If you are wondering how to reduce heat loss from your house, here we explore the major culprits and solutions with the greatest cost benefits.
Do you feel like your home is not keeping the heat in like it should? Or do you simply want to reduce your property’s heat loss as much as possible?
Heat will inevitably leave your home, but the rate at which it does can make a huge difference to your bills and carbon footprint.
But how do you detect heat loss? What areas are the most common problem areas? And most importantly, what measures provide the best cost-benefit?
Let's explore...
Where Does Heat Loss in the House Occur?
Heat loss can occur in multiple areas of the home and is especially problematic in uninsulated homes and those with draughts.
An estimated 25% of the heat generated by your boiler will escape the house via the roof.
A further 35% will be lost via the walls and gaps around windows and doors and approximately 10% will be lost via the floor.
These areas of the property combined are referred to as the 'thermal envelope' and by increasing the thermal efficiency of these areas you can reduce the rate of heat loss from your home.
Modern building regulations ensure that all new properties are built to achieve a certain standard of thermal efficiency, however, in older housing stock, this is not the case and significant heat loss can occur.
Not only is heat loss an environmental issue, but it means these properties are more expensive to heat and in many cases, they can be very uncomfortable to live in, especially in the depths of winter.
So, what exactly can you do?
You can reduce the rate of heat loss by taking the necessary steps to reduce the rate heat travels through your home's thermal envelope, here's how:
Start with the Roof
Considering that the roof of your home is responsible for a significant amount of heat loss, it's wise to start here.
For example, a quarter of heat is lost via the roof in an uninsulated home.
So installing a layer of insulating material in your attic can make a significant impact, helping to keep the heat in your home for longer, potentially reducing your central heating use and therefore energy bills.
Wall Insulation
The walls of the property are the next major area to take care of, but how you do this will depend on the type of wall you have.
It could either be a solid wall or a cavity wall.
In general, houses built before 1930 will have a solid wall and after this period they will have a cavity wall.
If you have a cavity wall, the good news is that these are extremely easy to insulate with a type of cavity wall insulation.
Commonly this is achieved using a special type of material like spray foam, but you will need to hire a professional company to have this work completed.
Once completed, the insulation will help to slow down heat loss and ensure the heat stays in your home for longer.
However, if you have a solid wall things are a little more complicated.
Since there is no space internally, the solid wall needs to be insulated on the inside or outside of the property which is much more expensive and laborious to execute.
Insulating the outside wall typically means that cladding will be used, so the aesthetic appearance of your external wall will be impacted.
On the other hand, if you decide to have the internal side of your solid wall insulated this will typically mean losing some floor space.
Consider Double Glazing
If you have single-pane windows then a significant amount of heat will be lost via them, so getting them replaced with double glazing will be well worth it in the long term.
However, it's important to be aware of the areas involved and how concentrating on your walls is much more cost-effective.
For example, consider the area of your wall is vs the area of the window - there is typically more wall area, which is why it's more financially wise to insulate them before you insulate the windows.
Additionally, double-glazing is not cheap, especially when you compare it to the cost of wall insulation.
Draught Proof Your Home
Draught proofing is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to save energy in your home.
A draught is defined as a cold vortex of air and can lead to a drop in temperature and heat loss.
Gaps can result in losing warm air and letting cold air in.
A draught-free home is comfortable at lower temperatures, so you will likely use less heating.
For instance, doors have lots of areas where draughts can arise including the keyhole, letterbox and gaps around the edges.
You can buy purpose-built draught-proofing solutions for each of these areas, including letterbox and keyhole flaps, as well as brush strips for gaps at the top and bottom.
You can read our complete guide on draught-proofing here.
Insulate Your Floor
Floors can get cold, especially if they have draughts.
You can deal with this by laying down carpets, laminates or even rugs to help cover the gaps between the floorboards or hardwood flooring.
You may also want to consider underfloor heating which can work in conjunction with your existing gas boiler or heat pump.
However, it's worth noting that underfloor heating can be expensive to run and the initial installation can be costly.
Should You Upgrade Your Boiler or Heating System?
If your current heating system is old it may be extremely inefficient, especially compared to modern systems, which means it may be wasting a considerable amount of energy.
In fact, if you have an old non-condensing boiler that is G-rated, you could save as much as 1,220 kg of CO2 each year by replacing it with a modern condensing boiler.
That also translates to a saving of £840 a year in energy bill savings.
How so?
Modern condensing boilers are at least 92% efficient, which means they will convert 1 unit of gas to 0.92 units of usable heat.
Compare that to an old G-rated boiler that was around 65% efficient i.e. for every 1 unit of gas burned, they only convert 0.65 to usable heat.
Related reading:
Invest in Smart Heating Controls
Smart heating controls include things like smart thermostats and smart thermostatic radiator valves, with leading examples being the Google Nest, the Hive smart thermostat and the tado.
These devices enable you to take more control over how you use your home heating, allowing you to monitor it better and ultimately avoid energy waste.
In fact, according to Energy Saving Trust, installing heating controls could save you as much as £75 a year.
One of the most notable features of smart thermostats is zonal heating, which essentially allows you to heat certain zones in your home, instead of heating your entire house, i.e. rooms you are currently using.
This does require them to be used in conjunction with smart thermostatic radiator valves that automatically adjust the thermostat on your radiators in line with the settings.
Another clever and popular feature is geofencing, which tracks you based on your mobile’s location, so should you leave the house your heating will be turned off to avoid wasting energy and money.
You can read all about the best smart thermostats here.
PS You can now also read our complete review of the best thermostatic radiator valves in the UK.
Want to upgrade your boiler?
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