How to make your home more energy efficient
It’s easier to factor in energy efficient measures when designing and building a new home, so make sure you discuss your options with your builder to gain environmental benefits right from the start.
Becoming energy efficient
Unless you live in a brand-new home, it is unlikely that your house will gain an A-rated Energy Performance Certificate, under one of the latest government schemes to encourage homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their houses, and to help save the planet.
Cutting energy use, especially electricity, will not only cut CO2 emissions and help to protect the Earth’s limited resources of fossil fuels, it will also save you money.
But before you rush out and cover your roof in wind turbines and solar panels to generate your own electricity, make sure you get the basics right first, and insulate your home properly.
Half of the heat loss in a typical home escapes through the walls and the loft space
- Home energy use is responsible for more than a quarter of the UK’s total CO2 emissions
- A well-insulated home needs less energy to heat it and therefore produces fewer CO2 emissions.
- The relatively low cost of better insulation will quickly pay for itself through lower utility bills, but the payback time for expensive wind turbines and solar panels runs into decades.
Go Green!
The government is tackling the issue of home energy performance by phasing in a requirement that every home for sale has an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
Initially limited to homes with four or more bedrooms, EPCs will detail the current energy performance of the property, how it can be improved, how much the improvements will cost and the annual savings they will achieve.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, explains:
“Once people have bought a property, they should consider energy performance when they are deciding what home improvement work to undertake.
“Improvements will not only reduce home running costs in the short term but will also give the home better energy performance in the longer term.”
If you’d like to discuss a project with us, we always offer no obligation quotes. Please call us on 01743 791815 or 07786 268435 or email info@sherrattbuilders.co.uk
