Winter Is Coming - Are You Prepared?

Winter Is Coming- How to Save Money on Energy & Heating With a Few Simple Changes

The sun is setting sooner, and the nights are getting darker. Now the heatwave has passed, it won’t be long until winter starts to rear its head again. As the price of energy hits an all-time high, homeowners must prepare for the cold months ahead. Getting ready for winter now with some minor changes to your home and lifestyle will save you a lot of money on bills in the long run.

So, how what simple changes can we make to our home to save money on heating and electricity? What can we do if our home won’t stay warm for more than 10-minutes at a time? Keep reading our short guide to discover all this and more.

Improving Heat Efficiency

Before we try warming our homes, it is important to know whether they can retain heat. It is pointless spending money heating radiators if our rooms cannot keep warm for more than an hour. Getting an energy performance certificate (EPC) is a great way of checking this, and they’re extremely cost-effective to buy. An EPC is a test that will grade your home's energy rating and will show you how to improve it.

There are some more expensive changes you can make, but they will save you money in the long run. An example of this is checking your doors and windows. If your home doesn’t have double or triple glazing, then it will be losing heat, and therefore require more energy to warm.

You will also want to check your rear and front doors. Make sure they’re not old wooden ones and that they don’t have gaps between the door and frame. If you do notice a gap, no matter how small, then this means your doors are letting a draft in. If this is a small gap at the bottom of the door, then buying a draft excluder will be cheaper than replacing the whole thing.  

Small Changes to Save Energy

If your home is rated A on EPC, your windows are quadruple glazed and your doors are brand-new, then you might be looking for some smaller changes you can make to the way you live. Even if you only save a few pounds here and a couple of hundred there, it all adds up to make a difference.

It sounds simple, but we recommend replacing all your lights with energy-saving lightbulbs. You’re going to be using your lights a lot in winter, so it helps to save a few pennies whenever you have them switched on. Another well-known method of saving money that people forget is turning your appliances off at the plug. If you have TVs, video games, broadband boxes, and cooking equipment on standby all day and night, then you’re spending unnecessary money on electricity.

Energy isn’t the only thing you can save. You can cut down on your water costs by buying water-saving showerheads and taps. These can be bought online for an inexpensive sum, and you’ll be surprised at how much money they save you. If you enjoy a warm morning shower, then you can now do so without the looming threat of your water bill or worrying about emptying your boiler.

Saving You Energy Buying Your Next Home

Our last tip for saving energy is to use an estate agent who has your best interests at heart. We’re property experts, which means we know how to advise our clients. Not only can we help you save your personal energy by making the property sales process seamless, but we also make you more money by ensuring your home sells at the right value.

If you’re looking to sell your home, either now or in the future, then contact us today by clicking here. We can organise a free valuation of your home to give you an accurate idea of what it is worth on the open market. There is no hard sell or obligation, so book your valuation today and discuss how we help you move towards your future.