It is important for everyone to become more aware of how we use energy in our daily lives at home. Around 30% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from our households and with ever increasing fuel prices there is more focus on how to make our homes more energy efficient in order to reduce monthly bills.

A great starting point is to complete a home energy check. This is a questionnaire which will ask you about your home and will assess how much energy you use per year. Once you know how much energy you are using you will be able to see where you can reduce your fuel bills and what action you can take to improve the efficiency of your home.

Check out thisĀ Quick Link to the Energy Saving Trust’s home energy check calculator. This will identify the best improvement measures you can make for your home and give approximate costs and savings. It will also show you local example of homes that have done the same thing and local contractors who could help you.

Below are just a few things you will need to find out before completing the online/phone home energy check:

  • Property Age
  • Type of outside walls
  • Level of insulation in your loft
  • How much double glazing installed
  • How many of your lights have low energy bulbs
  • Type of heating system and what it is fuelled by (electric, gas, oil etc)
  • When the was boiler installed and what type of boiler it is
  • Hot water cylinder size (if present)