Reducing your carbon footprint may feel like the right thing to do and you may have heard a lot about it on the internet and in the media; but what are the best ways to do it?
Firstly, there are two main reasons for reducing your footprint, although they do seem to merge somewhere along the line. You may want to reduce your carbon footprint to help the environment and future generations to live in a world that is less polluted; or on the other hand you may be looking to save some money by reducing your energy bills.
Whichever is the case, you may want to consider measures such as insulating your house, getting double glazing and reducing the energy consumption in your home by using appliances economically and efficiently.
Are Your Walls Letting You Down?
You may be wondering about how you can reduce your energy bills and save money. You could be washing at 30, taking showers rather than baths and turning off lights as you leave the room; however did you know that the majority of energy used in your home is lost through your walls?Amazingly, there are 5.8 million homes in the UK that still need cavity wall insulation.
Do You have Cavity Walls?
Cavity wall insulation is one of many solutions to help reduce heat loss in your home by up to a staggering 60% in some cases. This could save you a considerable amount of money on your energy bills and reduce the need to rely on heating to keep you warm. The first thing that you will need to do is find out what type of walls you have. It may be that you have solid walls, which would mean that cavity wall insulation would not be suitable for you. If your home was built recently then there may already be cavity wall insulation and you can have a professional run an inspection and find out for you.
How Cavity Wall Insulation Could Benefit You
Typically 35% of the heat is lost through your walls. So this means that 35% of what you are paying for is being lost, without you getting any benefit from it. That is a huge amount of wasted money and energy and it is well worth addressing.
Cavity wall insulation is very easy to install and only requires making a hole in your brickwork outside your home, so it will not interfere with anything in your home. Insulating material is then pumped into your walls where it will stay and help to insulate your home.
The benefits of cavity wall insulation can also include not only a warmer home in the winter, but a cooler one in the summer. Insulation not only keeps heat in the home, but it also insulates against warmth getting in from outside. So you can save money throughout the year, not only on heating your home, but on cooling it too.
Sit Back and Enjoy Your Saving
So now that you have considered the benefits of insulating your home and reducing your energy consumption,you can start to think about how you are going to spend all that saved money; after all, you could have the cost of the insulation paid off in no time.