Homes

Cost.
Most of our homes use a lot of energy and cost us, on average, around £1200 per year to heat and power. Most of this expense goes on heating, for example, a typical 3-bed semi will cost around £800 to heat (both space and water heating) and bigger, or detached, homes can cost a lot more than this to keep warm.

Comfort.
We generally like our homes to be warm and comfortable yet, our homes lose most of the energy we put into heating them. The Energy Saving Trust breakdown for typical heat loss through different house parts is as follows:
* Walls - 33%
* Roof - 26%
* Windows and Doors 21%
* Ventilation and Drafts - 12%
* Floor - 8%

The illustration below left shows a typical Bristol home losing its heat in this way.

        
CO2
Our homes also account for around 27% of the UK’s carbon emissions. If we take the right steps, we can cut carbon emissions from our homes by up to 80%.
 

Control
Carrying out a Home Energy Check yourself or getting an assessment with Energy Performance Certificates (above right) done will help you understand how your home can be more energy efficient.

When seeking to improve your home, it is best to consider a long term and whole house approach to the retrofitting you carry out.
 

However some Quick Wins do exist if you are keen to reduce costs, improve comfort and lessen CO2 emissions now.

Our Insulation Celebration on March 20th will showcase many ways of reducing heat loss such as Insulation and draft proofing.