Leaky homes driving up costs and carbon emissions

We lose heat 3 times faster on average than homes in Norway or Germany. Not only are we losing heat, but we are throwing away hard earned money and increasing our carbon emissions. This is largely down to poorly insulated homes.

OVO data shows that overall UK homes have good roof and walls insulation, with average window insulation, but a large proportion of housing have poorly insulated floors. It’s clear there needs to be a big push to insulate the whole home - from floor to roof - to stop heat escaping, reduce bills and cut carbon.

Depending on the house type, some insulation will have a bigger impact on energy use and bills than others. Detached houses tend to be the oldest and leakiest of all housing stock, and require insulation around the whole house - wall, roof, floor and window.

For terraced houses, improving window and floor insulation will have the biggest impact, followed by wall insulation. While flats tend to have better roof and floor efficiency as they have another property above and below.

Given heating accounts for 17% of total carbon emissions in the UK, home insulation is one of the most effective ways to help move towards net zero.

With 1 in 5 households renting in the UK, a lot of this responsibility to upgrade homes falls to landlords. Yet the government recently rowed back on plans for landlords to improve the energy efficiency of their properties to an EPC rating of C by 2028.

Without clear regulation, it’s likely that landlords may not take action to push forward with insulating their rental properties. That’s why we want the government to bring forward its work on minimum energy efficiency standards in the Private Rental Sector to make their properties more energy efficient.

Read our data dashboard to find out more and book an Energy Expert visit today.