How to Make an Old House More Energy Efficient

If you have an old property (perhaps 50, 70, or even 100+ years old), it will be lacking in energy efficiency on various fronts. 

In fact, you should be able to find out exactly how efficient (or rather inefficient) your property is by referring to your Energy Performance Certificate.

You’ll very likely find that it has a rating of somewhere between E and G. 

If you want to get your home’s efficiency up to an efficiency rating of D, C, or even higher, you’ll need to change up quite a few things.

But how exactly do you make an old house more energy efficient?

Let’s take a look.

Benefits of Improving Your Home’s Energy Efficiency

Before looking at the various ways of increasing your property’s energy efficiency, it’s important to consider the many advantages this would offer.

Here are the key benefits of improving your property’s energy efficiency:

• Likely to reduce your heating bills.

• Makes it easier to keep your home warm.

• Will lower your carbon footprint.

• The increased property value should you wish to sell it at a later date.

• May prolong the lifespan of your boiler and heating system since they would not be worked as much as before.

How to Improve Your Old Home’s Energy Efficiency

Note: For price figures, see our ‘Cost of Improving Your Old Home’s Energy Efficiency' section toward the end of this article.

Please be aware that if you live in a conservation area or even a listed building, you should check with your local council before having any work undertaken, to be sure that there are no regulatory issues with the proposed changes.

So, what steps can I take to make my old property more energy efficient and how much might it cost?

#1 Install New Doors and Windows

If your home has single-glazed windows, we recommend replacing them with double-glazing.

While triple-glazing offers even more insulation, in our view, double-glazing is the most cost-effective solution, unless you feel you really need triple-glazing or even if money is no object.

Either way, with new modern double- or triple-glazed windows being installed in place of your old single-glazed windows, you would also benefit from the frame material used and its overall design.

Of course, you can still opt for modern windows that have an old-fashioned style or design, so they won’t stand out like a sore thumb.

As for doors, you should also consider having new, modern and better-insulated doors added to your home.

Moreover, adding draught excluders under these doors would also help or if you wanted to keep within a more limited budget, why not add draught excluders to your existing doors?

#2 Install Loft and Wall Insulation

While you have your property’s walls insulated, for an older property, it’s probably ideal to focus on having your loft insulated instead.

This is because if you insulate the inside of a wall, the exterior wall will end up colder and this could lead to moisture issues since older properties came with no damp proof course.

Additionally, it's important to remember that 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. 

#3 Consider New Energy Efficient Appliances

Returning to the more costly solutions, you may want to upgrade various appliances in your home. 

UK appliances feature energy labels which tell you how energy efficient they are.

Looking at these labels (and considering how old each appliance is), would help you know which household appliances to prioritize in terms of the ones most in need of replacing.

Of course, your budget would also be a factor here.

Appliances that you might want to replace with modern, more efficient alternatives include:

• Your boiler *

• Washing machine

• Tumble dryer

• Cooking facilities

*If your boiler is old enough and worn down to the point that it could pose safety hazards, you should definitely have it replaced. Do not use a potentially unsafe boiler.

For instance, if your combi boiler is over 10 years old, it’s very likely to be G-rated under the ErP (Energy Related Products Directive) boiler rating system, meaning it could be less than 70% efficient.

According to the Energy Saving Trust making this upgrade has a significant advantage:

#4 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. 

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. 

#5 Install Draught Excluders

Draughts are currents of cold air commonly located in gaps around doors and windows, as well as holes around pipework. 

They are extremely common in old-build properties and the best part is that it's a cheap and easy DIY project. 

Installing draught excluders in your home could save as much as £200 each year and the best part is that it’s an easy DIY project that doesn’t need a professional.

Read all about the steps you can take in our draught-proofing guide. 

#6 Other Low-Cost and Free Solutions

There are many ways of making an older house more energy efficient that won’t break the bank and some approaches are even free.

These steps could prove helpful as additions to more expensive upgrades you pay for.

Alternatively, suppose you don’t currently have the budget to have larger tasks undertaken, such as having your windows replaced with double- or triple-glazed units. In that case, these budget-friendly measures could help lower your bills in the meantime.

Here are some low-cost ideas worth considering:

• Plastic Lining for Windows - Add plastic lining to your windows.

• Draught Excluders - Fit draught excluders to your letterboxes (so not just to your doors).

• Thermal Curtains - Installing heavy thermal curtains that are designed to keep the heat in.

• LED lighting – You should swap out your old light bulbs for modern LED bulbs.

• Insulating Your Floorboards - In relation to old timber floorboards, you can use a suitable thin foam to push into the cracks or fill gaps using an appropriate sealant. Take steps to ensure you purchase the correct product for the job and carefully follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

• Loft Hatch Insulation - Loft hatch insulation would be a smart addition to go with the rest of your loft insulation (unless it was already added to the initial work).

• Using Your Existing Curtains in a Smart Way - If you have a radiator beneath your window, you should keep them open while the radiator is on and then pull them over afterwards to keep the heat in (if you don’t have a radiator beneath your window, you can just keep your curtains pulled over throughout the evening). You could have your curtains hemmed if you have a radiator below the window such that the bottom of the curtains does not touch the top of your radiator. This could be done by a Haberdasher. Either way, make sure that your curtain is safe next to a radiator as there is a very slight safety hazard to consider here.

• Adding Rugs to Your Timber Floors - Placing rugs atop wooden floors to limit cold air coming up through cracks in the floorboards, which would, in turn, cool the room a little. Of course, this may be free if you have enough rugs to work with as is.

• Hot Water Cylinder Insulation - Insulate your hot water cylinder using a hot water cylinder jacket.

• Boiler/Central Heating Additions - If you have a suitable boiler/central heating system, you might want to have a room thermostat or/and thermostatic radiator valves installed.

• Smart Meter – Related to the above point, you should consider swapping out your old-fashioned meter for a modern smart meter.

• Annual Boiler Servicing - We strongly recommend that you have your boiler serviced annually. While this is not a legal requirement (unless, for example, you are a landlord), it is highly recommended. Not only is it important from a safety point of view, but it can prolong the lifespan of your boiler and, in turn, ensure a more efficient heating system for longer. Also, you’ll generally need to have your boiler serviced once a year in order for your boiler warranty to remain valid.

Beyond that, here are some ideas that shouldn’t cost anything:

• Avoid Blocking Your Radiators with Furniture - Keep your furniture away from radiators where possible. This will help heat circulate throughout the room more.

• Pull Over Your Curtains at Night - Be sure to pull over your curtains in the evening time. The only exception here would be if you have a radiator beneath your window.

Cost of Improving Your Old Home’s Energy Efficiency

So, what would the main tasks discussed above actually cost?

These being the jobs we looked at prior to the ‘low-cost and free solutions’ section.

Please note that the price estimates given below include the labour and supply costs.

Here are the average costs of increasing the energy efficiency of your old property:

• Replacing Single-Glazing with Double Glazing - £4,000 to £5,000

• New Modern Interior Doors - £600 to £1,650

• Loft Insulation - £200 to £500

• New Boiler - £800 to £2,800 *

• Washing Machine - £500 to £1,000

• Tumble dryer - £300 to £800

• Cooker - £150 to £250

• Hob - £100 to £200 ^

*If you’d like to have a new boiler installed but are concerned about the cost, you’ll be glad to know that there are alternatives. For one, you could purchase a boiler on finance. In other words, you could buy now and pay later.

^ It is best to have your oven and hob powered in the same way (i.e., an electric hob and electric cooker together or alternatively, maybe a gas hob and gas cooker)

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