Energy efficiency at home

Around a third of all the heat lost in an uninsulated home is through the walls. Insulating your walls can help make your home more energy efficient and could reduce the amount you spend on heating bills¹.

If your home has solid walls made of stone or brick, you could install internal or external insulation. Before you install solid wall insulation, it’s a good idea to think about factors such as your budget, as it can cost around £12,000. 

If your home was built after 1920, it likely has cavity walls. If you’re planning on insulating these, you’ll need to look into cavity wall insulation. For more details on your wall type and whether insulation could be right for your home, visit Energy Saving Trust.

A quarter of an uninsulated home’s heat can be lost through the roof or loft². Insulating your loft, attic or flat roof could be an effective way to reduce heat loss and your heating bills. However, there are things to consider when installing insulation, like storage space and ventilation. For more information, see Energy Saving Trust’s guide on roof and loft insulation.

Cold feet? Your uninsulated ground floor could be to blame³. If you have an older home, you likely have suspended timber floors. By insulating under the floorboards on the ground floor, you could save around £80 a year in a typical property or up to £135 if you live in a detached house. However, it could be difficult to install if there’s no easy access to the space underneath your house.

These could be an alternative to your old gas boiler as they’re a low carbon heating option, but they can be expensive to install. The Energy Saving Trust has guides on what’s involved to install an air source or ground source heat pump.

Locally supplied wood logs or pellets could heat your home and water. As well as being a lower carbon option, wood-fuelled biomass boilers could save homeowners around £700 a year compared to an LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) heating system⁶. If you have enough space, a biomass boiler could be an option for you. However, they can be expensive to install and you'll need a local, sustainable wood supply of either logs or pellets. The amount of work they require can vary depending on the model you get, as you might need to put logs in a few times a day and remove ash every now and then. 

The UK government has a Boiler Upgrade Scheme which gives grant for people in England and Wales who want to install a heat pump or a biomass boiler. You could get a grant of up to £7,500 – for more information, visit the Energy Saving Trust website.

You could create your own renewable energy by adding solar panels to your roof. Also, a solar water heating system uses energy from the sun to warm water in a hot water cylinder or thermal store. See how much you could save.

How you could reduce what you use at home

We asked the experts at Energy Saving Trust for simple ways to help you save energy at home, which could help your pocket as well as the planet.

Keen to stay on top of your bills and reduce the amount of energy you use? 

We asked the experts at Energy Saving Trust for their guidance on how to take better control of your heating. With a few small steps, you could improve the way you heat your home. By installing and using your heating controls effectively, you could save money on your heating bills and lower your carbon emissions.

If you have a residential mortgage with us, we’re offering a Home Health Check, in partnership with British Gas. For £50, we can:

• Give you an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating, which looks at how much energy your home is using
• Suggest ways you can potentially save on energy and costs
• Talk to you about your home and energy habits, and answer any questions you might have.

By applying, you’re agreeing to our T&Cs.