Decreasing your monthly energy bill is a great way to save money. In addition, there are a number of different ways that you can save money. Tips like unplugging unused electronics, cleaning your vacuum more regularly, and turning down the temperature when you are not in the home are excellent ways to shave off some of that bill.
However, when it comes to saving energy, it can sometimes pay to look at the biggest culprits to your energy bill. One of the greatest in the UK is in heating, and to a lesser extent cooling.
We spend a great deal of energy getting our home to a suitable temperature. Working around the clock, our central or room heaters are using up electricity to keep the temperature right. While lower the temperature when we are out of the house is a great way to save, it addresses a symptom of the problem instead of the problem itself.
Your home is losing all its heat at an amazing rate.
Lets take a look at the things you can do in your home to decrease the rate in which you lose your temperature to the outside climate. By addressing this problem head on, you decrease the amount of energy you consume on energy, saving year after year.
Working On Your Home
Creating a more energy efficient home requires looking at the places where heat can escape. In many homes built prior to the 1950’s, this is through the windows. In all homes in general, it is important to also consider the ceiling and flooring. Seen as the two points where heat is lost the most, focusing on these areas can bring about real change in terms of the quality of the temperature inside your home and a smaller yearly energy bill.
Glazing Film
While many insulating projects require time and money, one quick way to help increase your heat retention is by paying attention to the windows. In particular, consider glazing film. This is a film that you apply to the interior of your windows past the window itself. The film acts by helping to decrease drafts coming in, forming an additional bit of protection from the climate outside. Considered a cheaper alternative to double glazing, glazing film can run you around 8 pounds.
Insulation
As said before, the majority of heat leaves your home through either the ceiling or the bottom of your home. In either case, increasing the insulation in these two parts is an excellent way to trap your heat better. When it comes to roofing, consider having a professional roofer review your roof for damages. Have them go over the top of the roof and look for splits in the roofing material. In your attic, search for cold spots during the cooler months. Cold spots will indicate parts of your roof where your warm air is escaping. By identifying and then filling in these spots, you can dramatically increase your heat retention.
As an example, consider an air mattress. A comfortable and convenient bed, an air mattress only needs to be blown up once for a night. This changes however if there is a whole in the air mattress. Now you may need to expend energy several times to keep it at the same level you need. Your home is no different. These holes in your roof allow your warm air to escape, requiring your heating unit to expend incredible amounts of energy to simply keep the home warm.
When reviewing the bottom of your home, as well as exterior walls, pay particular attention to joints. Often made of wood, these joints are places where air loves to escape into the outside world. In addition to these joints, pay close attention to screw or nail holes, as they often create conduits for air to escape.
When many people insulate their home, they often compare it to plugging up a sinking ship. Once you’ve stopped one leak, another one seems to appear. While the process may take a while and even have a high upfront cost, the true savings comes from the years you are paying less on electricity. As a result, it is important to see such work as an investment in your home. While you may not see your money back this year, you will eventually see a return on your investment in the years to come, eventually creating a profit from the money you would have otherwise spent on electricity.
The above suggestions are only just the beginning if you are interested in insulating and securing your home against losing your warm interior temperature. There are a number of government resources, as well as independent websites that will help instruct you on the proper way to insulate your home, as well as hook you up with the services you may require when going about the process.