One of the best ways to reduce your heating bills is to limit heat loss. This involves investing in insulation for your home. There are so many different ways to stop heat escaping from a home. Below are just 12 different measures to consider.
Roof insulation
Heat naturally rises. Consequently, a quarter of an uninsulated home’s heat is thought to be lost through the roof. Adding insulation to the rafters of your roof could help to significantly reduce heat loss. This could include using glass wool, insulation boards or spray-on insulation.
Cold loft insulation
Don’t use your loft? You could find that it’s cheaper to insulate the floor of your loft rather than the ceiling below the roof. This means that your loft will get cold, but the rest of your home will stay warm.
Cavity wall insulation
Many homes built after the 1920s have walls with hollow cavities in. It’s possible to fill this cavity with an insulation material to stop heat loss through walls. Considering about 35% of heat is lost through uninsulated walls, this could make a big difference.
Solid wall insulation
Don’t have cavity walls? You can still insulate solid walls using interior panels or insulated siding. Even the likes of wood panelling or stone cladding can provide insulation.
Floor insulation
Laying a fiberboard underlay under a carpet or laminate wood could help to provide an extra layer of insulation, stopping heat from being lost through the floor. This is most common on the ground floor, but can also be done on other floors too.
Crawl space insulation
If you have an uninsulated crawl space under your home, this could also be causing your home to lose heat. Use services like Crawlspace Depot to insulate this space. Insulation boards are a great way to insulate this space.
Pipe insulation
Heat can be lost through pipes before it even gets to radiators or faucets. Consider insulating your pipes so that you don’t have to use as much energy to bring heat to different parts of your home.
Double/triple glazing
A lot of heat can be lost through uninsulated windows. An effective way to insulate windows is to swap out single pane windows for double or triple pane windows. These windows have multiple panes separated by a layer or argon, which helps to prevent heat escaping through the glass.
Winter curtains
A simple and rent-friendly way to insulate your home could be to simply hang thick winter curtains over windows. This can prevent heat being lost through windows when the curtains are drawn.
Window shutters
Certain styles of shutters may be able to provide insulation. This could include interior or exterior shutters. This post at Grand Designs magazine explains more about choosing shutters.
Vinyl window frames/doors
On top of escaping through the glass of your windows, heat can also escape through old window frames. The same goes for old doors. Embracing vinyl window frames and vinyl doors could help to reduce heat loss considerably.
Draught-proofing
Sealing up all gaps in your exterior walls is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce heat loss. This could include filling cracks with caulk or adding seals on doors. Blocking an old unused chimney could also be something to consider.
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