Millions of homes in the UK still do not have adequate insulation. Rapidly escalating heating bills mean that buying insulation will save you more money than ever before and make for quicker pay back times.

The Energy Performance Certificate recommends measures to provide savings that can be made on your home. The most affordable recommendations are also normally those with the quickest pay back time and loft insulation from scratch is one of these generating savings of £150 – £250 per year. Many councils offer grants to fit loft insulation. Simply call your council and ask.

The simplest, least expensive measure that you can take is draught proofing. Some ventilation is essential, but too much will lose heat and cost you money. A lit cigarette held close to draughts will show blown smoke. Sealant is cheap to buy and easy to apply around skirting boards and between floorboards. Unused chimneys should be boarded. Compression seals and wiper seals can be had from your local hardware store and can be used on windows, doors, cat flaps and letterboxes.

A survey of EPCs provided since they were launched showed most homes could typically save £180 on heating, £60 on lighting and £30 on hot water bills every year.

The Energy Saving Trust operate a grant scheme whereby many people are eligible for grants of £100 – £300 towards the cost of loft and cavity wall insulation. The yearly fund grant available this year is £800 million. Working owners can typically receive grants for two recommendations of £198 each – so usually £396.

As part of the scheme there is a facility where home owners can tap in their postcode to find details of offers available.

As an example of costs and payback time, the Energy Saving Trust puts cavity fill payback time at about a year. But even the expensive recommendations like solar hot water systems are coming down in price. Previously more than £3000, some companies are now supplying and fitting solar h/w systems for around £2,500 – so shop around! See the Energy Saving Trust website for more information.

Aside from the Energy Saving Trust, another worthwhile website to check out any available grants is the Home Insulation Grants website.

Another scheme to help reduce fuel bills is a new government scheme called Green Deal which starts from this Autumn (2012). This provides money up front for energy saving measures which the homeowner pays back from the savings made on the fuel bill by the new measures.

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