Heat Loss & High Energy Bills
High bills and warmth that won't last are signs of excessive heat loss. The fix starts with measuring where the heat — and the money — escapes.
Why are my energy bills so high?
If your heating bills feel disproportionate to the comfort you get, the building is almost certainly losing heat faster than it should. The cheapest unit of energy is the one you never have to buy — so the fix starts with measuring where it escapes.
Read the guideWhy won't my house stay warm?
If your home warms up but loses it almost as soon as the heating switches off, the issue is retention — the building cannot hold heat because it is losing it too fast through fabric and air leakage.
Read the guideHow do I find heat loss in my house?
You find heat loss by measuring it, not by guessing. The professional method combines thermal imaging (where heat escapes), a blower door test (how much air leaks and where), and a heat-loss calculation (how much energy is lost) into one diagnostic picture.
Read the guideWhy does my heating need to stay on all the time?
If the only way to stay comfortable is to leave the heating running constantly, the building is losing heat as fast as the system supplies it. That's a fabric-and-airtightness problem, not a reason to accept permanent running costs.
Read the guideWhere does most heat escape from a house?
Heat escapes from a house through every part of its envelope — the walls, roof, windows, doors and floor — and through air leakage, which is often the largest and most overlooked route. The proportions differ from house to house depending on its size, construction and condition, which is exactly why measuring where your home loses heat is far more reliable than assuming, and why it ensures any money is spent on the biggest losses first.
Read the guideIs an EPC enough to plan a retrofit, or do I need a proper survey?
An EPC is a useful headline rating for comparing homes, but it is a standardised estimate based on assumptions, not a measurement of how your specific house behaves. To plan a retrofit that actually works, you need to know your real heat losses, air leakage and moisture risks — which an EPC does not measure. Relying on an EPC alone to choose measures can send money to the wrong place; a proper survey provides the building-specific evidence that good decisions need.
Read the guideDoes insulation really save money?
Insulation does save money — but only when it is put where your home actually loses heat, and in the right order. Heat loss is not spread evenly, so insulating the elements that lose the most (often the roof, then the worst walls and floors) pays back well, while spending on an element that loses little, or insulating without addressing air leakage and thermal bridges, saves far less than expected. The honest answer is that insulation is one of the best investments in a home — provided it is targeted by measurement rather than guesswork.
Read the guideWhat's the most cost-effective way to reduce heat loss?
The most cost-effective way to reduce heat loss is not a single measure but a method: measure where your home actually loses heat, then fix the biggest losses with the lowest cost first, in a sensible sequence. For most homes that usually means cheap, high-impact basics — loft insulation and draught-sealing — before bigger investments like wall or floor insulation and glazing. The key is that the right order depends on your specific home, so a measured assessment is what tells you where to start for the best return.
Read the guideIs it worth getting cavity wall insulation?
Cavity wall insulation can be one of the most cost-effective ways to cut heat loss and bills — but only in a wall that is genuinely suitable, properly assessed and correctly installed. In the right house it works well and pays back quickly; in the wrong one, or done badly, it can bridge the cavity and let damp cross to the inside, causing problems that are expensive to put right. Whether it is worth it for your home therefore depends on the wall construction, the exposure to wind-driven rain, and the condition of the cavity — none of which can be assumed from the fact that you have cavity walls. The sensible step is to establish suitability before installing, not after.
Read the guideShould I get external or internal wall insulation?
For a solid-wall home — one with no cavity to fill — the way to cut the large heat loss through the walls is either external wall insulation (a layer added to the outside) or internal wall insulation (a layer added to the inside), and the two suit different houses. External insulation generally performs better and avoids the moisture risks of internal, but changes the appearance and is more expensive; internal is cheaper and keeps the outside unchanged, but reduces room size and, done without care, can cause condensation within the wall. Choosing well depends on the building, the appearance constraints, the budget and — crucially — getting the moisture detailing right. It is a decision best made on the building physics, not on cost alone.
Read the guideWhy are my energy bills higher than similar homes?
If your energy bills are higher than apparently similar homes, the difference almost always lies in how much heat your home loses and how efficiently it is heated — both largely invisible. Hidden gaps in insulation, more air leakage, a more exposed position, older or poorly controlled heating, and simple differences in how the system is run can each add significantly to a bill while leaving two homes looking identical. The way to explain and close the gap is to measure your own home's heat loss and heating efficiency rather than guess, so the spend that is inflating the bill can be pinned down and reduced.
Read the guideIs it worth insulating my solid walls?
Insulating solid walls is one of the most effective ways to warm a solid-walled home and cut its bills — solid walls lose far more heat than insulated cavity walls — but it is also a major, costly intervention that only pays off when it is done correctly. Whether it is worth it for you depends on how much the walls actually lose relative to the rest of the home, whether internal or external insulation suits the property, and crucially whether the work is detailed to avoid the condensation, damp and thermal-bridging problems that poorly designed solid-wall insulation can cause. The decision should rest on a heat-loss assessment and a moisture-risk appraisal, not on a generic sales pitch.
Read the guide