How To Cut Carbon Out Of Your Heating

Most homes in the UK rely on gas boilers for heating, but following government plans to phase these out by 2025, many new homes are looking for an alternative. This presents an opportunity for homeowners to take a step in a more sustainable direction.

There are two major issues facing sustainable heating systems. The first being gas and fossil fuel burning boilers and the second being keeping heat inside the home. Many houses have poor insulation, meaning the heat generated by boilers frequently escapes. This generates a need for more industrial and environmentally unfriendly heating solutions, such as gas boilers. However, by keeping the heat inside your home, you open the door to a whole host of alternative sustainable heating options.

Keeping Heat Inside Your Home

First comes preventing the heat you generate from escaping your home. To fix this, we have a few helpful tips that can help you conserve your heating:

Radiator Reflectors

The first way you can conserve heat is installing radiator reflectors.

A lot of heat generated by radiators is lost through the mounting wall and installing a reflector bounces back 95% of it. It is estimated that in a house with five radiators, reflectors could save £20 a year from energy bills. They’re incredibly easy to install and can be picked up from most hardware stores.

Double-Glazing Insulation

Double-glazing your windows can provide one of the most significant carbon savings for UK homes. If all houses were to get new double-glazing, it could save the UK 20.3 TWh of fuel per year and save you up to £155 per year in heating bills, according to GOV.uk.

If you can’t afford to install double-glazing, don’t worry! There are a few more cost-friendly alternatives, including installing secondary glazing, trickle vents, or even just closing your curtains at dusk.

Lower Your Boiler Temperature

Lowering your boiler running temperature to 60C and running it for longer can help heat your home more efficiently. Experts found that a lower temperature over a longer period is better than firing it up to higher temperatures in short bursts. It helps maintain a steady temperature around the house and prevents those short bursts of heat from quickly escaping.

Gas Boiler Alternatives

Once you have prevented the heat from escaping your home, you can look into installing some of the more environmentally-friendly alternatives to gas boilers.

Electric Heating

All boilers need some electricity to operate, but electric boilers use electricity as the fuel. By not burning any fuel, electric boilers are much greener than gas and oil boilers and also much less likely to run into a fault. However, these boilers are often unable to meet high demands for heating and hot water, making them best suited to smaller homes and flats.

Heat Pumps

The air outside contains heat (even when it might not feel like it) and an air source heat pump extracts this heat and uses it to deliver heat and hot water to your house. There are two kinds of air source heat pump: air-to-air and air-to-water. Air-to-air heat pumps produce heat using a network of fans and can also be used to provide cooling. Whereas, air-to-water heat pumps heat more conventional “wet” central heating systems like radiators and underfloor heating.

If you want more advice on heating options, or have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch!

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