The energy-saving upgrades for your home that are actually worth it

Heating your home has become eye-wateringly expensive thanks to the energy price crisis.

Households are also under pressure to help the UK reach net zero by making energy-efficient and green home improvements.

But are they really worth the investment? Here, Telegraph Money sets out how much energy-saving upgrades cost – and how much they'll likely save you.

Make hay while the sun shines 

You can generate your own electricity if you install solar panels on your roof. The average system costs £7,860, according to environmental advisory group The Eco Experts. 

This will currently save a typical three-bedroom home £608 a year by creating free energy and also selling any excess power back to an energy supplier. The panels should last 25 years. The average pay-off period is 12.9 years.

Heat pump savings (in some cases)

An air source heat pump can cost between £7,000 and £13,000, but extra costs could apply, such as upgrading your home’s radiators, installing a hot water storage tank or putting in extra insulation. Homes need to be well insulated for heat pumps to be effective.

The Government is offering households in England and Wales grants of £5,000 to help them switch to heat pumps which are part of the “Boiler Upgrade Scheme” – however only some homes are eligible and they won’t necessarily save you money. 

Under normal circumstances, in a typical home a heat pump will be £416 cheaper to run each year than an old, inefficient gas boiler. Yet A-rated gas boilers are still around £124 cheaper to run each year than a heat pump.

This should change. Ministers are planning to overhaul subsidy rules, so gas is relatively less attractive compared to electricity, in an attempt to drive the uptake of green power and hasten the end of fossil fuels. This could happen by the end of next year. The proposals risk forcing household gas bills up by as much as £100 a year, while electricity costs will come down.

Almost all houses can accommodate an air source heat pump, but a ground source pump requires more land. Ground source heat pumps can cost between £24,000 and £49,000, but you can get £6,000 off through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. However, The Eco Experts warn that they yield savings of only £145 per year and are not worth the outlay. 

Boost your boiler

Buying and installing an A-rated condensing boiler, with a thermostat and thermostatic radiator controls, costs about £4,000. If it replaces a D-rated boiler, the energy savings would be £305 a year. 

Wrap your house up warm

Some 28pc of UK homes have solid walls, according to the National Energy Foundation. Insulating them costs about £12,000 for a three-bedroom semi-detached home, resulting in savings of £540 a year – more than any other kind of insulation, according to The Eco Experts. 

Insulating cavity walls, which have a gap inside that can be filled with foam, is much cheaper, at about £1,000 for the same sized home. The energy savings to be had are £395 a year.

The average household can expect to pay around £455 to £640 for roof and loft insulation, for savings of £355 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust. 

Replacing old kitchen appliances

Choosing an energy efficient washing machine will save you money on both electricity and water. Replacing a D-rated machine with an A-rated one costs as little as £500, according to The Eco Experts. The savings amount to around £59 a year. The appliance should last about 11 years.

Replacing a D-rated tumble dryer with an A+++ rated one will set you back £900, shaving £36 a year off bills. Some come with sensors that indicate when the clothes inside are dry.

The cost of replacing an F-rated fridge freezer with a D-rated one is £900, resulting in bill reductions of £64 a year, according to The Eco Experts. A new A+++ rated dishwasher sells for about £800, leading to £57 a year off energy bills. 

A more efficient electric oven will cost around £350 and save you £150 a year if you use the appliance once a day.

Boiling water on tap

An instant boiling water tap is more energy efficient than a kettle, but the cost of having one is far greater than what the average household would save in bills – meaning it is probably not worth it.

The cheapest option will set you back more than £500, while premium models cost as much as £1,000. 

There are additional installation costs that are sometimes not included in the price, and a new filter needs to be purchased every three or four years, at a typical cost of £30. It costs 3p a day to keep the tap on standby, according to manufacturer Quooker.

The cost of boiling a kettle with one litre of water is about 3.7p, according to The Eco Experts. If you boil a kettle three times a day, you would only save £30 a year if you used a boiling water tap instead.

Keep the heat in

Making windows more energy efficient has the added bonus of reducing the noise levels from outside. A single 100cm x 100cm double glazed window will cost £560 on average if it is made out of PVC, with the prices for wood and steel at £600 and £720 respectively, according to The Eco Experts. 

Installation can cost an extra £250, with extra charges if the installer needs to put up scaffolding to reach your window. It would cost £6,010 to fully replace all of the windows in the average three-bedroom house.

The yearly savings to be had if all of a home’s single glazed windows are replaced are £195. An even more effective option is to choose A++ double glazing, which costs £600 for the same sized window, rising to £640 for wood and £760 for steel. The savings amount to £235 a year.

Get smart with thermostats

A smart thermostat can be controlled remotely from your mobile phone and typically costs around £225, but can help you cut your energy bills by £173 a year. However, most will not work with storage heaters or heat pumps. 

The device allows you to schedule your heating and adjusts the temperature of your home based on when you are there.

Where should you start?

Josh Jackman, of The Eco Experts, recommends you start by assessing your budget to see what you can afford, and your annual energy consumption to see where you can make the biggest savings.

"The average three-bedroom house uses 12,000 kWh of gas and 2,900 kWh of electricity, while a larger house typically uses 17,000 kWh of gas and 4,300 kWh of electricity," he says.

"If you use significantly more energy than average to heat your home, consider adding loft or cavity wall insulation," he says. Jackman says the returns on investment are "excellent". 

"Whether you’re creating a whole new layer or topping up, it’s worth it to have a warmer home that’s cheaper to heat – and most insulation types will last for at least a few decades," he says.

If you use more electricity than average, he recommends getting solar panels. 

"If you’re able to get solar panels with a heat pump, you can use the free energy you get from the sun to power your heating – which will save you even more on your bills, and make your home even more attractive to any potential future buyers," he says.