Posts
Winter Warmer Ideas
With the continued rises in the price of oil, gas (up 14% on September), electricity (up 18% on September) and coal (up 100% on June), and the predicted bleak cold winter ahead. I have come up with a few ideas on how to make your home a little warmer, even this late in the year and save you some cash.Cavity Wall & Loft Insulation
Insulating cavity walls and lofts in your house is the best way to save and stay a warmer this winter. Both measures can save up to £250 a year in energy costs and two tonnes in CO2 emissions. Measures cost from as little as £350 each. With grants available for £150 for each measure installed, and in London an extra grant of £100 is also available for cavity wall insulation.
You may also be entitled for free insulation if any person living in the house is in receipt of certain benefits, credits or allowances. This is known as 'Priority Group Funding' because the government and utility companies consider these householders to be a priority. Qualifying benefits include:
* Attendance Allowance
* Income Support
* Council Tax Benefit
* Disability Living Allowance
* Housing Benefit
* Child Tax Credit (household income under £15,050)
* Working Tax Credit (household income under £15,050)
* Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
* Income-Based Jobseekers Allowance
* War Disablement Benefit
* Pension Credit
In some areas, 100% grants are also available to the over 60s and households where there are children under the age of 16.
If all homes that currently are not insulated implemented these measures, nationally we could reduce CO2 emissions by 14.3m tonnes. For more information on the grants available call 0800 512 012 or check the EST grant finder.
Chimney Balloon
Chimney's can be responsible for up to 15% of heat lost from a room. You can prevent this with a chimney balloon (or old newspaper, however less safe and effective). The balloon is placed into the chimney and inflated preventing cold air from entering the room. Cheap at around £20, easy to install and should last up to four years.
Draftproofing
Draftproofing your house can also provide significant savings of up to 20%, and some grants are available.
Draw Your Curtains
Drawing your curtains at dusk can help prevent the escape of heat through windows, acting almost like an air pocket. Ensure however that the curtains are placed behind radiators to allow heat to better circulate rooms.
Heat Reflectors
Placing heat reflectors behind radiators can significantly improve the efficiency of your heating system ensuring that heat does not get absorbed into the walls. These can be purchased from DIY stores for around £20 - £40 (for enough for your entire house) and can be installed by simply cutting to size and sticking to the wall immediately behind the radiator.
Condensing Boiler
As the current lifespan of a boiler is around 15 years, choosing a heating system with a high efficiency condensing boiler with the correct heating controls can make a huge difference to your heating bills over time.
A high efficiency condensing boiler works on the principle of recovering as much as possible of the waste heat which is normally wasted from the flue of a conventional (non-condensing) boiler. The best high efficiency condensing boilers convert more than 90% of their fuel into heat, compared to 78% for conventional types. Typical savings are about a third, £175 to £220 a year. Grants are available in some areas and cost can be recouped in about three years.
Blankets & Jumpers
Staying warm does not always require the use of burning fuel, a comfy blanket or extra jumper can work wonders providing instant warmth and reducing your energy bills.
If you have any other winter warmer ideas feel free to add them to the comments section.
5 comments:
How To Reduce Your Heating Bills This Winter
Imagine leaving a window open all winter long -- the heat loss, cold drafts and wasted energy! If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan or AC Return, a fireplace or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home every day.
These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause heat to pour out and the cold outside air to rush in -- costing you higher heating bills.
Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.
But what can you do about the four largest “holes” in your home -- the folding attic stair, the whole house fan or AC return, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Attic Stairs
When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.
Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.
Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door -- do you see any light coming through? These are gaps add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.
Whole House Fans and AC Returns
Much like attic stairs above, when whole house fans are installed, a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only leaky ceiling shutter between the house and the outdoors.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan cover. Installed from the attic side, the whole house fan cover is invisible. Cover the fan to reduce heating and air-conditioning loss, remove it when use of the fan is desired.
If attic access is inconvenient, or for AC returns, a ceiling shutter cover is another option for reducing heat loss through the ceiling shutter and AC return. Made from R-8, textured, thin, white flexible insulation, and installed from the house side over the ceiling shutter with Velcro, a whole house fan shutter cover is easily installed and removed.
Fireplaces
Sixty-five percent, or approximately 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.
Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.
A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.
Why does a home with a fireplace have higher heating bills? Hot air rises. Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking the heated air from your house.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, a fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.
Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts
In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.
Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.
If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan, an AC return, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes. At Battic Door Energy Conservation Products, we have developed solutions to these and other energy-conservation related issues.
For more information on Battic Door’s energy conservation solutions and products, visit www.batticdoor.com or send a S.A.S.E. to P.O. Box 15, Mansfield, MA 02048.
Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover and a fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit www.batticdoor.com
here in the US I came across a product called Reflectix (I think that's the name- anyway it's basically mylar covered bubble wrap. I got a 25foot roll for ~$25, it was just the right amount for radiator deflectors for my whole house)
I have a question though:
we're having a debate in my family. there seems to be two schools of thought re: maintaining a constant temp, or setting thermostat back when sleeping or away. some say with radiators, one is best not to adjust temp very mcuh, that it actually costs more to heat the radiators back up rather than maintain a moderate temp.
can you help us solve this debate- I do want to conserve energy and lower my heat bill. if you have an answer or can point me to resources that would be great. thanks y'all and keep warm :)
www.selkbag.nl
this helps as well!!! ;-)
If you're looking for an ethanol fireplace (insert), please have a look at http://opdecodesign.googlepages.com
And if you like to burn candles, there is a candle powered space heater that makes dry radiant space heat from a candle flame. More info and photos at http://heatstick.com/_KanHeet01.htm
Post a Comment