How to Make Your Home Heat Efficient

Keeping warm is especially important in the winter but also on colder days of other seasons throughout the year. 

If you’re keen to make the most of your heating and save money in the process, it’s important to take steps to improve your home’s heat efficiency. In this guide, we’ll look at the best ways to achieve this. Let’s begin!

Double Glazing

One of the best ways of improving your home’s heat efficiency is with the installation of double-glazed windows.

On average, it costs between £200 and £600 to have a single double-glazed window installed. With the average UK home having around 8-12 windows, the total bill may end up anywhere in the region of £1,600 to £7,200 for a given household.

Double-glazing can reduce a property’s loss by a whopping 75-80%. You may instead prefer to opt for triple-glazing for an even greater heat efficiency improvement. However, triple-glazing will generally lower heat loss by 30% more than double-glazing. 

As you can see, going from single- to double-glazing is a greater leap than if you opted for triple-glazing over double-glazing. Therefore, double-glazing arguably offers greater value for money. If money is no object, however, triple-glazing would be the best choice.

New Heating System

Another way of making your home heat efficient is with a new heating system. For example, if you have an old boiler, adding a new A-rated boiler could improve the heating efficiency of your home and lower your energy bills in the process. 

Other ideas to consider include opting for underfloor heating with a new boiler or replacing your existing radiators with new and more efficient options. 

Beyond that, if you have solar panels installed along with an electric boiler, you may not only improve the heat efficiency of your home but lower or even eliminate your heating bills. The reason you may not eliminate your energy bills entirely in this scenario is that a solar array may not be able to provide all the electricity needed for your electric heating system. 

Also, even if it does provide enough power most of the time, solar panels can dip in energy output on cloudy days. So, you’ll need to factor this in when considering whether the investment would be worth your time and money.

Furthermore, you may need to take other steps like hiring a professional for moving a radiator, replacing radiators or even adding an insulation jacket to your hot water cylinder (a relatively inexpensive way of lowering heat loss). Whatever the case, upgrading or/and enhancing your heating system can go a long way to making your home more energy efficient.

Loft Insulation

Having insulation added to your loft is another solution to enhancing your home’s level of heat efficiency.

Loft insulation may reduce heat loss by approximately 20-30%. Cost-wise, loft insulation will probably set you back between £200 to £1,000. However, if you go with blown fibre insulation, it’s probably going to cost you around £1,400 to £3,600. 

The good news is that while expensive, loft insulation can often pay for itself within a few years (and maybe even a year in some cases). 

Cavity Wall or Solid Wall Insulation

You may also want to opt for a cavity wall or solid insulation, depending on what walls you have. Starting with cavity wall insulation, this work will likely cost somewhere in the region of £300 to £800, depending on the size and type of property.

As for solid wall insulation, this can cost anywhere from £8,000 to £22,000 in most cases, depending again on the size and type of property.

Thermal Curtains

Did you know that thermal curtains can lower heat loss by as much as 25%? This often-overlooked measure is likely to cost somewhere between £80 and £300. And unlike the measures listed above, thermal curtains are suitable for a DIY installation.