Energy efficient windows could keep your home warmer for longer

Energy efficient windows could keep your home warmer for longer

Modern, energy efficient glazing can make an important contribution to the warmth and comfort of your home – while also helping you save on heating costs.

Autumn is here and winter close behind it! That means the prospect of rain, hail, sleet, snow and ice – elements you’ll want to escape when you’re inside your home.

However keeping the heat in and the cold out can prove challenging and chances are your home requires a good deal more heating at this time of year.

That could mean a winter spike in the power bill, but did you know that upgrading to modern, energy efficient windows could save you hundreds of pounds each year in energy costs? That’s because they can help keep heat inside your home longer, meaning you can keep your home warm while using your heating system less.

Energy Savings Trust research indicates that up to 23 per cent of a home’s heat energy can be lost through inefficient windows. Installing energy efficient glazing can help save energy by reducing this heat loss.

To help you find out just how much you could potentially save, we developed the GGF Energy Savings Calculator.

How much could you potentially save?

When we relaunched the Energy Savings Calculator on MyGlazing.com last year, we hoped that homeowners around the country would take advantage of the opportunity to see what energy savings they could make by installing new windows with a higher energy rating.

What we couldn’t have predicted was just how popular this easy-to-use online calculator would become. More than 2,000 homeowners have used the Energy Savings Calculator since May 2016.

Based on their results, we’ve been able to extract a few key statistics:

• the average UK household could save £215 a year by replacing current windows with energy efficient glazing
• over a third (35%) of homeowners who used the Calculator still have single glazing
• 83% of those thinking about buying new windows would consider installing double glazed windows with an energy rating of A++, A+ or A-rated, or triple glazing, these being the window types with the highest energy performance on the market
• on average, homeowners could expect to cut their CO2 emissions by 0.89 tonnes/year by upgrading their windows

Try it yourself: GGF Energy Savings Calculator

The benefits of energy efficient glazing

Energy efficient glazing helps keep heat inside the home and, in combination with other home energy efficiency measures (such as cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and an energy-efficient heating system), can lead to a reduction in your annual heating bills.

Assuming the rooms are heated and adequately ventilated, the risk of internal condensation is greatly reduced whilst the reduced energy requirement will help to lower heating bills and naturally save money.

Energy efficient glazing can also have the added benefit of lowering the level of external noise that can enter the property.

The GGF Energy Savings Calculator can provide an estimate of the potential savings you could enjoy when you install energy efficient glazing.

It is important to note that the Calculator assumes that the homeowner has taken all other reasonable measures to optimise the energy efficiency of the dwelling (such as those mentioned above: cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and an energy-efficient heating system).

How do I use the GGF Energy Savings Calculator?

To see how much you could save, simply select the options that best describe your current windows, dwelling type, heating fuel and proposed replacement windows to calculate the potential savings.

The results are based on the most current Government data, relaying a meaningful snapshot of the amount of money and energy that could be saved per household.

For example: The calculator shows that someone with a semi-detached house with timber, single glazed windows of a typical size, using an electric heat source to warm their home could save £459.20 a year if they were to replace them with A++ rated windows – the most energy efficient windows available today.

Try it yourself: GGF Energy Savings Calculator