Financial benefits gained from energy-efficient homes
The recent cold snap shows the financial benefits to be gained from running an energy-efficient home. New figures revealed that an extra £1.2 billion worth of power was leaked by homes and offices in the last two weeks alone, compared with a normal winter.
Experts from the management consultancy firm Faithful and Gold conducted a study of Britain’s 26 million homes and two million offices, concluding that the significant amount of cash had been thrown away due to poor energy efficiency.
The research aimed to find out the amount of energy required to maintain a temperature of at least 20 degrees Celsius in a home as outside thermometers plummeted to minus two degrees Celsius.
Ellie Horwitch-Smith, an energy management expert with the firm, said: “As outside temperatures fall, the cold truth is that already inefficient buildings perform increasingly badly as heating systems struggle to maintain the indoor temperatures demanded of them. Heat is simply lost at a greater rate if the temperature drops.”
Some techniques which could be used by householders in a bid to reduce the amount of energy lost include improved insulation on all perimeter walls.
Scaled-down results of Faithful and Gold’s research showed that an average three-bed semi-detached British property spent an additional £37 heating their home over the last fortnight of cold weather.
An energy-efficient property – while also inevitably producing greater bills during an icy period – would have resulted in just a £23 premium.
The team of experts also estimated that a particularly inefficient office may have cost bosses an extra £149 on top of normal rates to heat over a two week period.
Last September Ratedpeople.com advised homeowners to deploy insulation products in advance if they wished to reduce their gas and electricity bills.
The website also suggested that insulation helps to preserve warmth inside a home once temperatures outside begin to fall.