There are many ways in which heat may be escaping your home. Finding out why this might be happening and how to address it can prove essential to keeping you and everyone in your home warm and keeping your bills down. So, let’s get right to it!
Heating System Issues
There are many ways in which heat may be escaping your home. Finding out why this might be happening and how to address it can prove essential to keeping you and everyone in your home warm and keeping your bills down. So, let’s get right to it!
First and foremost, it’s essential that your heating system is working properly to not only prevent heat loss but to keep you and everyone in your home safe.
It’s important to have your boiler serviced once a year to ensure it is working correctly and that no fixes are required.
A gas boiler must be serviced by a Gas Safe registered engineer, while an oil boiler has to be serviced by an OFTEC engineer. As for an electric boiler, you’d need to hire an electrical engineer or heating engineer. Of course, eventually every boiler will need replacing.
Beyond that, you should bleed your radiators at least once a year. You can do this DIY (once following the manufacturer’s instructions to a T and proceeding with caution – e.g. ensuring your heating is off and is not scheduled to turn on soon) or by hiring a professional.
While an inefficient heating system is not necessarily a form of direct heat loss from rooms within your property, it is still a way in which your home could be missing out on sufficient and longer-lasting warmth.
Only Having Single-Glazed Windows
Single glazed windows are notorious for letting heat out. Double-glazing, on the other hand (i.e. window units featuring two panes of glass rather than one) offer around 30-40% more efficiency than their single-glazed counterparts and the time it takes for heat to leave through these units is generally double that as is the case for single-glazed windows.
To have all single-glazed windows in a property swapped out for double-glazing is likely to cost you somewhere in the region of £4,000 to £12,000, although the total price could end up higher or lower depending on various factors.
Lack of Wall Insulation
If your home lacks wall insulation, this can contribute significantly to heat leaving your home. Therefore, you may want to look into having the right type of wall insulation added to your home.
The two common types of wall insulation in domestic properties are cavity wall and solid wall insulation.
In terms of costs, cavity wall insulation is generally priced somewhere in the region of £1,000 to £3,000. On the other hand, solid wall insulation may cost anywhere from several thousand pounds to more than £10,000. This will depend on key factors like whether you want external or internal solid wall insulation.
That being said, there are schemes available that grant financial assistance to cover these costs, one example being the ECO4 insulation scheme if you live in the UK. If you are eligible for grants like this one, you can have professionals come and assess your home for which insulation type will be best for you. Assistance in covering the costs of insulation upgrades means that insulation can be an affordable way to reduce your energy bill and keep your house retaining heat.
One notable advantage of going with external wall insulation is that it can better protect against the elements, while adding an extreme dimension of visual appeal to your property. That said, if access or planning approval issues apply then internal wall insulation may be the only option.
Moreover, from a preferential perspective, you might like how the outside of your home currently looks and prefer to keep it that way. Internal wall insulation may also end up more affordable. However, this will depend on key factors like how much interior design alterations could cost along as part of having interior wall insulation installed.
Ultimately, it is important to ensure you opt for the right type of wall insulation for your home and one that best meets your budget and preferences.
Poorly Insulated Flooring
Note: The total cost estimates below assume that you have insulation added beneath one floor as opposed to adding insulations to many floors.
Another notable way in which heat may be leaving your home is if your flooring lacks sufficient insulation. Of course, the type (and therefore cost involved) of flooring you’re considering having insulated will determine what type of insulation is needed.
For example, to have suspended timber floor insulation added, it may cost you around £300 to £900 in total. Alternatively, insulation beneath a concrete floor may set you back between £200 and £800.
As you can see, the price of floor insulation can vary quite a lot. This is largely down to the type of insulation used, although the amount of insulation material required to cover the relevant space and the price of labour are also notable cost factors.
Lack of Soft Draught Proofing Measures
While you may want to consider costlier (although certainly more effective) forms of draught proofing, including those mentioned above, there are many low-cost or even free ways of improving your home’s capacity to keep the heat in.
Among the best ‘soft’ draught proofing measures are door draught excluders, weather stripping for windows and adding a brush or flap to your letterbox.
Whatever the case, it’s important that you take time to ensure you use the right product for any given draught proofing measure(s) you choose to take. Also, always follow the manufacturer’s instructions to a T and, if in doubt, or if required, be sure to hire a professional.
Leave a Reply