How Do You Know if Your Home is Inefficient?

Posted under Blog by Ruth

There has been much talk recently of how homes are wasting energy, contributing to the carbon footprint of Britain as a whole.

If you’re trying to understand how ‘green’ your home is then the easiest way to start is by thinking about how old it is. The truth is that older homes are likely to be far less efficient than newer homes – and if your home was built in the last eight years it probably won’t need much work to make it more energy efficient.

Green measures that you should look for in your home include:

• Double glazing,
• An efficient boiler,
• Well insulated walls, lofts and floors.

On the other hand, if your home was built in the early 1900s, or even earlier, you will usually find that your carbon footprint is a lot higher. This is because it’s unlikely that you have wall insulated, you may have an open fireplace, and you will only have single glazed windows.

The more external walls that your home has, the more heat that is also likely to be lost through them, and the less energy efficient your home will be. If you share walls with your neighbours then the heat is lost both ways, so you won’t need to worry as much.

The type of wall you have also plays a huge factor – and if you have un-insulated solid walls (usually found in older properties) you could be losing a lot more energy than if you have un-insulated cavity walls.

Keep reading this week to learn more about the key areas you should think about improving if your home’s energy efficiency isn’t quite up to scratch.