How to make your home more

Create the perfect ambiance with smart LED bulbs that can be controlled by a smartphone app

A60 LED Smart bulb, from £14.99, 4lite

A smart thermostat lets you manage your heating with an app, helping to keep energy bills down

Thermostat Mini, £119, Hive

Thermal blinds are specially designed to prevent heat escaping

Hudson Burgundy Perfect Fit pleated blackout thermal blind, from £149.26 for 60 x 60cm, Blinds By Post

Stop draughts at the front door with a heavy lined curtain

Kasbah curtain fabric in Glacier, £25 per m, ILIV

HOW TO MAKE YOUR HOME MORE EFFICIENT

As the cost of living continues to rise, here are six ideas for things you can do to bring it down

We’re all keeping a close eye on our outgoings these days and the home is one of the best places to find ways to reduce them. From switching off appliances left on standby to draught proofing windows and doors, there are so many ways to cut down the money you spend on energy. This is especially true for older properties and period homes – according to the Home Builders Federation, owners of new-build homes save an average of £435 on household bills every year. If you think your home isn’t as efficient as it could be, there are plenty of ways to improve it. Here are six of the best to get you started…

K NOW YO U R E PC

All properties that are built, sold or rented in the UK must now have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). It costs £60-£120 and contains all the relevant info about your home’s energy consumption and costs. ‘Get an accredited energy assessor to conduct an energy assessment on your home,’ says Les Roberts, Content Manager at Bionic. ‘This will provide you with an EPC so you can see how energy efficient your home is. The most efficient homes are in band A, but UK properties are generally in bands D-E. The EPC will also recommend improvements you could make to achieve a better rating. You could also get a residential energy audit for further advice on how you can save energy, such as whether a heat pump might be right for your home. Some companies specialise in eco-friendly audits, which focus on options such as installing solar panels.’

Heat pump tumble dryers are more efficient than standard models Hotpoint NT M10 81WK UK 8kg heat

pump dryer, £399, Currys

Some Quiet Mark heat pumps can be installed inside Vaillant flexoTHERM Ground

Source Heat Pump, RRP £7,849

Carpet provides excellent floor insulation and loses less heat than hard flooring. The thicker, the better and don’t forget underlay too

Origin Saxony in Mink Plain, £54.99 per sq m, Carpetright

Showers that heat water instantly, as and when its needed, waste less energy

Amore DuElec electric shower in Gloss Black, £329.99, Triton

‘Buying a new appliance with the most energy efficient rating can save up to £145 a year compared to running an older model. While buying Ourexp er ts ay s . . .a new appliance can be expensive, you’ll save you money in the long run, as the annual £145 saving will soon mean the appliance has paid for itself.’ Ava Kelly, Energy Saving E xper t at Love Energy Savings

CH ECK TH E I N S U L ATI O N

Insulation is an easy way to improve your home’s efficiency. The Energy Saving Trust says that a quarter of a home’s heat is lost through the roof if it’s uninsulated. When installed correctly, loft insulation should pay for itself many times over during its 40-year lifetime. Insulating lofts with easy access and no damp or condensation is a simple DIY job. You just need to install rolls of mineral wool between the joists and then at right angles over the joists to a minimum depth of 27cm. It typically costs around £630, but can save you £480 a year for a semi-detached house. For more complicated insulations, employ a professional. You should also insulate the loft hatch as well as any pipes, water tanks and the hot water cylinder (jackets for these cost around £20 at Toolstation or Screwfix).

BANISH DR AUGHTS

If your windows and doors are draughty and beyond repair, especially if you’re in an old property that needs renovation, then you’re better off investing in new glazing throughout. If, however, they’re in decent condition, then there are ways of making them more efficient. ‘In winter, windows can be a large source of heat loss with up to 30 per cent of a home’s heating energy lost through windows,’ says Oliver Hudson, Director of Blinds By Post. ‘Tightly installed blinds can reduce heat loss by 40 per cent, equating to around 10 per cent savings in heating bills.’ Look for thermal or blackout blinds that are specially designed to keep the heat in during winter, cutting down on energy bills, as well as lined and thermal curtains. You can also apply solar window film directly onto glazing to control excess sunlight, heat, glare and UV light.

B U Y E F F I C I E NT A PPLI A N C E S

Whether you’re kitting out a new kitchen or upgrading an old oven, cooker, dishwasher, fridge-freezer, washing machine or tumble dryer, look for models with a high energyefficiency rating to cut down on energy bills. You can also save money by running washing machines, dishwashers and dryers during off-peak hours only, as well as turning everything off instead of leaving devices on standby, saving up to £40 per year. Also, take advantage of half load, delay start and eco programs and turn the washing cycle down to 30˚C. Make appliances more efficient by regularly cleaning the filters on dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers, defrosting the freezer and making sure doors are properly sealed. This ensures they don’t need to work harder to keep the interior cool.

With its A++ energy rating and integrated extractor, Franke’s Maris 2gether hob extractor saves you space and energy. Priced from £2,247

Viessmann’s Vitocal 100-A air-source heat pump is the most compact and affordable model in its range. Prices start at £3,042

Replacing old single-glazed windows for double- or triple-glazed versions will make your home more efficient. MyGlazing.com will help you find suppliers and installers in your area You can make a stylish radiator more efficient by adding thermostatic valves

Ledbury 4 column radiator in Satin Gold, £1,269 for 660 x 628 mm, The Radiator Company

S W ITCH TO S M A RT A N D L E D LI G HTI N G

Sometimes small changes are all that’s needed to make a big difference. Replacing standard incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs, for instance, will mean you use significantly less electricity. LED bulbs also last a lot longer so you won’t need to replace them anything like as often – in short, they’re a win-win. If you’re not already in the habit of turning lights off when you leave a room, you might want to consider installing smart lighting throughout your home. Smart systems allow you to control your lights from anywhere via an app so you can turn them off even after you’ve left the room. You could also install motion sensors that turn lights on when you enter a space and off when you leave, so they’re perfect for hallways, porches and outdoor lights.

CON SI DER AN A LTE R N ATI V E H E AT SO U RC E

‘Installing renewable heating rather than relying on the grid will help reduce your carbon footprint and protect you from future fuel price rises,’ says Jonathan Rolande, Founder of House Buy Fast. ‘Air- and ground-source heat pumps are increasingly popular, as, instead of burning fossil fuels, they use naturally occurring heat in the air or ground to generate power and heat your home. They need an electricity source to work but, when used efficiently, can cost less to run than some traditional heating systems. It’s worth noting that the cost of renewable technology is expected to drop in the future and there are grants to help now. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme runs until 2025 and offers grants of £5,000 or £6,000 for heat pumps and biomass boilers.’

U S E F U L CO N TAC T S

•Head to gov.uk/get-newenergy-certificate to find accredited energy assessors. • Find a professional loft insulation installer at The National Insulation Association at nia-uk.org. • At myglazing.com you’ll find professionals who can provide advice as well as install new, more efficient windows and doors. • Visit windowfilm.co.uk, solarshield.co.uk and purlfrost.com for solar window film.

‘Our extended home is now easier to heat’

Extending their 1930s semi-detached home gave Helen and Oli the opportunity to modernise its heating system

IT manager Helen is proud her family home is now being kept warm sustainably with lower emissions, a reduced carbon footprint and cheaper fuel bills

Now that the major renovation project on the 1930s semi that the Selman family bought in 2015 is complete, Helen and Oli, along with their two children – William (11) and Matilda (nine) – finally have their forever home.

‘We bought this habitable but rather unloved place in Chippenham as a project and have been gradually modernising it, room by room, to make it more energy efficient since we moved in,’ Helen says. With most of the work done by builder Oli, cavity wall insulation has been installed, the front of the house has had triple glazing fitted (to keep out road noise) and there’s now double glazing at the rear.

But their greatest achievement is the new extension, which incorporates an integrated garage, spacious kitchen-diner, home office and cloakroom on the ground floor. Upstairs, there are now four double bedrooms and three bathrooms, one of which is en suite. Building the extension wasn’t just about gaining extra space however. ‘We wanted to live as sustainably as possible and improve the efficiency of our heating,’ says Helen. ‘The renovation gave us the opportunity to move away from fossil fuel and go green with a new air-source heat pump.’

After a heat-loss survey, the couple installed an air-source heat pump from Grant UK at the rear of the property; a new hot-water storage cylinder in the garage and underfloor heating throughout the ground floor. ‘We wanted a minimalist appearance for the family rooms, which is why we went for underfloor heating to keep the walls clear downstairs, and sleek Afinia radiators (also from Grant UK) for a modern look in the bedrooms,’ says Helen.

Helen and Oli funded this major project partly through savings and re-mortgaging their home, but also with help from a government scheme available at the time. ‘Through the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme* eligible householders could earn a financial return on their renewable heating system,’ says Helen. ‘We were fortunate enough to qualify for the quarterly payments, which are made over a period of seven years. They have more than covered our investment.’

*The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme ended in March 2022. It has been replaced by the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which provides eligible homeowners with a £5,000 grant to replace a fossil fuel appliance with an air-source heat pump. Visit bit.ly/BUPScheme for more info.

The heat pump was installed on the newly laid, south-facing patio, behind the new kitchen diner, which has rooflights to fill it with natural light

The new extension, to the left of the front door, has almost doubled the size of the original 1930s semi

The sleek, modern kitchen features matt navy units and a composite resin worktop, all from Howdens. With a tiled floor, the Selmans insisted on underfloor heating, so it’s a ‘warm and toasty’ space with clear, radiator-free walls