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Home energy advice: a plain-English checklist

You do not have to do everything at once. The trick is the right order: stop wasting heat first, then heat and power your home more cheaply. Here is how we would think about it, whether you are in a 1600s cottage or a new build.

Start here: quick, low-cost wins (any home)

• Draught-proof doors, windows, letterboxes and loft hatches. Cheap, and you feel it the same day.
• Turn your boiler flow temperature down to around 50°C on a combi, which can cut gas use noticeably with no loss of comfort.
• Bleed radiators, fit reflector panels behind those on external walls, and keep them clear of furniture.
• Set heating and hot water on timers for when you actually need them, and drop the thermostat by 1°C.
• Switch remaining halogen bulbs to LED, and deal with standby power on the worst offenders.

Older and solid-wall homes (pre-1930s)

• Loft insulation to 270mm is usually the best value upgrade of all.
• Solid walls lose a lot of heat. Internal or external wall insulation is a bigger job but transformative; do it sympathetically on period homes.
• Secondary glazing keeps the character of original windows while cutting draughts and heat loss.
• Insulate suspended timber floors and seal the gaps at skirting level.
• Watch for damp and ventilation: older homes need to breathe, so get fabric advice before sealing everything up.

Newer and cavity-wall homes

• Check cavity wall insulation is present and intact; top up loft insulation if it is thin.
• Newer, better-sealed homes benefit most from good controls and, often, a heat pump.
• Consider mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in very airtight homes.

Then: heat and power your home cleanly

• Once the fabric is sorted, an air source heat pump is efficient and cheap to run, with up to 7,500 to 9,000 pounds of grant.
• Solar panels pay back well, especially paired with a battery and used alongside the right tariff.
• Get paid for what you export through the Smart Export Guarantee, and charge an EV or hot water from your own solar.

Always worth doing

• Make sure you are on a fair tariff. Start with our bill review and our good rates guide.
• Borrow our thermal camera to see exactly where your home loses heat.
• Get at least three quotes, and let us check them before you sign.

Stuck on any of this? That is exactly what we are here for. Ask us anything.