What Can I Do To Improve Home Efficiency

Gas and electricity bills are still at very high levels, and with the ongoing squeeze on household finances, it has never been more important to do what you can to improve the efficiency of your home and save money.

There are many things that you can do to improve efficiency in your home, and aside from helping to cut your bills, most of these changes will also help to reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment.

Using less energy

Some of the easiest ways to reduce your electricity bills are small behavioural changes that you can build into your daily life.

Switch off lights when you’re not using a room – while modern LED lights use much less electricity than older incandescent lights, many rooms will have multiple lights consuming energy.  Switching them off means that you will use less energy.

Unplug appliances when not in use – leaving your TV, games console, or other appliance on standby might give you some added convenience of not having to wait as long when you switch it back on, but it also means that the device is consuming energy all the time and costing you money.

Turn down your thermostat – one degree less heat in your home will be barely noticeable, but it could make a big difference.  According to the government’s own figures, it could reduce the amount of energy use to heat your home by up to 13% over a year!

Use saucepan lids when cooking on the hob – this will help to increase the cooking speed because less heat is lost into the surrounding are.  It also has the benefit of reducing the amount of humidity in your home that could lead to condensation, damp, and mould.

Using energy efficient products

Aside from choosing LED bulbs through your home, there are also other changes that are quite cost effective and help you use less energy.

Fitting water efficient shower heads – using less hot water during each shower means that you need to run your boiler less frequently.   More efficient shower heads could reduce your water heating bills by a surprising amount – more than 900KWH over the course of a year!

Choose a tumble dryer with a heat exchanger.  Modern tumble dryers use a heat exchanger rather than a heater to warm the air when they’re drying.  In a household that uses tumble dryers regularly, this can represent a major saving over the course of a year and pay for itself in reduced bills.

Fit automatic extractor fans – older extractor fans ran for a set amount of time whereas newer models such as the EnviroVent Cyclone 7 use a humidity sensor.  This means that they only run for as long as required to remove the moisture that causes condensation from the air.

Consider whole house ventilation systems – PIV systems such as EnviroVent ATMOS draw fresh filtered air into your home from outside to improve air circulation.  This helps to reduce temperatures during the summer and means that your home will heat more evenly in winter and as such, reach a comfortable temperature more quickly.  Positive Input Ventilation systems also help to stop condensation from forming and prevent mould growth as a result which means a healthier home environment.

Find out more

We can all do our bit to reduce energy use in our homes.  If you are worried about older extractor fans costing you more than necessary, please book a FREE home survey from one of our local ventilation specialists.  They will visit your home and advise you about the best solution for your needs.  Simply enter your postcode below to find an expert near you.