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How the average home can go green

We break down the cost and energy saving potential of 8 carbon-cutting technologies that could turn the average UK home into an eco-home

Turning your home into a greener place can seem overwhelming, especially if you live in an older property, or aren't sure which options are the best investment for your needs.

Leading eco-friendly tech advisors The Eco Experts have launched their concept for the modern ‘Eco-Home’. This uses the most common UK property type - a three-bedroom semi - and examines how each carbon-saving piece of tech could impact your bills, as well as your emissions.

We take a look at how much the following additions to your home could really save you:

Solar panels
Solar storage battery
Double glazed windows
Wall and roof insulation
Air source heat pump
Electric vehicle charger
Smart thermostat

The Eco Experts found that the total cost for installing the 8 most popular carbon-saving domestic technologies listed above is £29,705, but will save you £37,260 on energy bills over a 20 year period - as well as over 6 tonnes of CO2e per year!

How much CO2 could you save?

We know that to address the climate crisis, change is needed in almost every area of our daily lives - including our homes.

According to the Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK won't meet our climate change targets unless we eliminate almost all of the greenhouse gas emissions from our homes, which currently make up around 14% of total UK emissions (64 million tonnes).

The good news is, the options we need to cut our carbon are already here. The 8 technologies listed above could saves 6.16 tonnes of C02 per home per year, or 123.2 tonnes over the next 20 years - that's the equivalent of 79 years of road traffic emissions!

If every household in the UK implemented these technologies, together we could cut up to 46 million tonnes of C02 each year - that's 75% of the UK's household emissions eliminated.

The most effective technologies for cutting C02 emissions are installing an air source heat pump (cutting 2.5 tonnes per year), installing solar panels and a battery (1.59 tonnes per year) and cavity wall insulation (0.66 tonnes per year).

What are the financial costs and savings?

If you were to install all of the 8 'modern eco-home' technologies listed above, it would cost you around £29,705 (although this is before accounting for any savings through government grants). This is likely to lower in the future, as there is now 0% VAT in energy saving materials, and hopefully more incentives on the way.

While the initial cost is a fairly large one, you could save around £37,260 over a 20 year period, more than paying off your investment. Powering your home with renewable energy in a more efficient way also protects you from the financial impact of fluctuating energy prices and rising fossil fuel costs, something we can expect more in the future.

Realistically, most homeowner would make the upgrades one by one, rather than all at once; and many homes already have one or more in place, such as double glazing and insulation.

While air source heating and solar panels are at the more expensive end of the scale, they both come with government assistance - from October 2023, homeowners in England and Wales could save up to £7,500 on a new air source heat pump or £6,000 on a ground source heat pump through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Since January 2020, the Smart Export Guarantee also requires all large electricity companies to pay households for any excess solar energy from their solar panels that they are able to send back to the National Grid.

Savings and incentives like these are worth adding up when you're deciding the best ways to make your home greener, as the costs are often outweighed by the benefits to your energy bills and carbon footprint.

How does eco-friendly tech impact property value?

As well as the many environmental benefits and energy bill savings, installing eco-home technologies can also be great for the value of your home.

Solar panels have been shown to increase house value by 4.1% on average, which would translate to an extra £9,500 for the average UK home.

Wall insulation has even been shown to increase property value by more than 25%!

Installing eco-home technologies is likely to improve your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating, something which is likely to become increasingly important in the years to come, and will be more valued by house buyers as we transition to a greener way of living.

It's likely that all rental properties will need an EPC rating of ‘C’ or above by 2025, and all homes across the UK – both owned and rented – will need to achieve a ‘C’ rating by 2035.

The savings by technology

The table below courtesy of The Eco Experts shows the potential costs and savings for each eco-home technology:

Low-carbon technology	Average cost (3-bedroom house)	Typical lifespan	Break even point*	Average energy bill savings per year*	Savings over 20 years	CO2 emissions saved per year	CO2 emissions saved over 20 years
Solar panels	£4,800	25-30 years	9 years	£530	£10,600	0.65 tonnes	13 tonnes
Storage battery***	£4,500	15 years	Never	£422	£8440	0.94 tonnes	18.8 tonnes
Double glazing	£7,500	25-30 years	Never	£145	£2,900	0.33 tonnes	6.6 tonnes
Cavity wall insulation	£1,200	25 years	4.2 years	£285	£5,700	0.66 tonnes	13.2 tonnes
Roof insulation	£530	40 years	2 years	£255	£5,100	0.58 tonnes	11.6 tonnes
Air source heat pump	£10,000	20 years	Never	£5	£100^	2.5 tonnes	50 tonnes
Electric vehicle charger	£950	5-10 years	5.3 years	£252****	£5,040	N/A	N/A*****
Smart thermostat	£225	10 years	2.3 years	£100	£2,000	0.5 tonnes	10 tonnes
Total	£29,705	-	9years	£1,863	£37,260	6.16 tonnes	123.2 tonnes

*Based on current electricity prices at 28p per kWh

**Break-even point is based on when savings exceed initial purchase cost

***When combined with solar panels

****When compares with charging your electric vehicle at a public charge point

*****In most cases, you use the same electricity whether you’re using it at home or in a public place

^Based on the fact that you would have to buy a new gsa boiler after 15 years

The journey to a greener home

As the impact of the climate crisis become more evident, we all know that we need to do our bit to support a better future.

This guide is designed to show how investing in eco-friendly home improvements can improve your property value, keep your home warmer, reduce your carbon footprint and slash your energy bills.

Although it's not affordable for most homeowners to install all of the eco-home technologies at once, even one or two upgrades can make a big impact.

Not only will you be doing your part to cut carbon emissions, but you’ll be setting yourself up to dodge rising energy prices in the coming years.