a lack thereof can result in an uncomfortably cold house!
Posted 25th August in: human heat,
