Save money on energy through property maintenance
If you have money available to invest in making energy saving changes to your home, you can reap big rewards!
Check your home’s energy performance certificate if you are unsure of its current performance and how to improve it.
Watch a video about how to choose which retrofit measures are right for you and your home
Use our TS Checked service to find a legitimate, reliable and trusted trader in your area. Or, if you prefer to use a different service, ensure your contractor is Trustmark approved.
You can also check if you're eligible for any of our grants or funding schemes.
Making energy at home
Making investments in your home can save money, and reduce your carbon footprint.
Our short video features people who have benefitted from some of the ideas you'll find on this page.
Changing single glazed windows to double or triple glazing to keep heat inside could save you up to £120 a year, depending on your home, as well as reducing noise and condensation.
Cavity wall insulation
Many eligible homes have already had cavity wall insulation installed as this is one of the easier and cheaper measures to complete.
However, if your property has not already been done, the cost is around £330 to £725 depending on the type of house and could save up to £255 a year.
Solid wall insulation
If your home was built before 1920 its external walls are probably solid rather than cavity. Unfortunately, the cost of solid wall insulation is high at around £7,500 for internal wall insulation or £13,000 for external wall insulation but the payback could be up to £500 per year.
It will also increase the value of your property and make it more attractive to prospective buyers in the future.
Loft insulation
If your loft is not insulated at all, insulation could cost as little as £300 and save around £180 per year. Topping up your level of insulation from 100 millimetres to the recommended 270 millimetres will cost around £300 and save approximately £25 a year.
Solar PV allows you to generate electricity from sunlight.
A typical installation costs around £4,800 and could save you up to £330 a year if you utilise the smart export guarantee.
You could also join a community purchase scheme such as our Solar Together Kent programme, to save more money.
Panels should last for 25 years but may need the inverter replaced in this time.
Depending on how old and inefficient your boiler is, installing a new A-rated condensing boiler and full set of heating controls will save between £100 to £300 per year, at a cost of approximately £2,300.
Ground source heat pumps
Ground source heat pumps get energy from pipes buried in your garden to extract heat from the earth. This can then then be used for underfloor heating, warm air heating, hot water, and low flow radiators.
Installations typically cost £14,000 to £19,000 for ground source, but depending on your heating system you could save between £300-1000 each year.
Installations that are well maintained could operate for 20 years or more.
If you are near a water source, you could make use of a water source heat pump, which operates on the same principles.
Air source heat pumps
These use the same principles as ground source pumps, but absorb heat from the air rather than the earth.
They can run in temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius and can operate for up to 20 years with regular maintenance every 3 to 5 years.
Typically, they cost around £9,000 to £11,000 for air source to purchase and install.
Solar thermal heating involves installing panels on your roof just like solar PV.
Typical solar water heating systems cost £4,000 to £5,000 and could typically save between £60 to £100 a year depending on your existing heating and hot water needs.
Most systems will come with a warranty for 5 to 10 years.