Hi Kieran, My partner and I are sick – we’ve just got our second massive electricity bill.
Help! I know we’re not alone, but this has left us stunned. How can we best future-proof our home, or at least shave back the bills? It’s a 1980s semi-d we bought six years ago and it had a C1 BER at the time. It’s pretty draught-free, at least, and has gas central heating and insulated to the standards of the day. Should we do PV panels on the roof for energy generation?
What good might a smart meter do for us?
We could manage say a budget of €10,000 (max) via a Union loan to make the home more efficient for our
future years here: a deep retrofit is beyond our budget. Thank you,
Kate and Michael
Bishopstown, Cork
Hello, Kate and Michael,
Thank you for your question. We certainly live in unusual times. We have neatly transitioned from a global pandemic to a very unfortunate war in Eastern Europe.
Beyond all the terrible loss and hardship this brings to the people directly affected by the war, the world we live in is now suffering from wartime fuel shortages. We are still very dependent on fossil fuels and a large concentration of these fuels comes from Russia and these fuels directly affect your electrical energy supply.
So, closer to home, what can you do to help offset your rapidly increasing electricity bills?
Kieran McCarthy: ‘The first place I would insulate is your attic. It is the most effective insulation (as warm air rises) and the cheapest and easiest to install.’
PV (photovoltaic) panels on your roof will certainly help but these are a big ticket item and, in an older house with a limited budget, I feel there is other low-hanging, cost-saving fruit available. I would begin by looking at your entire home energy input as gas prices will also escalate in tandem with electricity so I would start with the external envelope of your building.
There is little point in spending on upgrading your energy sources if your existing building is wildly inefficient. The new more cost-effective energy will just pour out through cracks in your building and these precious efficiencies will be lost.
The first place I would insulate is your attic. It is the most effective insulation (as warm air rises) and the cheapest and easiest to install. I would fit 300-400mm of an attic quilt insulation whilst lagging all exposed pipes in your attic and checking that your attic tanks are well insulated, covered and supported.
Make sure you allow for adequate ventilation in this newly insulated attic and remember, this attic will become much colder above the insulated surface now as the heat will remain below in your house.
Given that your house was built in the 1980’s I am assuming you have a blockwork cavity in your external walls. If so I would appoint a cavity insulation company to pump the cavities with insulation. This will add the maximum insulation to your external walls without a massive financial investment.
My next move would be to ensure that your gas boiler is a condensing boiler. Condensing boilers have an efficiency in excess of 90% efficiency whereas a traditional boiler may have an efficiency of 70-80% or less.
It would be advisable to have your heating zoned so that you can turn off the upstairs heating when not in use. I would also add thermostatic rad valves to all your radiators to allow you control the level of energy required to maintain a comfortable level of heat in your home.
It would be advisable to have your heating zoned so that you can turn off the upstairs heating when not in use.
I appreciate you mentioned that the house is pretty draught-free but I would look at this again as you would be very surprised to see where heat escapes from.
Poorly fitted windows and doors, poorly sealed attic hatch, excessive wall vents open to the elements, chimneys no longer in use, damaged or cracks in the external walls of your house can cause a very significant loss in heat and hence wasted energy.
Now that we have ensured that your heat input is as efficient as practically possible and that we have every best chance of maintaining that heat in your home for as long as possible, how do we reduce your electrical bills?
Smart meters, supplied by ESB, allow you to access your electrical usage information in real time and see what electrical elements are using most electricity. This allows you to take control of your usage and reduce it whenever possible. They also allow you to see what your next bill will be so there are no surprises when the bill lands at your door.
And finally, I would look at some low-tech and very simple ways to save energy. Switch over to energy saving bulbs throughout your house. Place any regular heavy usage electrical devices on a timer so that they are only in use when necessary.
Keep all windows and doors closed as much as possible over the winter months.
Wear plenty of warm clothes even indoors and finally, try turning down the heat upstairs. As warm air rises, the upstairs gains heat from the downstairs of your home and its likely that you will sleep a little better in this cooler environment… and in the knowledge that you are saving money while you sleep.
Building engineer Kieran McCarthy is Design & Build Director with KMC Homes. He is co-presenter of RTÉ’s Cheap Irish Homes.
Kieran’s new podcast, Built Around You, begins later this month.
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