Improve the energy efficiency of your home

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We all have a role to play in reducing our emissions as a district, county and country. There is a lot of information available to help you reduce your own emissions and you can find a lot of hints and tips here.


Home energy grants

There are many different types of financial assistance available to homeowners. They can help out with energy efficiency improvements, reduce your bills or pay you for using renewable energy.

Visit our website to find out more about all the different types of assistance.


Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC’s) are required whenever a property is built, sold or rented. They rate homes in terms of energy efficiency. Each home is given a score from A-G. An ‘A’ rated home is the most energy efficient (cheapest to run) while a ‘G’ rated home is the least energy efficient (most expensive to run). You can search for your homes EPC by checking the EPC Register and clicking the ‘Retrieve Report Using Property Address’ tab to search for your homes EPC by postcode.

If you’ve lived in your home for a long time (since before 2008), you may not have had an EPC completed when you bought your house. If you moved into your house in 2008 or 2009 then your EPC will now be out of date. The EPC register also holds a searchable list of registered assessors across the country where you can find an assessor near you who can carry out an assessment of your property.


Heat loss insulation

Typical heat losses in an uninsulated home are:

  • 35% through the walls
  • 25% through the roof
  • 15% lost as a result of draughts
  • 15% through floors
  • 10% through windows

A fabric first approach prioritises the thermal performance of the building fabric (walls, roof, floors, windows and doors) before other building services such as heating or renewable energy. Taking this approach can have a number of benefits including:

  • Reduced energy consumption
  • Reduced running costs
  • Improved thermal comfort (in both winter and summer)
  • No ongoing maintenance costs

Depending on what sort of house you live in, different types of wall and roof insulation will be applicable to your house: Cavity wall insulation can be injected into wall cavities and the drill holes ‘made good’. If your house was built from the 1930s onward, it’s likely you have some form of cavity wall. Solid wall insulation can be fixed to the internal or external wall of the building. If your house is older than about 1930, you probably have solid walls. Party wall insulation can be injected into the vented cavity between neighbouring properties.


Lighting and appliances

Lighting accounts for approximately 14% of a typical household’s electricity bill. Installing energy saving bulbs can help reduce your electricity bill. There are two types of energy saving bulb, both of which are cost-effective options for most household lighting needs. They may be more expensive to buy than ‘standard’ bulbs, but will last much longer – a standard bulb will last for around 1 year.

  • Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) are what most people think of when the term ‘energy saving bulb’ is mentioned. They are well known for their delayed warm up time, but will still save you money and energy over a standard bulb. CFLs should last around 6-10 years.
  • Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) will reach full brightness immediately, and will save you more energy and money over their lifetime than CFLs. LED bulbs have a life expectancy of around 12-25 years.

Energy efficient bulbs do not need to be as powerful as standard bulbs to deliver the same amount of light. If you’re replacing a standard 40W bulb with LED, you will only need a 6W bulb to give you the same amount of light.

Appliances that generate heat tend to be the worst offenders for using lots of energy. This includes appliances such as electric showers, immersion heaters, kettles, tumble dryers, ovens, and irons.

Fridges and freezers tend to have a lower power rating than the appliances above, but because they are always on they also end up being high energy users.


Smart meters



Generating energy

Renewable energy technologies supply renewable or low carbon heat and electricity to your home. These systems are particularly good for homes where mains gas is not available because they can replace more expensive forms of energy such as LPG, oil, solid fuel or electricity. Not only will they save on your fuel bill they may generate an income and reduce the carbon dioxide that is emitted into the atmosphere.

Technologies that you may be able to install include:

  • Micro Combined Heat and Power (CHP) (for heating, hot water and power)
  • Air Source Heat Pumps (for heating and hot water)
  • Solar thermal panels (for heating and hot water)
  • Biomass boilers (for heating and hot water)
  • Solar Photovoltaic panels – also called Solar PV (for power)
  • Wind turbines (for power)
  • Hydro power (for power)
  • Anaerobic digestion (for power)


We all have a role to play in reducing our emissions as a district, county and country. There is a lot of information available to help you reduce your own emissions and you can find a lot of hints and tips here.


Home energy grants

There are many different types of financial assistance available to homeowners. They can help out with energy efficiency improvements, reduce your bills or pay you for using renewable energy.

Visit our website to find out more about all the different types of assistance.


Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC’s) are required whenever a property is built, sold or rented. They rate homes in terms of energy efficiency. Each home is given a score from A-G. An ‘A’ rated home is the most energy efficient (cheapest to run) while a ‘G’ rated home is the least energy efficient (most expensive to run). You can search for your homes EPC by checking the EPC Register and clicking the ‘Retrieve Report Using Property Address’ tab to search for your homes EPC by postcode.

If you’ve lived in your home for a long time (since before 2008), you may not have had an EPC completed when you bought your house. If you moved into your house in 2008 or 2009 then your EPC will now be out of date. The EPC register also holds a searchable list of registered assessors across the country where you can find an assessor near you who can carry out an assessment of your property.


Heat loss insulation

Typical heat losses in an uninsulated home are:

  • 35% through the walls
  • 25% through the roof
  • 15% lost as a result of draughts
  • 15% through floors
  • 10% through windows

A fabric first approach prioritises the thermal performance of the building fabric (walls, roof, floors, windows and doors) before other building services such as heating or renewable energy. Taking this approach can have a number of benefits including:

  • Reduced energy consumption
  • Reduced running costs
  • Improved thermal comfort (in both winter and summer)
  • No ongoing maintenance costs

Depending on what sort of house you live in, different types of wall and roof insulation will be applicable to your house: Cavity wall insulation can be injected into wall cavities and the drill holes ‘made good’. If your house was built from the 1930s onward, it’s likely you have some form of cavity wall. Solid wall insulation can be fixed to the internal or external wall of the building. If your house is older than about 1930, you probably have solid walls. Party wall insulation can be injected into the vented cavity between neighbouring properties.


Lighting and appliances

Lighting accounts for approximately 14% of a typical household’s electricity bill. Installing energy saving bulbs can help reduce your electricity bill. There are two types of energy saving bulb, both of which are cost-effective options for most household lighting needs. They may be more expensive to buy than ‘standard’ bulbs, but will last much longer – a standard bulb will last for around 1 year.

  • Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) are what most people think of when the term ‘energy saving bulb’ is mentioned. They are well known for their delayed warm up time, but will still save you money and energy over a standard bulb. CFLs should last around 6-10 years.
  • Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) will reach full brightness immediately, and will save you more energy and money over their lifetime than CFLs. LED bulbs have a life expectancy of around 12-25 years.

Energy efficient bulbs do not need to be as powerful as standard bulbs to deliver the same amount of light. If you’re replacing a standard 40W bulb with LED, you will only need a 6W bulb to give you the same amount of light.

Appliances that generate heat tend to be the worst offenders for using lots of energy. This includes appliances such as electric showers, immersion heaters, kettles, tumble dryers, ovens, and irons.

Fridges and freezers tend to have a lower power rating than the appliances above, but because they are always on they also end up being high energy users.


Smart meters



Generating energy

Renewable energy technologies supply renewable or low carbon heat and electricity to your home. These systems are particularly good for homes where mains gas is not available because they can replace more expensive forms of energy such as LPG, oil, solid fuel or electricity. Not only will they save on your fuel bill they may generate an income and reduce the carbon dioxide that is emitted into the atmosphere.

Technologies that you may be able to install include:

  • Micro Combined Heat and Power (CHP) (for heating, hot water and power)
  • Air Source Heat Pumps (for heating and hot water)
  • Solar thermal panels (for heating and hot water)
  • Biomass boilers (for heating and hot water)
  • Solar Photovoltaic panels – also called Solar PV (for power)
  • Wind turbines (for power)
  • Hydro power (for power)
  • Anaerobic digestion (for power)
Page published: 14 Mar 2024, 02:00 PM