Tackling the climate crisis starts locally, including making small changes at home. 

Recently, the government has been criticized for failing to provide enough energy-saving advice for households. In the following guide, we’ve outlined some of the best ways to be greener at home.

What is home energy efficiency?

If your home is energy efficient, a large portion of the energy you use to heat it will be from a sustainable source. Traditionally, central heating systems have been powered by fossil fuels – like coal, oil, and gas – with recent initiatives moving towards renewable energy sources.

But energy efficiency at home also involves choices and habits in our daily lives, including our consumption of electricity, food, and other goods.

The difference between saving and energy efficiency is that the former only involves a reduction in consumption, while the latter refers to better use of energy.

For example, one way to save energy is to turn off all the lights in the house. However, for greater energy efficiency, you can remove common light bulbs and put LED bulbs in their place. In short, energy efficiency goes further, it involves optimizing processes by consuming less energy, which may involve an initial investment, for example, if a machine has to be changed for another that consumes less electricity. 

How can I make my home more energy efficient?

Insulation 

The insulation of a house is the foundation of a healthy and energy-efficient home, both in renovation and in construction. In particular, it can significantly reduce heating requirements.

Houses in the UK are amongst the worst insulated in the world. Heat can easily be lost through the roof, walls, and windows, especially in older and poorly maintained properties. 

The roof accounts for 20% of the heat loss of a house, even more if it is not insulated, which is unfortunately too often the case. Or possibly the thickness of the insulation is insufficient, especially if the material's life span is exceeded.

Ensuring that your home is well insulated could help you to keep the heat inside. In turn, you’ll save money on your heating bills – because you won’t need to keep the heating on for prolonged periods. 

Solar panels

Solar panels are a major investment, but they allow you to generate your own power through heat energy from the sun. With this renewable source of energy, you’d simultaneously help the climate and save on your energy bills.

We’d recommend solar panels for homes in southern areas of the UK and with a wide, south-facing roof surface. It’s still possible to harness solar power using a north-facing roof, but it might not be quite as effective.

Use a smart thermostat

If your house is heated by an older boiler, it might not have the most efficient thermostat or timer. Contact your plumber, landlord, or housing association to inquire about smart meters and thermostats. 

Smart thermostats use Wi-Fi to connect to an app on your phone, letting you adjust the temperature of your home and schedule when your heating comes on from wherever you are. This gives you full control of the energy that is being used by your home at all times. 

By using these handy gadgets, you’ll have much more control over how much energy you’re using to heat your home – and you’ll be able to heat it as and when you need to, meaning less energy is wasted.

Reduce your consumption

It’s easy to over-consume, especially in the digital age. Try to keep tabs on just how much time you’re spending on the computer, watching television, or playing video games. If you eat a meat-heavy diet, try to incorporate organic, locally sourced groceries too.

Combined, all of these things increase the demands on energy providers and add to your bills.

What are the benefits of an energy-efficient home?

In practice, saving energy has many benefits. First, this practice contributes to the protection of the environment. Fewer gas emissions and less use of fossil fuels help reduce air and soil pollution. In addition, it is entirely possible to reduce energy bills by adopting more ecological consumption. As such, the use of renewable energies such as solar, wind or geothermal energy is to be recommended and has recently become a real alternative. In the long term, it is planned to equip the big cities with ecological housing for a better environmental balance.

A series of long-term commitments outlined in the government’s Net Zero Strategy aim to make the UK an international leader in sustainable technologies. This approach will see billions invested towards a greener future, with ambitions for an emissions-free economy by 2050.

Living an energy efficient home helps in no small part. Through every proactive effort to live responsibly, communities will adapt to a greener future. 

Author: Caitlin