Homes all over the world are now starting to use more renewable sources of fuel instead of relying on fossil fuels for heating, lighting, and hot water. The UK still has 85% of its homes using natural gas, which is heavy in carbon. However, renewable energy is starting to be taken on by more households, and there are many ways that people can become more environmentally friendly while seeing the costs of their energy bills fall.
Here are three renewable home investments that genuinely could save you money.
- Heat pumps
Heat pumps are now being seen as the successor to gas boilers in the home. There are now government grants that can help with the cost of air or ground source heat pump installation.
Together with the heat pump, you might also benefit from underfloor heating, and have larger radiators as the temperature of heat pumps is slightly lower than a gas boiler. However, the benefit of having the heat pumps from an environmental perspective is huge. Heat pumps can save up to 50 tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.
It is expected that heat pump prices together with installation will fall as more people start to use them in their homes. When heat pumps are used with other renewable energy sources such as solar power, even larger energy savings can be found.
- Solar power
Solar power has become a bigger part of homes over the past few years, with many new builds including solar panels in them. Whereas seeing solar panels on a roof was uncommon a few years ago, this has now grown exponentially.
Savings for solar panels are also rising. The average cost of installing solar panels has fallen, helped by government grants. The savings in terms of energy is also one reason for the increased uptake of solar energy.
The average three-bedroom semi-detached home can save an average of £530 per year on its electricity. That works out to around £10,600 over the course of 20 years. As solar energy becomes even more efficient with new technology, that saving and the initial cost will continue to improve.
- Electric vehicle home charger
Electric vehicles are growing in popularity every year. Order lists for new electric vehicles are now longer than for many fossil fuel cars, and this is set to continue. However, charging points used to be a problem for those with electric vehicles, but installing a home charging point can save a lot on the costs.
Home charging points are roughly 50% cheaper to use than public ones, which means you could see savings of around £252 per year just by charging at home. When you also factor in that electric vehicles are 71% cheaper to run than fossil fuel cars, the choice should be clear.
Conclusion
Although there is some investment needed in using renewable energy, the savings can build up over time to make them a viable alternative to fossil fuels. With time and further government help, renewable energy will soon become the widely favoured option.
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