Cheap Ways To Improve Energy Efficiency At Home

When it comes to finding ways to improve energy efficiency in your home, many of the ‘top tips’ you’ll find are exceptionally expensive. From upgrading your loft insulation to investing in a new, ultra-efficient boiler, it’s difficult to find ways to improve your energy efficient that are both easy and cheap. That’s why we’ve compiled small yet effective changes you can implement throughout your home to increase your energy efficiency, improve your sustainability, and save you money.

The Value Of Your EPC

Your EPC is your energy performance certificate and it takes a deep dive into the efficiency of specific parts of your home, allowing you to effectively target your time and energy to the areas that require the most improvement. This is a particularly useful document if you’re looking to spend money on improving your energy efficiency, and you wish to understand

more about where your funds will have the greatest impact. If you’re looking to make cheap amends to your property, your Energy Performance Certificate will allow you to understand whether you’re better spending your time looking for improvements to your lighting, heating, windows, or other aspects of your property.

Apply For A Smart Meter

Smart meters can help you improve your energy efficiency by making you aware of your energy consumption thanks to its regular updates every thirty minutes. This near real-time tracking allows you to have greater insight into which times of the day your energy usage is highest, allowing you to be proactive in reducing your energy consumption. Some smart meters even allow you to set daily budgets for you to adhere to, which is particularly helpful for those looking to budget. What’s more, some smart tariffs may even be cheaper depending on your supplier. You can request one directly from most energy providers, or you may be contacted by your provider to inform you that a smart meter installation is available for your property.

Locate Draughts

Draught-proofing your property can help you retain heat, especially in the colder months, allowing you to save money in the long-term. By targeting the areas where heat is escaping, and providing cheap and easy solutions, you will find that your home stays warmer for longer and you’ll have to use less energy keeping your home at a comfortable temperature. Here are some of the easiest tips for eliminating draughts:

• Because heat rises, much of our heat can be lost in gaps around loft hatches: to eliminate this risk, utilise strip insulation around loft hatches and entrances to keep the heat in the rooms you use the most. These same draught-proofing strips can also be used around windows
• Cracks in your walls can be covered by using hard-setting fillers that are available at most hardware stores
• For small gaps around old pipes, floorboards and skirting boards, silicone fillers can be used. For larger gaps, expanding polyurethane foam will be able to fill in these gaps and eliminate any draughts
• Doors between rooms and external doors should be made airtight by covering letterboxes and keyholes, as well as ensuring the door is snug to the wall with no risk of air escaping through the edges.

Consider Economy 7

If you need to charge or use appliances on a regular basis, such as mobile phones, laptops, and electric cars, you may benefit from understanding Economy 7. This is the fluctuation in energy prices depending on the time in which the energy is used, with certain times being cheaper than others to use energy. This is likely the reason that you’ll see electric cars charging overnight – this isn’t merely to ensure a full charge for the morning commute, but to best utilise the Economy 7 rates. These rates vary by supplier and can be very beneficial if used proactively. However, if your Economy 7 day rate is particularly high and you use plenty of electricity during the day (which may be the case for those working from home), you may end up overpaying dramatically on this kind of tariff, meaning that Economy 7 isn’t right for everyone.

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Worried about your energy bills? Here are five cheap ways to improve your energy efficiency at home! 💰#property #bills #energy #costoflivingcrisis

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Written By

Jenna Coghlan

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