If your home is not properly insulated, you can still take simple steps to reduce heat loss and keep your energy bills down while also helping the environment. Even making a few small adjustments can help to prevent heat escaping, making your home more comfortable.
Draught-proofing
Draughts around window and door edges where there are cracks and gaps let in external air. But you can block these using draught-proofing, which you can buy in a DIY store or online. It doesn’t take long and you’ll instantly feel the benefit. If you have spotlights, consider using downlight covers, which are available from a number of suppliers such as https://www.thermahooddirect.com/. These also stop heat from escaping through gaps.
Insulate radiators, pipes and tanks
Another quick and easy way to prevent heat loss is to insulate behind your radiators using reflector panels and by lagging your water tank if you have one. You can also insulate both outdoor and indoor pipes during the cold winter months.
Energy efficient windows
If you can afford it, upgrade your windows and doors to more energy efficient ones. Double or even triple glazed windows result in both a warmer and quieter home.
Loft and cavity wall insulation
You can also install cavity wall insulation, which fills the gap between outside walls or floor insulation, with mineral wool put beneath floorboards. Other tips are to block unused chimneys, which also let hot air escape.
How external wall insulation keeps heat in
Where walls lose a lot of heat, insulation can be fixed to the outside of the building. A typical external system has several layers. The first is an insulation board, most often expanded polystyrene, although mineral wool and phenolic boards are also used. A primer goes over it to keep moisture out and make the system waterproof, held in place with glass fibre mesh and fixing anchors while it dries. A second primer layer follows, and the wall is finished in render.
The insulation limits the heat that would otherwise escape through the walls by conduction, convection and radiation, which helps to lower energy bills. Because the inside face of the walls stays warmer, it is also less likely to attract condensation from the air.
Installation is usually finished in under a week and causes little disruption indoors, since all the work happens outside. The Energy Saving Trust advises using a specialist installer so the system is weatherproof and reaches the thermal performance it should.