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Fill in the cavity walls
  
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Most heat (up to half the total) is lost through the walls of an un-insulated house. Wall insulation can reduce this loss by two-thirds and make the house more comfortable.
If there are cavity walls they can usually be safely filled with insulating fibre, beads or foam. If the walls are solid, internal insulation (often applied in the form of an insulated board fixed to the wall) is highly effective, but means rooms have to be redecorated and may lose architectural detail. This can be done by competent DIYers and may be done on a room by room basis at the same time the home is redecorated. External insulation usually needs planning permission and should only be carried out by specialist companies.
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Energy saving light bulbs (also known as CFL - Compact Fluorescent Lamps) use about a quarter of the electricity and last eight times longer than regular light bulbs. Light bulbs with an "A" Rating are the most efficient. Unfortunately cannot normally be used with dimmer switches or electronic timers. More information on low energy light bulb
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Heat your house from the ground
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When the sun shines on the ground its heat energy is absorbed. Ground source heat pumps extract this energy, to use for space heating. So strictly speaking, the energy source that is used for ground source heat pumps is the sun and not the heat from the earth.
More information on ground source heat pump
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Generate your own power from the sun
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Solar energy can be captured by solar panels. Photovoltaic (PV) or solar electric panels transform the solar radiation directly into electricity. PV or solar electric offer the ability to generate electricity in a clean, quiet and renewable way. The variety of applications for solar electric are numerous. Photovoltaic (PV) cells are used in simple applications e.g. calculators and watches and also for domestic and larger applications. Large PV systems can be integrated into buildings to generate electricity for export to the national grid.
More information on photovoltaic (solar electric) panels
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Insulate the loft
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As much as 20% of our energy bill can be saved by good loft insulation. Lofts should be insulated to a minimum depth of 250mm (12 inches) and this can be done by either a contractor or DIY. Mineral wool (such as Rockwool or Rocksil), fibreglass and recycled paper products all work well.
It is important to wear a facemask, goggles and protective clothing for a DIY installation, and to leave sufficient gaps around the eaves to avoid condensation. The area underneath the water tanks shouldn't be insulated as this may cause the water to freeze but all pipe work and the loft hatch should be insulated.
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Install a condensing boiler
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A condensing boiler is a high efficiency modern boiler that incorporates an extra heat exchanger so that the hot exhaust gases lose much of their energy to pre-heat the water in the boiler system. When working at peak efficiency, the water vapour produced in the combustion process condenses back into liquid form releasing the latent heat of vaporisation. You can purchase condensing boilers whether your fuel is mains gas, LPG or oil.
More information on condensing boilers
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Heat your water from the sun
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Solar energy can be captured by solar panels. These panels absorb the energy from the sun and transfer it to heat water. Solar Power Solar water heating systems are the most popular form of solar energy used in the UK. The system is connected to the hot water system. Solar water heating systems can provide over half of a household's hot water requirements over the year. There are 2 types of solar water heating collector: flat plate and evacuated tubes.
More information on solar water heating collectors
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Fit internal wall insulation
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Internal thermal boards can be fitted to the inside surface of the wall. It is particularly beneficial to line cold outside walls, especially those facing north or east. There are several types of insulation including foil-backed plasterboard, laminates or wooden batten in-filled with insulations. battens. Firstly fix battens on the wall and then fix the thermal boards to the battens. This will leave a gap behind the board, which will trap a layer of still, dry air - similar to double glazing your wall!
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Fit external wall insulation
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This insulation involves adding a decorative weather-proof insulating treatment to the outside of your wall. The thickness of the insulation needs to be between 50 and 100mm and is usually installed where there are severe heating problems or the exterior of the building requires some form of other repair work providing the opportunity of adding insulation.
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Fit an insulating jacket to the hot water tank
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Fitting a good insulating jacket to the hot water tank if it does not have sprayed foam on the outside will ensure no heat is lost.
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Fit central heating controls
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Modern central heating systems can run efficiently providing warm and comfortable homes at a surprisingly low cost. The overall effectiveness of a heating system depends on two things: a high-efficiency boiler that ensures little potential heat is wasted, and good controls, designed to ensure that the boiler is only working when heat is needed in the home. More information on heating controls
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Fit a room thermostat
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The room thermostat is best located in a living room, rather than the hallway, as is commonly done, as the hall temperature can be affected by the front door being used. The thermostat records the home's temperature and if it is at or above the set level (and 20°C/68°F is usually adequate) and stops the boiler from operating the central heating.
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Heat your house with wood (in a clean way!)
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In order not to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere it is important that the wood burned as a fuel comes from sustainable sources. This means that as trees are felled to be use as a fuel, more trees should be planted. That way, the carbon released during the combustion of the wood is reabsorbed by the new trees growing and the process is carbon neutral. Wood can be used as logs, wood chip and wood pellets in wood/pellet burning stoves or wood chip/pellet boilers for space and water heating.
More information on wood heating
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Generate your own power from the wind
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The power of wind has been used for many years to produce mechanical power for milling grain and pumping water. In recent times wind turbine technology harness wind to generate electricity. The electricity is then exported either to the grid for use locally or to power a stand alone application. This renewable source of energy has great potential in both onshore and offshore wind farms. Wind power is one of the cleanest and safest of all the renewable commercial methods of generating electricity.
More information on wind power
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Stop any draughts
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Draughts are the most uncomfortable and obvious signs of a badly insulated house and can be fixed easily with either draught proofing, secondary or double glazing.
Cheap foam draught stripping will only last a couple of years before it becomes permanently compressed. Instead, polypropylene tubes are a little more expensive but last longer and are more effective.
This would not be installed to a room with an open fire or a gas fire that does not have a balanced flue, where there is no air brick near the fire. Fires need a good flow of air to burn safely and there is a danger of being poisoned by Carbon Monoxide fumes if a room is too tightly sealed.
As much as 10% of heat can be lost through un-insulated floors. There are a number of ways of solving this problem, including insulating blankets under suspended floors and laying boards over concrete floors.
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Put aluminum foil behind any radiators
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Put aluminum foil behind any radiators fitted to outside walls. Ordinary kitchen foil will do, or you can buy specially designed panels from DIY stores. This will reflect the heat into the house.
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