Blog written by Billy Gibbs, Estate Agent at Blackwood & Smith in Peebles
Why might you seek to improve your home’s energy efficiency?
Environmental impact
With increased awareness of our impact on our planet many people will want to do their bit to reduce their carbon footprint. It turns out that one of the best ways of doing this is by improving the energy efficiency of your property. The UK’s housing stock is one of the oldest in the entire world with 38% built before 1946. While this does mean that the UK benefits from more characterful properties it also has resulted in our houses being amongst the least efficient with many of our older properties requiring retrofitting of insulation which can be expensive. According to the National Housing Federation our homes are producing more carbon emissions than all the cars on our roads combined. Therefore, if you wish to have a positive impact on the environment looking at how you can improve your properties energy efficiency is a good place to start.
Increasing Costs
With the current cost of living crisis ensuing and the war in Ukraine pushing up energy prices everyone across the country is feeling the squeeze. We are now being forced to face up to the consequences of our inefficient energy consumption in the form of higher energy bills. In fact new research has shown that in England and Wales over £10 billion could be saved by consumers on energy bills if they insulated leaky homes resulting in a £390 annual saving for the average household. For years the high upfront cost has put off many homeowners from upgrading their properties’ efficiency, however the long-term consequence of this has been that these households have been left vulnerable to wild fluctuations in global energy prices and this lack of long term thinking is now costing UK households a fortune with typical heating bills now reaching £3000.
Future proofing your home’s value/energy bills
Before the increase in energy costs many homeowners felt no reason to fork out the upfront expense of insulating and improving their home’s efficiency. This has resulted in many being caught out. To avoid this scenario happening again, making as many improvements to your home as you can is the best way to future proof your home against similar future scenarios. Not only will this protect you from future increases in energy prices, but it is looking increasingly likely that it will improve the value of your home. Policymakers are now looking likely to start linking mortgage deals with a property’s energy performance and rewarding those who purchase more energy efficient homes with better terms. This would have a huge impact on the market as it would likely increase demand in newer, more energy efficient homes and take demand away from those homes that are inefficient. Therefore, as efficiency becomes more and more important it may be worth investing in your home now in order to ensure its value is not only maintained but possibly even increased through by improving its EPC rating.
What are the barriers to improving our home’s efficiency?
While there are many reasons to improve your home's energy efficiency and plenty of methods to do so, there is a reason why so few have carried out the work. The main reason is the upfront expense of carrying this work out. Take a heat pump for example. These have a cost of £12,000 - £17,000 according to EDF Energy and double-glazing windows have a cost of around £500 a window. While these do result in savings in the long run it can often take years to see these returns on investment in the form of lower energy bills. Besides price there are often legal barriers. For example, if you own a listed building, you may be legally unable to fit double glazed windows or solar panels to your roof as it could affect the appearance of the area. There is increasing pressure on the government to add incentives for people to carry out the work and even to share the financial burden of doing so. If the UK is to be net zero by 2050 then far more needs to be done far quicker than ever before.
How can I improve my home’s energy efficiency?
After considering the reasons for improving your home's efficiency rating and if you have decided it's the right thing for you then there could be several ways in which you can do this. The first and perhaps the best way to start is by instructing an energy performance certificate (EPC) which will give you a rating of your current level of efficiency as well as highlighting in what ways you can improve. There are many simple and low-cost changes such as replacing light bulbs with LEDs, insulating hot water pipes and installing smart controls to better control your energy use. The next step up from these measures is to install double or triple glazed windows which may help reduce the amount of heat that leaks out of your home. Perhaps even better still would be to install insulation to your property’s walls or roof. It is thought that roof insulation can reduce heat loss by up to 20%. After that there are more expensive measures such as replacing boilers with heat pumps or installing solar panels. These measures have high initial upfront costs however they are thought to be the most effective ways to keep your energy costs down over the years.
Is it all or nothing?
In conclusion there are many reasons to take steps to increase your home energy efficiency. For the good of the planet, for long term savings and to future proof your home against an unpredictable future. There are many ways in which you can do this from replacing your lightbulbs to installing solar panels. Of course, it is wise to recognise that these steps may be too expensive for many to carry out, especially in the middle of a cost of living crisis. However, we can all take some steps to make our homes more efficient and do our bit to reach net zero.
Contact Us.
Whilst we cannot help you improve the energy efficiency of your home our knowledgeable team and help you with a wide range of property matters. Ranging from issues relating to boundary and property disputes to discharging your outstanding mortgage.
Our dedicated Estate Agency and Conveyancing teams can advise you on buying and selling homes. As a solicitor and estate agent firm we can guide you from the very first meeting through the whole process.
Please get in contact as we would be delighted to discuss how we can help you!
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