How to create an energy efficient home

As the cost of living rises and utility costs go through the roof, it’s become increasingly important to make your home as energy efficient as possible. Not only will a few small changes save you money, but it’ll also protect the world around you by reducing your carbon footprint, so here’s how to create an energy efficient home.

Invest in underfloor heating

Did you know it takes a lot of energy to heat the water in your radiators as it needs to be very hot for your heating system to be effective? Underfloor heating from companies like ProWarm, however, works on a lower temperature helping to conserve energy. Both heating cables and mats are designed to warm large areas efficiently and this in turn can bring your household bills down.

Update your appliances

If your appliances are a little on the old side, there’s a high chance they’re not as efficient as they could be. Why? Well, because gadgets have improved significantly over the years and tend to consume far less energy than they did a few years back. So, if you fancy treating yourself to some new equipment, look out for the EU energy label found on white goods and a number of other products. You’ll find more about this online, but essentially it rates products from the most-efficient (A+++) to the least efficient (D) giving you a good idea of what to buy.

Save water

Something as simple as limiting the amount of water you use can reduce your household bills, reduce the impact on your local environment and lower your carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Energy Saving Trust, each household in the UK uses an average of 360 litres a day, but there are ways to bring this number down such as only filling up the kettle with what you need, using a bowl of water to wash up rather than running the tap and taking short showers with a water-efficient shower head rather than hopping in the bath.

Turn electrical items off standby

When an electrical item is on standby, you might think it’s switched off and not using electricity, but you’d be wrong. In fact, it’s still using power and will be costing you money, so turn items including laptops, computers, chargers, printers, scanners and such like off at the plug socket whenever you possibly can. This could save you between £45 and £80 a year and is well worth doing as it doesn’t take much time at all.

Think about lighting

As the nights draw out and the weather improves, now is the perfect time to leave your lights off for as long as possible and open the curtains instead. Making the most of natural daylight will help reduce your lighting bills and ensure you’re not using electricity unnecessarily. What’s more, you should also think about replacing traditional light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps as these tend to last longer and are more efficient.

Making energy-saving improvements around the home is easier than you might think, so why not take steps today to reduce your carbon footprint?

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Photo: Anton Fomkin