Heating Your Home
Having an efficient heating system running on a low carbon fuel is one of the most important steps you can take to reduce your fuel bills and your homes carbon footprint
In a typical household, over half of the fuel bills are spent on heating and hot water. An efficient heating system that you can control easily can help reduce your fuel bills and reduce your carbon emissions.
If we are to reach the net zero carbon emissions target set by the UK Government, we will need to reduce the carbon emissions from heating our homes by 95% over the next 30 years.
To put this into perspective, the average household generated 2,745kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) from heating in 2017. By 2050, we need to reduce this to just 138kg per household.
There are likely to be significant changes ahead to how we heat our homes to meet these targets. If you are ready to make those changes or if you want to make the best of what you have already, there is a lot you can do right now to make your heating system more energy efficient. saving yourself money on your fuel bills, as well as reducing your carbon emissions.
Energy Saving Tips:
Replacing inefficient heating
Heating accounts for about 53% of what you spend in a year on energy bills, so efficient heating can make a big difference.
Fuel Type:
A mains gas boiler is likely to be the cheapest option when compared to oil, LPG, electric or solid fuel heating per kWh.
If you are looking to also reduce your carbon footprint or do not have a gas supply it is worth considering a low carbon alternative such as an air or ground source heat pump. The intial cost can be high comapred to a new boiler but with schemes such as the Renewable Heat Incentive they can work out cheaper overall. It is also possible to take advantage of different funding options that reduce the intial cost of the heat pump.
It is also important to note that a heat pump on its own will not necessarily be the correct option for every householder. It is important to take advice before commiting to any new heating system.
If you would like more details about your heating options please contact us.
Solar PV & Battery Storage
Solar Photovoltaics (PV) captures the sun's energy and coverts it into electricity that you can use in your home. Battery storage is exactly as it sounds, it allows you to store electricity that you have generated to use in the evening when your Solar PV panels are no longer actively generating electricity.
It is possible to combine Solar PV with a heat pump to further reduce running costs and your carbon footprint.
There is a large amount of grant funding available for Solar PV & battery storage which will significantly reduce or completly pay for the system to be installed.
If you would like further details please contact our team.
Heating controls
There is a wide range of heating controls available that will help your heating system work more efficiently and help keep your bills down.
Smart controls allow you to control your heating, when not at home so that your heating is only on when it is needed. It is also possible to have smart TRV's on each radiator to control which radiators to heat and which do not need to be. Smart controls can also feed into other smart household items such as lightbulbs and personal and home alarm systems.
Heat recovery devices and systems
Some of the heat generated by your boiler escapes through the flue. Passive flue gas heat recovery systems capture some of this lost energy and use it to heat your water, making your heating system more efficient and saving you money. They are only available for combi boilers as they provide heat to the cold water supply that is feeding the hot water output.
Some models include heat storage, which increases the savings but usually increases the installation cost. Some new boilers are made with flue gas heat recovery already incorporated, so there is no need to buy a separate heat recovery device.
Hot water cylinders
New hot water cylinders are factory insulated to help keep your hot water at the right temperature for longer. They play an important role in supplying you with readily available hot water, so it’s important that they are fully insulated to prevent heat escaping.
If you have an old cylinder you could save around £18 a year by topping up the insulation to 80mm. Alternatively if you are replacing your cylinder, you can save energy by making sure the cylinder is no bigger than you need it.
Chemical inhibitors
Corrosion deposits in an older central heating system can cause a substantial reduction in the effectiveness of the radiators, and the system as a whole. The build-up of scale in heating circuits and on boiler components can cause a reduction in efficiency too.
Using an effective chemical inhibitor can decrease the corrosion rate and prevent the build-up of sludge and scale, thus preventing deterioration and helping to maintain efficiency.