The perfect time of the year to plan ahead
There are better ways to keep warm than simply turning up the heating. This is PRLs guide to making your home more energy-efficient. Even though we are about to enter another heatwave (in October!) there has never been a better time to make positive, winter-proofing changes.
Draughts
You need to find out where heat escapes from - and cold air enters. Places that may let in draughts include windows, doors, floorboards, chimneys and loft hatches.
Hold a candle near windows, doors and other areas to see if the flame dances around (suggesting a leak). Alternatively, try a thermal leak detector, such as the Black & Decker TLD100. This flashes blue for cold, green for normal and red for warm, so you know where there are air leakages.
It’s worthwhile draught-proofing your internal and external doors. For gaps at the bottom of the front and back doors, the most durable choice is a “brush” draught-excluder. (You can make your own draught-excluders for internal doors using rolled-up towels, or tights filled with old clothes, or buy cheap or second-hand draught-excluders on sites such as eBay).
You can buy rubber draught seals from DIY stores and fit these around the sides of your external doors. Install metal keyhole-covers, and fit a letterbox brush to keep the heat in.
Chimneys
If there’s a chimney you’re not using, stop the hole with an inflatable chimney balloon, – or create a DIY plug with balls of newspaper or old pillows. The Energy Saving Trust (EST) estimates that installing a chimney draught-excluder can save about £65 a year on your energy bills.
Single-glazed windows
If you don't have double or triple glazing, you can use clingfilm fixed on to the inside of window frames to keep your home warm. You can also buy purpose-made “secondary-glazing film” online quite cheaply, and shrink it to fit your frame using a hairdryer.
Alternatively, fit a layer of glass or plastic inside your window frame as an alternative to ready-made double-glazing. (If you are unable to change your windows because, for example, you live in a conservation area). You can also fit self-adhesive foam strips to seal around windows and prevent air leakages.
Thermal curtains
Closing your curtains when it starts getting dark stops heat escaping through your windows. Ideally, you might want to put up heavy-duty thermal lined curtains. Fitting a thermal curtain across the inside of front and back doors can significantly reduce heat loss. You can also sew thermal linings to existing curtains – or add them using Velcro.
Loft insulation
According to the EST, an insulated loft can save up to £355 a year on energy bills in a semi-detached house, rising to £590 for a detached house.
A quarter of heat is lost through the roof in an uninsulated home. Insulating your loft, attic or flat roof is an effective way to reduce heat loss and reduce your heating bills.
Installed correctly, loft insulation should pay for itself many times over in its 40-year lifetime.
If your loft is easily accessible, you can do the work yourself using rolls of mineral wool that lie between the joists - there are videos online that show how to fit this. It costs about £630 to insulate a loft in a detached house - according to the EST - £480 for a semi, and £455 for a terraced house.
Some energy suppliers offer free loft insulations under the energy company obligation (ECO) scheme to reduce carbon emissions and help households in fuel poverty. You usually need to receive a benefit such as Universal Credit or child tax credit to qualify, though.
Wall insulation
A third of all heat lost in homes is through uninsulated walls (EST). If your home was built after the 1920s, it probably has cavity walls, which lose less heat than solid walls.
Eligible households may qualify for free cavity-wall insulation under the ECO scheme (see above). Bear in mind that cavity walls in homes built since the 1990s are usually already insulated.
Older, solid walls lose the most heat, and homes with these are less likely to be insulated – and it’s trickier and pricier to do the job. If you fit internal wall insulation, it’s cheaper, but you’ll reduce your floor space. External wall insulation entails fitting insulation boards to the outside of your home.
Radiator reflector panels
These ensure that heat from your radiators is reflected back into the room - instead of being lost into the wall - particularly if they back on to exterior walls. A pack of three sheets from Radflek will fit three to six radiators, with fixing clips and strips included, for around £22 - or you can make your own using cardboard and kitchen foil.
Re-arrange your rooms
Ensure that sofas or beds aren’t placed right in front of radiators, preventing the warm air from circulating. If possible, also keep them away from windows and doors, so you don’t feel any draughts when you’re using them.
Insulate water tanks and pipes
Check your hot-water tank has a lagging jacket to retain the heat. If you need to insulate it, you can pick up cylinder jackets for about £15. The pipes that run to and from the tank also need to be insulated, using foam tubes. These can also prevent your pipes freezing in extreme temperatures.
These are just a selection of our ideas - here are some more links that we hope will help to keep your home warm when the weather finally feels more autumnal:
Carl Dodd, Property Revolutions Ltd.
