Reducing your energy bill, it’s the talk of the town! Well, of every household at the moment.
There can hardly be anyone who hasn’t noticed the sudden rise in prices and isn’t concerned about it.
So, you’ve turned the heating down, you’re minimising the use of the oven, nothing is left on standby, all plugs are switched off when not in use. But is there anything fundamental that you’re missing?
We all know that having good insulation in the loft is essential to stop heat from escaping through the roof and cold from entering the property, but what else can you do?
The first thing to do is take a look at your doors, are they letting in the cold? Can you feel a draught when you walk past them? If so, then you’re probably letting hundreds of pounds of heat slip outside to heat the street. But what can you do about it?
The most obvious answer is a new door, preferably composite because they are composed of solid timber behind a glass-reinforced plastic skin which locks out draughts, drastically reducing your energy bill. They also have the advantage of lasting up to 30 years with very little maintenance. You could be losing up to 35% of heat from your home through the gaps in older doors.
However, we appreciate in these difficult times that new doors may not be an option for everyone, so is there anything else that you can do to stop the heat from escaping?
Several options can make a huge difference, we’ve listed some for you here:
- Fit a door brush strip draught excluder to stop draughts from under the door
- Add draught strips around the edge of the door
- Invest in a letterbox flap
- Make your own draught excluder from an old piece of fabric
- Cover any keyholes
- Keep internal doors closed to stop any draughts from entering the rest of the home
- Install a hinged flap to the bottom of the door
All of the above particularly used together can make a significant difference to your energy bills. We hope that’s helped.
