I’ve recently shared with you an article on how we reduce our bills using renewable energy, but I want to share some investments in the home that can also improve your energy efficiency. Making sure you have equipment that is working effectively will mean you are not wasting energy or money. Luckily there are a lot of competitive prices nowadays for great products as well as some intuitive smart technology to help keep our energy costs down.
The below do require an investment to start, but this will be cost effective in the long run. They could even improve the value of your home and make it more desirable to buyers in the future! Plus, you may need to replace your boiler or tank anyway, in which case you should ensure you are choosing an eco-friendly replacement. Professional installers will advise you, but always do your own research too as they may be incentivised by a specific company.
Here are the ways you can make sure your home heating system is more energy efficient:
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Upgrade your boiler
We all dread the day we have boiler problems, because boilers come with pretty hefty price tags. A new boiler is costly, but if yours is old or working inefficiently then it’s a worthwhile investment. Boiler installation from My Plumber starts at just £1650 which is actually half the price I was expecting for a brand new boiler. According to Which? The average installation price is between £3000 and £5000, so make sure you search online to get quotes and find a competitive price.
Remember, prices can vary from installers and change without prior notice. That’s why it’s important to always take note of the boiler installation cost before upgrading your boiler. If you’re interested in working out how much a new boiler may cost, check out this boiler installation cost calculator.
I asked Google how long a boiler should last and it says 15 years. That’s a pretty long time, making the boiler above only £100 per year. To keep boilers running efficiently it’s recommended to have a service every year. Choosing an energy-efficient and reliable brand will ensure you don’t waste money on wasted energy or a poor-performing product that needs costly repairs. You can also greatly reduce the carbon emissions that your home has as well, as boilers tend to count for nearly 60% of your carbon emissions.
Install an eco-friendly hot water tank
You probably already know you can get eco-friendly white goods and many of us always shop for those with an A rating without fail, but did you know you can also choose an eco-friendly hot water tank? The revolutionary Mixergy tank will save time, energy and money. Conventional water tanks heat all the water in the tank, which when you think of it, is really wasteful! You might only need to use a small amount of hot water at any one time.
Mixergy have developed technology that can float the hot water on top of the cold water in the tank and heat up water 5x faster than standard tanks. This means it can only heat up the water you need to use. Plus it has smart technology that can sense and learn how much water you use each day so it will know exactly how much to heat for your own personalised use.
Link your hot water to your solar panels
So not everyone has solar panels, but they are a worthwhile investment that are worth considering. I’ve often seen schemes to have them installed for free too, the catch being you get to use the solar power generated, but you don’t get the cheques from what is sold back to the grid. Either way, if you have solar panels, then you should look into other ways you can benefit from the energy produced. We invested in an ImmerSun immersion hot water heater. This clever little bit of kit utilises the energy produced by our solar panels and feeds it into our hot water immersion tank. This means we get free hot water when the sun is shining and not just free electricity!
