Insulate your home to save energy

Effort:

Impact:

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Savings:

A person installing insulation into the wall of a house

Insulate your loft, either adding new insulation if you have none or increase the amount already there. A quarter of a house's heat is lost through the roof in an uninsulated home. Insulating your roof saves you money on your bills and saves emissions. You can do it yourself if your loft is accessible or you can hire someone to come and install it.    

The walls of your home could be losing even more energy, but again, uninsulated external walls could be improved.

By making sure your home is properly insulated, you can reduce the amount of energy you need to heat your home, saving you money. Making these improvements also make your home healthier and more comfortable to spend time in by addressing issues such as damp and draughts.

These sorts of improvements to your home are generally known as 'retrofitting'. There are numerous grants that you might be eligible for to help with the cost. Follow the link in the ‘next steps’ section to go through to the Oxfordshire County Council’s retrofit pages and register your interest today!

Climate impact

Home energy consumption accounts for around 20% of total carbon emissions in the UK. According to Ofgem, an average UK home with a medium energy consumption uses 12,000 kWh of gas and 2,900 kWh of electricity per year (2020 figures). That represents total carbon emissions of over 3,000 kg per year. These figures could be drastically reduced through making energy efficiency improvements to our homes – reducing energy use to cut carbon emissions.

Next steps

Take a look at the Energy Saving Trust's guide before you get started.

Try out Cosy Homes Oxfordshire’s free Plan Builder app to quickly get an idea about the changes that you could make to your home. You can also register for a home energy assessment.  

Oxfordshire County Council has several ways to help fund retrofitting from insulation to heating system upgrades to solar PV to generate clean energy.

If you have a household income under £36,000:

We’re expecting a new scheme to launch shortly called Warm Homes; Local Grant. This is a fantastic opportunity if you have a household income below £36,000, live in a low energy-efficient property, either owned by yourself or privately rented, to gain significant improvements fully-funded! Contact Welcome the Warmth on 0800 038 6775 or using the online application form via this link.