Energy Assessment, Home Energy Assessments, How to Save Energy

Type of home

The type and shape of your home will be a major factor in determining how much heat is lost. Pick the type that best fits your home and we will work out the rest.

Situation of home

Dense urban
Low-rise/Suburban
Rural

Some renewable energy projects need more space than others, there can be planning restrictions in built up areas. We try to take into account all these things when calculating your results.

Age of home

Building styles and regulations vary over time and this will affect how your home will retain heat and how much heat you need to produce. Try to be as accurate as possible, but you don't need to be absolutely precise.

Do you have a garden?

No
Garden only
Garden and courtyard
Courtyard only

If yes, what is the area of garden?

If a heat pump is suitable for your home you will need sufficient space to install it.

Do you have a conservatory?

No
Yes, heated
Yes, not heated

A conservatory will affect the way that heat is lost from your home and at what rate.

Number of habitable rooms?

of which, how many are heated?

This allow us to calculate the living area that you heat and the lighting you need, which will help to determine the amount of energy you use.

Number of bedrooms

We use this to estimate the size and volume of your home which is important for understanding your heating needs. What's a bedroom? If you think an estate agent would call in a bedroom count it here.

Number of storeys

This helps us to estimate the volume of your home and therefore the amount of heating required.

Is the roof insulated?

No
Yes
I don't know

A majority of the heat is lost through the roof therefore it is important to know if you have insulation in your loft.

Wall construction

The type of construction affects the heat loss through the walls. Unsure if you have solid or cavity walls? In cavity wall the bricks are laid so you can only see the long side, solid wall bricks are laid alternating side on and end on.

Is the floor insulated?

No
Yes
I don't know

Heat is lost through the floor of your home, so it is important to know if it is insulated.

Type of glazing

Single
Double
Secondary
Triple

A lot of the heat in your home can be lost through the windows. Secondary glazing fits inside the existing windows either on a temporary or permanent basis.

What kind of ventilation do you have?

Natural ventilation
MEV (Mechanical Extract Ventilation)
Mechanical Ventilation (no heat recovery)
MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery)

Ventilation will affect how much heat is loss. Mechanical ventilation systems use fans to extract foul air and pump in fresh air. They can have a heat exchanger which removes the heat from the out going air and warms the incoming fresh air. If you don't know what you have it is likely that it is natural ventilation. Simple kitchen and bathroom extractor fans are natural ventilation.

Do you have any draughts?

No
Yes - slight
Yes - moderate
Yes - strong

Estimate roughly how draughty is your home.

Type of heating

Specifics:

Heat Emitter:

Are you on the Gas Mains Network? No Yes

Most homes use a single system to keep the house warm and the fuel you burn will affect the efficiency of your heating. If you have two systems, pick the one that heats more of your home here.
Specifics: The type and approximate age of heating system that you have will help determine it's efficiency. A condensing boiler typically has a plastic exhaust pipe outside, and produces lots of warm (not hot) steam when working. A Combi boiler heat hot water as and when it's needed, so when you switch on a hot tap you can heat it fire up.
Heat emitter: The way the heat is transferred into your home has an impact of the efficiency on the heating system.
Gas Mains Network: If you are not on the mains gas network you qualify for some extra grants and subsidies.

Do you have a thermostat?

Having a thermostat or heating controls will help to improve the efficiency of your homes heating system.

Do you know your annual energy bill; heating and electricity?

If so, what is it? (£)

If you know your bill we can be more accurate calculating the savings that you might be able to make.

Do you have a second type of heating?

Usage of second type of heating? (%)

Some homes have other heating systems to 'top up' the heating, but are typically not used all year round.
Usage: This is a rough estimate of how much heat of the overall heat you get from this heating type. We factor that it will vary from year to year.

Hot water is produced by

Main heating system
Secondary heating system
Electric water heater

Hot water is a significant use of energy in your home and we need to include this in our calculations. Choose the option where most of the hot water is created, if you have more than one hot water source.

Do you have a unshaded roof?

What is the pitch of the roof?

What is the length of the roof?

What is the width of the roof?

What units are you using? Sq. meters Sq. feet

Solar panels work best when positioned on a southerly roof and are not shaded by trees or buildings.
Pitch: The angle that the panels are presented to the sun will have an effect on their performance.
Length/Width: This is used to calculate the approximate area that is suitable for panels. Use length of the roof along the gutter, and the width from gutter to apex.

Do you have solar panels?

If so, what kind?

When were they fitted?

If you already have solar panels we need to include their effect in our calculations.
Type: Different solar solutions have different effects on your home energy usage.
When fitted: The FiT for Solar PV vary depending on when they were fitted, so to estimate the returns on your energy bill we need to record the latest date before which your panels were fitted and registered.

What proportion of your light bulbs are low-energy?

The type of bulbs you use has an impact on the amount of electricity that you will use. A rough estimate will be sufficient.

Name

We ask this so that we know who you are - we do not ever pass these details to anyone without your prior consent. We will confirm this with you if and when you request a quote.

Email

We use this to send you the results of our survey - if you think that one of the solutions we suggest is suitable for your home we will introduce you to a suitable installer - but only with your prior consent.

Postcode

Building types and styles vary around the country so we use your postcode to estimate the construction type of your property and the thermal properties we use in our calculations. We also estimate the rough wind speed likely at your property too.

Phone number

If you see a solution that you want to get some quotes for in our results we will call you to confirm that you do want to be introduced to some installers (no more that 3). We will also call you towards the end of the process to ensure that everything when smoothly. We will not use this in any other circumstance.

Which sentence best describes your current situation?

I already have some quotes
I'm going ahead but haven't got quotes yet
I'm looking for ideas for the best projects to save money
I don't have a project but I'm finding out how I could save

This give us an idea about what stage you are at in your process which helps us work out the kind of information that will be most useful to you.

How to get your free energy assessment:

Green Initiatives