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Start your planOne thing to do this weekend to boost your insulation
Find out how to improve your insulation and cut your energy costs no matter what your enthusiasm level is
Want to cut your energy bills but short on time, budget or, well, energy? You might be surprised to find there's usually always something that can be done to improve your home's efficiency.
A better insulated home will be a more comfortable, consistent temperature, and saves money on energy bills.
No matter how busy you are, your enthusiasm for DIY, and whether you are a tenant or a homeowner, you can probably tick something off the to-do list. And it doesn't need to be a big job - though there are plenty of those available as well if you do feel up to a bigger task.
Find out what you can do starting over a weekend, with jobs we have broken down into low, medium, high and professional efforts.
For an overview of the long-term upgrades and possible savings available for your own home, use our personalised home energy planning service:
Low effort: check your EPC, adjust heating controls and start draughtproofing
- Starting at the very beginning, you can get an initial look at your home's energy performance by tracking down its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This will explain your property’s current and potential energy efficiency, and suggest possible improvements. Head to our guide to finding and reading your EPC to get started.
- Next, make sure your boiler, radiators or other heat sources are working efficiently, and that any heating controls, timers and thermostats are set up to schedules that suit your home. Even a couple of extra hours a day when you're generating heat you don't need will add to your bills. Get our top tips for managing your heating controls.
- Now you can think about draughtproofing, which helps keep cold air out and warm air inside. You'll need to pay a visit to a DIY shop, or have a look at online options, but low-cost, off the shelf products can be bought to block draughts coming through windows, doors, keyholes, and letterboxes. If you have a fireplace that is no longer lit, buy a draught excluder to fit into the chimney and stop wind whistling down it. Get started with our guide to draught proofing.
- And if you're more tempted by the idea of a weekend spent adding to your home's aesthetics than a trip to a DIY shop, think about soft furnishings such as curtains and rugs, which will also keep heat in.
The good thing about surface-level draught proofing is that tenants as well as homeowners can still try all of these changes to make your home cosier and warmer.
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Medium effort: more extensive draughtproofing jobs
The following jobs can all be done in a weekend, but will require a little more effort once you get your draught proofing equipment home.
- Adding foil behind radiators will make sure their heat is reflected back into the room, and is especially helpful where they are mounted on uninsulated external walls. You could just use tin foil, but you can buy specialised reflective foil panels cheaply that come with some padding and an adhesive back that will make them easier to cut to size and install.
- If you have a hot water tank, buying and fitting an insulation jacket is a quick win that will likely pay for itself in just a year.
- If you find your hot water loses a lot of heat on its way from your boiler to your taps, and there are exposed hot water pipes that you can see, buy and fit foam pipe insulation to keep it warm on its journey.
- To prevent draughts around windows and doors, you can try foam strips, foam sealant or metallic or plastic brush strips.
Read our guide on how to draught proof your home for further tips and to get the low down on what's best for what type of window.
High effort: insulate your loft
We can't pretend this is an easy job, but it's certainly achievable over a weekend for people who don't mind a bit of DIY.
As heat rises, one of the main ways it escapes from your home is through the ceiling. Insulating the loft area, usually with rolls of batt or blanket insulation will help prevent this, and is one of the most accessible ways to make a considerable dent in your heating bills.
The optimum depth of loft insulation is 270mm, and all homes should aim to reach this. If yours doesn't have any, or has old insulation that may not be up to scratch, adding more will make your home cosier and cheaper to heat.
Our comprehensive guide on how to insulate a loft will take you through the process.
If you are a tenant and concerned your home has insufficient loft insulation, you'll need to contact your landlord or estate agent and ask them to improve it.
Find out everything you need to know about different types of loft insulation, or loft insulation costs and savings.
Professional effort: hire a trader to insulate your loft, walls or floor
If you're keen to invest in your home's energy efficiency, you could always forget the DIY and use the weekend to research a local trader and ask for some quotes for a bigger insulation job.
You can pay a professional to insulate your loft if you don't want to do it yourself.
Get an idea of how much you can expect to pay in our guide to loft insulation costs and savings.
Around a third of heat is lost through external walls. However, insulating them can be an expensive, technical job, requiring professional expertise.
Most homes built before the 1920s have walls made from solid bricks, which do little to help with insulating. But adding insulation to solid walls is a big undertaking. If it's fitted outside, it will change the look of your home. Fitting it inside will require redecorating and moving any features like coving or picture rails.
Read more about solid wall insulation costs and savings to see how it works and could benefit you.
In contrast, homes built in the past 100 years generally have two layers of wall, with a small cavity space in between.
This helps prevent rainwater from entering the property, but leaves space for heat to escape if it is not insulated.
Cavity walls are easier to insulate, and the process is less invasive than solid wall insulation. You'll still need a professional to undertake the work, and it pays to make sure they give good advice and come well recommended.
Our guide to cavity wall insulation installation explains everything you need to know before taking on this project.
Heat can also escape through the floor, so having insulated flooring is a key way to stop this. Styles, costs and savings will depend on the flooring you have. It's a good idea to do this as part of other renovation work - if you're laying new floors or underfloor heating, for example.
Find out more about about floor insulation options and costs.
Choose a Which? Trusted Trader
As with any home improvement work, it's crucial to find a trader you can rely on to carry out any insulation work in your home. You can use our Which? Trusted Traders scheme to find a reliable, trustworthy insulation installer to help upgrade your property:
