To save energy and money on your household bills insulate your hot and cold water cylinder. Both can be done easily.

The easiest way to insulate a cold-water tank is to use a ready-made plastic insulation jacket that has fibre-glass padding. However, you can make your own jacket by using hardboard & roof insulation roll. Cut them to fit the sides & the lid of the tank, then glue the insulating material to the hardboard. Secure the panels around the tank with a piece of string. Alternatively put pieces of insulating material into black dustbin bags to create blankets. Wrap the blankets around the tank and tie them with string.

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Draughtproofing external doors and windows can reduce the amount of cold air entering your home and save you money on your heating bill..

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About 25 per cent of the heat from radiators is lost to the wall behind. So fitting reflective panels behind radiators that are on external walls will almost certainly reduce heat loss and your bill!

Reflective radiator panels are cheap to buy and easy to install. They work by trapping the heat and reflecting it back into the room..

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Insulating a loft

Up to 30% of heat loss occurs as a result of poorly insulated roofs. By properly insulating your loft you could save a lot of energy and a lot of money. Loft insulation is an easy DIY job - but can be time consuming.

Loft insulation materials are made of mineral wool or cellulose fibres. They prevent the heated air moving through the material. There are two main types of insulation for roofs -  blanket insulation & loose fill insulation..

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One of our usual New Year resolutions is about consuming less - be that food, alcohol, cigies and other toxins. Why don’t you try to consume less energy this year? This could save you money and would also help the environment.

There are several simple ways to reduce our energy consumption without compromising on comfort. Here are a few tips on how to achieve this:.
 

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Vat Refund on Home Improvement, refurbishment & conversion

Did you know that if you refurbish or convert a property, you can qualify for lower Vat on your costs? If you didn’t - you’re not alone as this is not widely promoted and many rules and regs apply. 

The change-of -use VAT Break was introduced in 2002 to encourage people to convert & refurbish existing buildings into homes rather than only building new ones that exempt from VAT charge.  You can claim a reduced VAT of 5% on bills and expenditure in the following scenarios:..

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Home Improvement tips

Do you need any home improvement tips?
Why don’t you check out our DIY Tips section?
Do you have any tips? Why don’t you submit your tip to the following categories:..

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Panelling

As I wrote in the previous article, wall panelling is back in fashion. You can utilise the traditional tongue and groove wood panels, or the Shaker Style framed panels - but it’s much more interesting to have wall panelling with a modern twist..

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Painting panelling

Having attached your wood panelling to the walls as per the previous article, you can then decide whether you want to varnish, limewash or paint it..

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Wall panelling

Wall panelling is back in fashion - not only the country-style painted wood panels but also the wood panelling that defined our interiors in the 70’s. Of course both applications need a modern twist. This article will help you to choose the right panelling for your interior.

Panelling is ideal for walls in poor condition (but don’t use it to cover damp!) and it’s an easy DIY job. The most common type of wall panelling is made of solid wood planks with a tongue along one edge and a groove on the other. These joints allow secret nailing to the wall and for expansion of the wood with temperature change. Some tongue and groove panels have moulded or other decorative surfaces but, in my opinion, it’s best to stick to the simple ones..

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