Keeping Your Home Energy Efficient!
Energy efficiency is hugely important to the modern homeowner. With energy prices rising, it’s essential that we make the best possible use of the energy we buy, so that we might consume as little of it as possible. In this article, we’ll try to condense the vast reams of information on the subject into short overview.
Insulation
The best way to ensure that energy is not wasted is to prevent it from escaping. Energy which heats the outside of your home, after all, is not energy well spent. This means that any home which homes to be energy efficient must be well insulated.
First, we must concentrate our efforts on the weak points of the home. These are the doors and windows. The best way to ensure that the latter preserve heat as efficiently as possible is to install the ubiquitous double glazing. This is a window which places two (or more) sheets of glass parallel to one another, with a layer of inert gas (like argon) in the centre. This vastly reduces the transfer of heat and sound from one side of the window to the other, making this an essential upgrade for non-listed properties. It’s also wise to search for any draughts around windows and doors – especially wooden ones – as these can introduce cold air into a home, which must be heated, further wasting energy.
Cavity wall insulation works via a similar principle. A cavity wall consists of two brick walls, one placed inside the other, with a gap in between called ‘the cavity’. By filling this gap with an insulating material, you can hugely reduce heat-transfer. Check whether your home can benefit from cavity wall insulation and you can save enormous amounts of energy in the long-run.
Heating technology
Many traditional sorts of heaters take a while to come to peak temperature and will remain hot even after you’re finished with them too, which in turn results in wasted heat. Obviously, if we’re to make our homes energy efficient, wasted heat is something which should be avoided.
Economy radiators are hugely useful tools when it comes to ensuring that a little energy is wasted as possible. They come in several sorts. These include the small convection heaters which can be activated at a moment’s notice and so-called ‘storage’ heaters, which use breaks to slowly dissipate energy bought during the night-time, when prices are lower.
The former sort are especially useful for people with flexible schedules. You may not know in advance exactly when you’ll be using your heater and so it might be advantageous to have control over when you’re using your heater and for how long. If you’re away from the house at a given time of the day, any heat generated at that time of the day will be wasted.
Advanced electric heaters, such as those available from Eco Stores Limited, will come equipped with further devices which help to save energy. These include timers and electronic thermostats, which will help to ensure that heat is only generated when it is absolutely necessary.
