Eco-friendly Changes You Can Make to Your Home

If you’re like many homeowners in the UK, then you might be contemplating the impact that your property has on the environment. Thanks to tightening building regulations, new homes are becoming more and more efficient. But what changes might we make to our existing homes to lighten the load on the natural world?

Major changes

First, let’s consider the big investments. These are the changes that will pay for themselves over the course of decades, but which require a considerable upfront sum. Here, we’re talking about new boilers, heat pumps, and solar panels.

Financing these measures might mean resorting to borrowing. It’s worth checking out an equity release calculator, or investigating whether you can apply for a government grant.

Affordable changes

You don’t have to spend big to find big savings on emissions. Upgrading a few choice appliances, like your thermostat or meter, might allow you to get substantially more efficiency out of your existing boiler. Remember that the energy we consume to heat our homes will vastly outweigh everything else – so it’s something that you’ll want to prioritize ahead of things like the lighting.

What about insulation?

Of course, one of the most effective and affordable things you might change is your insulation setup. There are many options when it comes to insulation. You might install more mineral wool into your loft, or have someone install insulating material into your cavity walls, or even upgrade to new double-glazed windows.

All of these measures will restrict the flow of heat from the interior to the exterior of your property, and thereby save you money in the long run – while reducing the emissions for which you are ultimately responsible. But we can safely say that loft insulation is the most practical and affordable step. 

Just make sure that you don’t compress the wool. It’s those little pockets of air that work to stop heat from moving. Squash them, and you’ll vastly decrease the performance of the insulation.

Double glazing tends to be a worthwhile upgrade when the panels suffer a puncture. This will mean that the inert gas has escaped from the inside, and that the window isn’t as effective anymore. This is usually evidenced by moisture turning up on the inside of the window. You usually don’t have to replace the entire unit: just the glass panel that’s installed inside it.