Heating down, jumper on

Kevin McCloud explains why

The cost of heating our homes, despite recent price drops, is still enormous. You’d think that we’d be doing everything we can to cut the heating we use, but the number of people paying through the nose to heat draughty houses is incredible.

An uninsulated home suffers 70% total heat loss to the outside; 10% through the windows, 25% goes through the roof and 35% through the walls, delivering an annual bill to Bristol’s residents of £26M simply to heat the sky and the garden. And yet simple measures, like new loft insulation, can reduce this waste and pay for themselves in two years. Simpler still is just to turn down our thermostats by 1 degree. If everyone across the city did this we’d collectively save £11.5 million.

If you’d like to know more there’s a wealth of practical ideas and tips on lowering heating costs at warmupbristol.co.uk or bristolgreendoors.org