P484ORACLE 484 Mon24 Feb C4 1728:58
1/6
by Linda Boulton
CUT YOUR HEATING COSTS - ACTION PLAN
Icy draughts around the doors, windows
rattling in the wind? - then you
haven't properly insulated your home.
And with the current cold snap, likely
to stay for a while, there's no time
like the present to do something about
it.
So, with a little help from Which?
Magazine we've put together an action
plan to help you rapidly reduce your
heating costs and make your home nice
and warm again.
more follows >
Home File Index 480 Fit & Well 485
ORACLE's Classified Service p490
P484ORACLE 484 Mon24 Feb C4 1713:41
2/6
by Linda Boulton
CUTTING HEATING COSTS - ACTION PLAN
1. Fit a hot water cylinder jacket.
If your hot water cylinder isn't
insulated already - insulate it now!
It's one of the most cost-effective
things you can do to reduce heating
costs.
A 100mm thick jacket made to BS5615
should cost around £10. If you
already have a cylinder jacket, thinner
than this or in a poor state of repair,
add a second larger jacket on top.
more follows >
Home File Index 480 Fit & Well 485
£ Rumbelows - Nobody Cares More 173
P484ORACLE 484 Mon24 Feb C4 1718:21
3/6
by Linda Boulton
CUTTING HEATING COSTS - ACTION PLAN
2. Insulate your loft.
You should have the equivalent of at
least 10mm of mineral-fibre blanket.
You can install it yourself or get a
contractor to do it, or blow in one of
the various loose-fill materials.
If you have less than 30mm of
insulation at present, you can get a
grant towards topping it up.
Dont't forget to leave plenty of
ventilation space around the eaves;
insulate around but not beneath, water
tanks, and lag pipes to stop them
freezing. more follows >
Home File Index 480 Fit & Well 485
P484ORACLE 484 Mon24 Feb C4 1711:35
4/6
by Linda Boulton
CUTTING HEATING COSTS - ACTION PLAN
3. Fit Draught Excluders.
If you have poorly-fitting windows and
external doors, this is likely to be
worthwhile, especially if you install
it yourself.
Draught excluders have a life span of
about 10 years, cheaper types, such as
self adhesive foam have a much shorter
time than this.
Any heater or boiler which burns solid
fuel, oil, gas LPG or paraffin (and
doesn't have a balanced fuel) needs a
supply of air from outside or it can
produce dangerous fumes. more follows >
Home File Index 480 Fit & Well 485
P484ORACLE 484 Mon24 Feb C4 1717:22
5/6
by Linda Boulton
CUT YOUR HEATING COSTS - ACTION PLAN
4. Fit foil behind the radiators.
Foil behind radiators on external walls
reflects back heat which would
otherwise be lost - you should quickly
recover the very moderate cost
whatever the wall construction.
The more effective the worse your wall
insulation is, and therefore especially
suited to solid walls.
more follows >
Home File Index 480 Fit & Well 485
P484ORACLE 484 Mon24 Feb C4 1701:09
6/6
by Linda Boulton
CUT YOUR HEATING COSTS - ACTION PLAN
5. Insulate cavity walls.
If you have cavity walls, it's wgrth
having them filled. This will cost
around £400 for urea-formaldehyde (u-f)
foam, or around £500 for mineral fibre
or expanded polystyrene beads, for a
typical semi-detached house.
Obviously, there are lots of other ways
of reducing your heating costs, such as
replacing your old boiler, or improving
the controls on your central heating
system and full details of these and
other ideas can be obtained from Which?
Magazine if you write to them at 14
Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DS.
More Here's How News on Tuesday
Home File Index 480 Fit & Well 485