Energy Efficency measure
Check our Energy efficency measure
About a third of all the heat lost in an uninsulated home escape through the walls. By properly insulating cavity walls, you will save energy and cut costs off your heating bill.
In general, houses built from the 1990s onwards have wall insulation to keep the heat in, but if your house is older than that, it may not have any wall insulation at all.
Houses in the UK mostly have either solid walls or cavity walls:
- If your house was built after the 1920s, it is likely to have cavity walls. A cavity wall is made up of two walls with a gap in between, known as the cavity; the outer leaf is usually made of brick, and the inner layer of brick or concrete block.
- Pre-1920 older houses are more likely to have solid walls. A solid wall has no cavity; each wall is a single solid wall, usually made of brick or stone.
Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI) is a simple process by which insulation is injected into the cavity through a carefully designed pattern of holes. The insulation system is designed so that any water that does enter the cavity can drain away, whilst the insulation reduces the heat loss through the wall.
With an uninsulated cavity heat can easily escape meaning it requires more fuel to maintain a comfortable temperature.
The insulation present in a filled cavity reduces this heat loss, making the property warmer, reducing the amount of fuel required to maintain a comfortable temperature.
The benefits of Cavity wall insulation
- Easy to install and only takes around 2 hours
- Lasts the lifetime of the property (if the property is maintained)
- Reduces your energy bills
- Reduces global warming and climate change
- Reduces heat loss
Your Loft is an unheated space, e.g. you will not have a radiator in your loft. Warm air rises and the heat transfers through the fabric of your ceilings into the loft space.
An average home loses a quarter of its heat through the loft and by increasing the depth of insulation it will reduce the heat being lost from your home. This can add to the comfort in your home by balancing the temperature in your home.
As part of the energy efficiency works on your home, we have added to your loft insulation to increase the depth, to 300mm of insulation within the roof space, this is crossed layered to prevent air pockets.
Warm air carries moisture (water vapour) when it cools it can condensate and form droplets that can drip onto other surfaces or run down the surface it has formed on.
The warm air in your home moving into your loft can cause this to happen in your loft. A way of managing this is to ensure your loft has “cross flow ventilation” to enable this we install “felt vents”.
A typical cold loft is insulated between the ceiling timbers – these are called joists. The loft insulation runs within the existing ceiling joists and then crossed layered over the top of the joists. Due to the insulation being laid over the joists they may no longer be visible, for your safety please consider this when entering your loft. Many homes lofts are not designed for storage, please consider this. Flattening – compressing the insulation makes it less effective and can damage it. We will have added a seal - draught excluder to further improve against draughts and fixings to the loft hatch to hold it in place.
Danger please note
The Ceiling Joists (Wooden Beams) are covered by loft insulation. The floor between the ceiling joists is fragile. hese floors/ceilings will NOT support your weight. You should not enter the loft space unless you are using crawl boards placed across the joists.
Energy efficient lighting helps lower electricity bills and carbon dioxide emissions, all without reducing the quality of light in our homes.
Since the EU banned the production of halogen bulbs in September 2018, the Light Emitting Diode (LED) – now often presented in the form of a “bulb” have led the way in efficiency, durability and versatility.
Traditional lights were incandescent bulbs, these emitted 90% of their energy as heat. These were replaced by the compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). CFLs were the first energy efficient bulbs on the market but still emitted around 80% of the energy as heat.
What is an LED?
Light emitting diodes, or LEDs are they are more commonly known, are more efficient than their predecessors the IL or the CFL. LEDs emit very little heat. An LED works by producing light from the electricity flowing through the diode. LEDs are around 75% efficient and turn on instantly at full brightness and are available to fit almost every light fitting in the home.
The number add up
You can save between £1 and £4 per year for every traditional or halogen bulb you switch to an LED bulb with similar brightness. LED’s last 3 -4 times longer than a CFL and up to 30 times longer than Incandescent bulb.
Going the ecternal mile
The best way to save energy and reduce carbon emission from your lighting is
to replace all traditional and halogen bulbs with LEDs.
If you want to go one step further, the following tips will help you reduce your lighting bill even more:
- Turn your lights off when you’re not using them. If you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again
- Be aware of how many lights you have on in a room. If you have the main light on, do you need the lamp on too?
- Use sensors or timers on external lights, so they are only on when they need to be.
- Ensure that you regularly clean any lamp shades or fittings to increase the impact of the light.
Photovoltaic (PV) 'solar' panels generate electricity in daylight hours and harvest the greatest amount in full sunshine. The PV panels are mounted on the roof of your home. Your home can use electricity generated by PV panels immediately as it is generated, these can reduce your total electricity bill.
At times the PV panels may harvest more electricity than your home can use immediately. At these times the electricity will automatically be pushed (exported) back to the national grid.
Some practical tips about the pv panels in your home:
- PV panels work best during the spring, summer and autumn, when the sun is strongest, and daylight hours are longest. However, they also work to a lesser extent during the winter, particularly on sunny days.
- PV panels should be cleaned regularly (typically once a year) to aid efficiency. lt is recommended to ask a professional cleaner to do this safely using appropriate cleaning products as recommended by the manufacturer and with equipment to avoid the need to carry out work at height.
- Except for cleaning, little maintenance is usually needed with PV panels. Ask a professional installer to check they are working correctly and safely as part of regular electrical checks to your home.
- The wiring connected to PV panels can cause electric shocks even when disconnected from the rest of your home. DO NOT attempt to carry out work on PV panels yourself, appoint a professional Installer.
Hot Water Systems
To live comfortably in your home, you need two forms of heat.
- Hot tap water, also known as 'domestic hot water' and is needed all year round. The amount of hot tap water your home needs however is entirely dependent on the behaviour of the people living there.
Your Domestic Hot Water comes from a cylinder, a PV Diverter has been installed this enables you to use your solar power your way. This is designed to help you maximise the consumption of your self-generated solar. - Space heating, (with heat provided via radiators for example), only needed when your home is feeling cold.
As we improve the fabric of our homes far less space heating is required. Until the weather becomes cold, the heat given off by appliances, electrical equipment, lighting, heat gains from the sun and the people in your home may balance the heat it loses to the outside, meaning the space heating system may not need to come on. Space heating is normally delivered by a central heating system.
If you find yourself without Hot water, by simply pressing the boost button on the My Eddi - once, it will automatically come on for 1 hour, and after 1 hour turn itself off protecting you from excessive costs.
Door undercut ventilation
Natural Ventilation
Ventilation in your home is provided by background ventilation air flows, these help to maintain good indoor air quality.
To allow air to circulate around your home all the doors have gaps underneath them - Do not block these gaps as it will stop air flowing between rooms to those with mechanical fans and between rooms when trickle vents are open. The gap between the bottom of the door and the floor in a residential home should be between 10mm and 22mm (unless it is a fire door, the gap would be smaller).
Why Is Under Door Ventilation Important?
- Under door ventilation will increase the air circulation, helping maintain temperature balance, and control moisture levels, therefore preventing mould growth.
- Ventilation is an effective way of reducing condensation and maintaining a healthy and comfortable indoor environment.
- Air Circulation; Warm, moist air can become trapped in a room with poor ventilation, this increases the chance of condensation occurring on cooler surfaces such as external walls and windows. By enabling air to flow freely under a door, this creates a pathway for the moist air to escape and fresh air to enter. This circulation helps maintain a balanced humidity level and reduces the chances of condensation forming on surfaces.
- Mould prevention: Condensation forming on cold surfaces creates an ideal environment for mould growth.
- By ensuring under door ventilation can take place, you reduce the moisture levels, minimising the risk of mould formation, this should be done in partnership with other methods for reducing condensation, such as opening windows and trickle vents, and installing mechanical ventilation units in Bathrooms and kitchens
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