Meeting UK Net Zero Targets
The regulations have been changed as part of the measures to help the UK meet net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050; homes in the UK currently produce around 14% of the total emissions. This means that if you are considering an extension, renovation or barn conversion, you will need to think about these new regulations and this will be considered by your architect at the point of planning/design.
But what if you have an older home and you want to make it more energy efficient? Read on…
- Insulation - walls, floor, loft
There are three main areas that you can consider insulating; the walls, the loft and the ground floor. Approximately 33% of heat loss occurs through the walls, 25% through the loft and 15% through the floor. How you insulate, and how complex the job will be, will depend on the structure of your home.
Cavity walls are typically easy to insulate but you’ll need a specialist insulation company to do this for you. Solid walls can either be insulated from the outside, or inside; the latter tends to be cheaper but it doesn’t perform as well as the former.
If you have an open loft area, this can be insulated fairly easily and cost-effectively., although if you have a loft room then this could prove costly to remove the floor, unless you’re looking at renovating anyway.
Depending on the structure of your floor, it might not be worth doing from a cost point of view. If you have a timber suspended floor, the process is relatively simple, you lift the floor boards and place the insulation between the joists (this is likely to be the case for any upper floors in your property - ground floors could either be timber or solid) If you have a solid floor however, the cost is likely to be higher as you’ll either have to replace the floor, or insulate over the top, which lifts the level of the flooring and will mean you have to accommodate for this by cutting down doors, moving skirting boards and potentially electrical sockets.
Around 10-20% of heat loss within a home occurs through the windows (dependant on the type of window you already have) so this is another area where you can save energy. Heat escapes from windows via radiation through the glazing, conduction through the glazing and frame and air leakage from small gaps around the frame.
There are many options to consider and there will be restrictions as to what windows you can use if you live in a listed building or a conservation area, but some of the improvements that can be made are:
- Opting for triple glazing
- ‘Low-E’ glass which has a coating of metal oxide on the internal glass surface, which reflects heat back into the home
- Optimising the gaps between panes and/or filling the gaps with inert gas, which is more insulating than air
- The material of the frame - timber is desirable from a ‘green’ point of view but it also requires regular maintenance. Composite frames are another way forward as they have an inner wooden frame and are covered with aluminium or plastic. uPVC frames are long lasting and can be recycled at the end of their lifespan. Aluminium or steel frames are durable and can also be recycled
Window manufacturers provide both an energy rating for the entire window (frame and glass) from A++ to E. They also have a ‘U-value’ which is a measure of how easily heat passes through a material - so these both need to be taken into consideration when making your decision.
If you can’t stretch to new windows, you could consider improving your existing ones; the Department of Energy has some good advice here: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/update-or-replace-windows
- Insulation - pipes, tanks and radiators
In an ideal world, all of our homes would be heated using renewable technology such as air or ground source heat pumps or solar panels, but this isn’t always possible. It can be expensive to switch to such methods or you may have a listed building or be subject to planning regulations, but there are simple ways to make the heating of your home more effective. If you have a hot water tank, simply insulating the tank itself and the surrounding pipes will reduce heat loss and therefore increase energy efficiency. You can purchase a hot water cylinder jacket and pipe insulation cheaply from pretty much any DIY store and it’s easy to fit. The Energy Saving Trust recommend the minimum insulation thickness for your tank should be 80mm.
Radiator panels are another way of reducing your energy use and therefore your CO2 emissions. They simply fit behind your radiator and reflect heat back into the room. They only need to be used on external walls and will be of the most benefit on a solid and uninsulated wall.
This one might seem obvious after the discussions above but getting rid of uncomfortable draughts in your home is the cheapest way of reducing heat loss and your emissions. We’ve already covered windows, but there are other areas of your home you could be losing heat. Again you’ll need to consider specialist materials and planning permission if your home is a listed building/in conservation area but some of the places you could be getting a draught are:
- Doors - Install a flap or brush to your letterbox and a keyhole cover if needed, fit draught excluder strips around the edges and a draught excluder/brush to the bottom of the door
- Skirting boards - a flexible filler such as silicone or decorators caulk around the edges of your skirting can block up any gaps here
- Gaps around pipes - again a flexible filler will work here
- If you have a chimney, get a draught excluder fitted by a professional if you don’t already have one, and if you don’t use your fireplace a cap can be fitted over the chimney pot
- Loft hatch - if you have one, remember that warm air rises! Seal up the gaps around your hatch with strips in the same you would for your doors
Just a reminder though that although you don't want pesky draughts, your home still needs ventilation and you do want to encourage air circulation so don't block up anything that's meant to be there such as your extractor fan, wall vents or the trickle vents in your windows!
In summary, there are many fairly simple ways that you can improve the energy efficiency of your home. If you'd like any further advice or if you'd like someone to carry out these works for you, please get in touch!