Extract: How much can the average semi-detached home save by installing solid wall, cavity wall and loft insulation?
High energy tariffs are resulting in an increasing number of UK households living in fuel poverty, but there are ways that residents can significant reduce their energy bills.
Investing in improved insulation or a better boiler can cut hundreds of pounds off a home’s annual heating costs, while also reducing its excess carbon emissions, therefore increasing its green credentials.
Solid wall insulation
According to figures from the Energy Saving Trust, installing solid wall insulation in a semi-detached property can lower its energy bills by as much as £260 per year and its carbon dioxide emissions by up to 1,100 kg annually.
There are numerous schemes that can help households with the financial cost of fitting this type of insulation, such as the government-funded Green Deal Home Improvement Fund, as well as various regional initiatives.
In addition, installation costs generally pay for themselves within five years, as residents reap the benefits of warmer homes that are cheaper to heat.
Cavity wall insulation
Cavity wall insulation can also bring about significant energy bill savings, albeit not quite as large as those for solid wall insulation, as the former tends to be required in newer properties that are typically cheaper to heat.
Insulating the cavity walls in a semi-detached property can result in annual heating cost savings of around £160 and reduced carbon emissions of approximately 650 kg per year.
Loft insulation
Finally, installing loft insulation in the average semi-detached home can cut bills by up to £140 per year, alongside slashing its potentially harmful excess carbon emissions by as much as 580 kg on an annual basis.
What action is the government taking?
Although there are schemes available to encourage people to improve the standard of their insulation, energy efficiency campaigners believe the new government needs to do more to ensure this is an accessible achievement for all.
Speaking last month, Sophie Neuburg of Friends of the Earth stated: “The new government must make energy efficiency a major infrastructure commitment and set a target to properly insulate four million homes by 2020.”
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/domestic/content/solid-wall
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/domestic/cavity-wall
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/domestic/content/roof-and-loft
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