Upgrades That Pay For Themselves

While most modern homes are designed to be well insulated and tend to have an efficient heating system in place, if you live in an older home, this may not be the case . The charm of of an older house can come with challenges and you may find that your home loses heat easily and takes a while to warm up -and stay warm.

While upgrades feel costly, when you consider the reduction on heating and cooling costs, you might be surprised to find some upgrades will eventually pay for themselves.

Your roof

About a quarter of a home’s heat is lost through an uninsulated roof - that is a lot! Investing in insulation here could be one of the most effective ways of improving your home’s warmth.

There are a few different ways to insulate your roof. These include external roof insulation, ‘warm loft’ insulation and ‘cold loft’ insulation. You should choose the one that is most practical for your home.

External roof insulation involves placing an insulating membrane on the outside of your roof beneath the tiles. If you don’t want to disturb the inside of your loft and you’ve been meaning to retile your roof, this could be the perfect option. The biggest challenge with this type of insulation is that it has to be done when the weather is warm and dry.

‘Warm loft’ insulation meanwhile involves adding an insulating material to the interior ceiling of your loft. This stops heat escaping through your roof and keeps your loft warm. You can use a variety of different insulation materials to do this including blanket insulation, sheet insulation or foam insulation.

Then there’s ‘cold loft’ insulation. This involves insulating the floor of your loft, usually by placing blanket or sheet insulation across the rafters. This stops heat from the rest of the house rising into the loft, but leaves the loft open to the cold. If you don’t use your loft, this could be a practical option. 

Your walls

A lot of heat can also be lost through uninsulated walls. There are two main ways to insulate your walls depending on the type of walls your home has: cavity wall insulation and solid wall insulation.

Cavity walls have a gap inside them. This gap or ‘cavity’ can be insulated by making a hole in it and then filling it with an insulating foam. Many modern homes with cavity walls already have this type of insulation but some older homes may not.

Solid walls are built with no gap inside. These types of walls can be insulated by adding a layer of dry lining to the interior beneath the plaster. Exterior wall insulation is also possible but is less popular. You can read more about insulating solid walls at one of our favorite design sites, The Spruce.

On top of insulating your walls to keep your home warm, you should also consider sealing up any cracks. Such cracks could be letting heat out or letting cold air in. Minor cracks can be easily sealed up with caulk, while major cracks may require more major work. 

Your windows

About 10% of a home’s heat can be lost through uninsulated windows. This is another area that you may want to consider renovating in order to keep your home warm.

You can insulate windows by a) updating the glass and b) updating the frames. Double-glazing and triple-glazing are the best ways to stop heat loss through glass. When it comes to the frames, it’s worth switching to modern synthetic materials such as fiberglass instead of wood, aluminum or vinyl if you want the utmost insulation. You should always hire a professional company such as Renewal by Andersen when replacing windows. Incorrectly installed windows could result in cracks or gaps which could lead to heat loss (as well as putting the structural integrity of your home at risk!). 

There are other ways in which you can reduce heat loss through windows without replacing the windows themselves. Dressing your windows with thick winter curtains is one way to reduce heat loss. Wooden shutters can also help to prevent heat loss. You can also by transparent insulating film to put on the inside of the glass.

Your floors

An uninsulated floor can also account for about 10% of a home’s heat loss. Adding some underfloor insulation could be a great way of rectifying this.

There are several ways of doing this. One of the most popular options is to add panels beneath the floorboards. This is one of the most labour intensive options, but is one of the most effective options for preventing heat loss.

Another option could be to fill the crawl space beneath the floorboards. This usually involves pumping an insulating foam material into the void much like cavity wall insulation. Filling this crawl space can have various benefits beyond improving heat retention such as reducing pest problems and flooding. 

Alternatively, you can insulate your floor above the floorboards. This usually involves installing a thermal underlay and then adding laminate, vinyl, tiles or carpet on top. Carpet is the best option for reducing heat loss and will keep your feet warm in the winter. Laminate and tile are more likely to get cold (of course, if you don’t want to get rid of your laminate or tile flooring, you can always just add rugs to make it warmer underfoot). 

Insulating or carpeting a floor isn’t the only way to make it warmer. You could also consider adding underfloor heating. This is ideal for warming up laminate and tiled floors in the winter.

Your heating system

On top of preventing heat loss, it’s also worth considering the way in which you generate heat within your home. There are a variety of different heating systems to consider, which are compared below.

• Gas heating: This is the most popular form of heating. Gas enters the home through mains pipes or is fed using replaceable canisters. This gas is then used to either warm up a boiler or a furnace, which then distributes heat through the home either through radiators or vents. Vent heating tends to be more efficient but is only practical for bigger homes that have space for a furnace (most US homes have furnaces, while UK homes tend to favour radiators). Both boilers and furnaces need to regularly be maintained and updated to keep them working efficiently, as do radiators and vents.

• Oil heating: Oil heating involves heating a home using an oil tank. The oil is then burned in a furnace or used to heat water in a boiler. Oil heaters can often heat a home in half the time of a gas heater. They’re also safer than gas heaters. However, they’re not as environmentally-friendly and generally require more maintenance. 

• Electric heating: Many modern homes are now heated using electricity. Electricity is a greener option than gas or oil - it can be delivered via the mains or even generated using solar panels. By using solar panels, homes can generate their own heat without having to pay electricity bills (although you will have to invest in solar panels if you haven’t already got them). The biggest drawback of electric heating is that it is much slower than gas and oil heating - so it will take longer for your home to get warm.

• Biomass heating: Biomass heating involves using wood pellets, chips or logs. This tends to be the cheapest way of heating a home and is one the greenest. Modern wood burners are a lot more efficient at heating homes than traditional fireplaces. However, they will heat up your home at a much slower rate than a gas heater. There’s also the hassle of buying and replacing logs/pellets to factor in.

While these tips are focused on maintaining heat, they work just as well for keeping your home cool, meaning you get the savings effects year-long. When you consider how much could be saved via appropriate insulation, it’s fairly straightforward to see how it may affect your utility bills of the course of a few years.