Making your home more energy efficient matters now more than ever. With rising energy costs and the UK’s net-zero targets, homeowners and renters can cut bills, reduce carbon emissions and enjoy greater comfort by taking practical steps. This guide explains how to make home energy efficient with clear, energy saving home tips and shows how to improve home insulation as part of a wider plan.
The domestic sector accounts for a large share of UK energy use. Small behavioural changes alongside fabric and systems upgrades can typically reduce household energy use by a noticeable percentage. Simple actions like switching to LED bulbs, adding loft insulation and fitting smart controls often pay back quickly and help reduce energy bills.
Readers will learn practical cost-saving measures, how to prioritise improvements and where to seek grants and professional advice. Energy performance certificates (EPCs), UK government schemes for home energy improvements and local retrofit initiatives all play a role in planning work that lasts.
Start with low-cost quick wins, then plan medium- and longer-term upgrades to heating and insulation. Incremental improvements add up — they improve comfort, increase resale value and move you towards better home energy efficiency UK. Take a simple audit of your home today and set out a staged plan to improve performance over time.
How can you make your home more energy efficient?
Start by mapping how your house uses energy. A few simple checks make it clear where to save money and cut waste. Read your meters, note patterns and plan a short audit before buying gadgets or booking work.
Assessing your home’s current energy use
Understand your energy bills UK by checking unit rates, standing charges and total kWh consumed. Compare monthly, quarterly and annual readings to spot seasonal peaks. Try calculating kWh per room or appliance over a month to find the biggest users.
Smart meters offer near real‑time displays and automatic meter readings that simplify this task. Many homes in the UK have SMETS‑compatible smart meters that make switching suppliers easier. Third‑party energy monitors from brands such as Owl or TED give appliance‑level feedback and help change behaviour.
Look for obvious leaks and inefficient kit. Touch radiators and pipes, feel for draughts around windows and doors, and use thermal imaging tools or a FLIR smartphone attachment to reveal heat loss. Check appliance age and EU or UK energy ratings to prioritise replacements.
Quick wins to reduce consumption today
Swap old bulbs for LED lighting to cut lighting energy by 75–90%. Choose bulbs with the right lumen output and CRI for rooms and fit timers or smart bulbs to avoid lights left on.
Small changes to thermostat settings make a large difference. Reducing the thermostat by 1°C can save around 10% on heating energy. Use programmable schedules and TRVs to heat only occupied rooms and review thermostat settings each season.
Standby power adds up. Use switched plugs or smart plugs to cut standby power and remove vampire loads from TVs, set‑top boxes and chargers when they are not needed.
Simple draught proofing is cheap and effective. Fit draught excluders to doors, seal gaps around sash windows with brush or silicone seals, add letterbox flaps and use loft hatch strips. Seal pipework gaps to stop heat escaping and improve comfort straight away.
- Carry out a basic home energy audit and record meter readings before and after changes.
- Set targets such as a 5–15% reduction in energy use within three months.
- Track progress with smart meters or energy monitors to keep momentum.
Insulation and fabric improvements to retain heat
Improving the building fabric—roof, walls, floors, windows and doors—gives the biggest cut in heating demand. A fabric-first approach reduces heat loss rather than simply adding more heating. U-values explain performance: lower U-values mean better thermal retention and smaller energy bills.
Roof and loft insulation options
Loft insulation in the UK ranges from mineral wool rolls to blown‑in fibre and rigid PIR boards for warm loft conversions. Increasing mineral wool to about 270 mm is common guidance to reach low U-values for the roof deck.
Decide between a ventilated cold loft and an insulated warm roof. Insulate the loft hatch, respect fire safety clearances and keep ventilation paths open to avoid condensation. Professionals registered with TrustMark or the National Insulation Association can ensure correct depth and avoid bridging.
Wall insulation methods
Cavity wall insulation fills the gap between inner and outer leaves with mineral wool, polystyrene beads or injected foam. Many post‑1920s homes suit cavity wall insulation, while older properties often need solid wall insulation instead.
Internal wall insulation uses rigid boards or insulated plasterboard to cut heat loss from inside. External wall insulation adds boards and a render system to the outside, giving larger U-value improvements but changing the façade and possibly requiring planning consent in conservation areas.
Correct installation prevents moisture issues and thermal bridging. Solid wall insulation typically delivers stronger U-value gains and can raise an EPC band for hard‑to‑treat homes.
Floor, window and door upgrades
Suspended timber floors benefit from underfloor insulation placed between joists using breathable mineral fibre. Solid concrete slabs can be insulated above or below the screed during renovation, though insulating above the slab raises floor levels.
Glazing upgrades bring clear gains. Double glazing with low‑E coatings and argon fill improves thermal and acoustic comfort. Triple glazing suits exposed sites or very high‑performance retrofits where lower glazing U-values are critical.
Sealing gaps around frames, fitting draught excluders and upgrading to energy‑rated external doors reduces unwanted airflow. Sympathetic draught‑proofing of sash windows keeps character while cutting heat loss.
- Start with loft insulation UK and cavity wall insulation for fastest payback.
- Consider underfloor insulation and double glazing benefits when renovating floors or windows.
- Choose accredited installers to meet Building Regulations and protect moisture management.
Heating, hot water and renewable systems to cut bills
Heating and hot water make up the largest share of a typical household’s energy use, so smart upgrades here deliver the biggest cuts to bills and carbon. Start with a fabric first, systems second approach: improve insulation and airtightness before sizing new plant. That keeps required flow temperatures low and boosts the performance of any new technology.
Upgrading boilers and controls
Condensing boilers work by capturing latent heat from flue gases, giving higher seasonal efficiency when correctly sized and installed. Modern combi boilers from Worcester Bosch, Vaillant or Baxi can reach excellent efficiencies, but they need proper flow temperatures and careful flue placement to perform well.
Arrange regular servicing and consider system flushing to prevent limescale and sludge that reduce efficiency. Avoid oversizing: a boiler larger than needed cycles more and wastes fuel. Combine a right‑sized condensing boiler with good controls for the best outcome.
Smart thermostats UK offer scheduling, remote control and geofencing so your heating matches occupancy. Devices from Nest, Hive, Honeywell Home or Tado can cut wasted run time. Pair smart thermostats with zonal TRVs or smart radiator valves to heat rooms only when required. Set lower night‑time temperatures and resist constant manual overrides to lock in savings.
Heat pumps and low-carbon heating solutions
For many homes, an air source heat pump or a ground source heat pump provides efficient low‑carbon heat. The heat pump basics are simple: they extract heat from the air or ground, run on electricity and deliver low‑temperature water that suits underfloor heating or larger radiators.
Look at COP and SCOP to compare performance. Lower flow temperatures raise COP, so good insulation and larger heat emitters or underfloor systems help. An air source heat pump fits many UK gardens and needs less disruption than ground loops, which require space for a ground source heat pump installation.
Heat pumps suit well‑insulated homes with space for outdoor units or groundworks. Consider upfront costs, current grants and likely fuel savings over time. When paired with low‑carbon electricity, heat pumps deliver significant carbon reductions and long‑term running cost benefits.
Solar PV, solar thermal and battery storage
Solar PV UK systems turn roof sunshine into electricity. Typical domestic systems vary by roof size and orientation, with annual generation depending on tilt and shading. Choose MCS‑accredited installers, consider microinverters or optimiser modules for shaded arrays and size the system to match daytime use for the best returns.
Solar thermal panels — flat plate or evacuated tube collectors — pre‑heat domestic hot water and can slash boiler use in summer months. They integrate with existing cylinders and make most sense in homes with high hot‑water demand and good roof exposure.
Battery storage benefits include storing excess PV generation for evening use, cutting peak imports and offering backup during outages. Most systems use lithium‑ion chemistry from reputable suppliers. Batteries raise self‑consumption and can improve payback when paired with solar PV UK installations.
Before major changes, get a professional energy survey. Check mains capacity, planning rules and any available grants or VAT reductions. Plan for future electrification of transport so your home can link generation, storage and low‑carbon heating into a coherent, resilient system.
Appliances, lighting and behavioural changes for lasting savings
Start by checking UK energy labels when replacing appliances. The re‑scaled A–G ratings and standardised annual consumption figures make it easier to compare models. Picking the highest-rated fridge or washing machine that fits your budget and usage pattern cuts bills over the lifetime of the appliance.
Adopt simple washing machine energy tips: wash at 30°C for everyday loads, run full loads, use eco programmes and high-efficiency detergent. For drying, favour air drying or a heat‑pump tumble dryer. For fridge efficiency, set the fridge to 3–5°C and the freezer to about −18°C, avoid overfilling, defrost manual freezers and keep units away from radiators or direct sun.
Use dishwashers on eco cycles and only when full, avoid pre‑rinsing under a running tap, and choose short cycles for lightly soiled items. Swap incandescent and halogen bulbs for LED lighting, select warm white (2700–3000K) for living spaces, and fit dimmers or PIR motion sensors in hallways and utility rooms to cut unnecessary use.
Reduce phantom loads with smart plugs and switched power strips to schedule power‑down of TVs, set‑top boxes and chargers overnight. Combine cooking habits — lids on pans, matching pan size to hob rings, using slow or pressure cookers and batch cooking — with regular system upkeep such as descaling kettles, cleaning filters and annual boiler servicing. Small, consistent energy-saving habits at home and in the community add up to real savings and lower carbon emissions for the UK.
