Your home upgrade journey
So, you've decided you'd like to make some energy improvements to your home – but where do you begin?
Whether you're interested in reducing your energy bills, making your home more comfortable, lowering your carbon footprint, or preparing for future heating upgrades, the first step is understanding how your home currently performs.
Every home is different, and the best improvements for one property may not be right for another. Taking some time to understand your home's construction, energy use and opportunities for improvement can help you make informed decisions and avoid costly mistakes.
We recommend following these steps:
1. Learn about your home by exploring our Shipbourne and Plaxtol Home Energy Upgrade Guide
Our Home Upgrade Guide groups homes into six common home types based on their age, types, wall construction and heating. For each home type, we provide recommendations on the kinds of energy improvements that are often most suitable and the corresponding advantages. While this can help you understand your home and the options available, every home is unique, so these recommendations should be seen as a starting point rather than a detailed plan.
2. Get a free initial home assessment
Whether you’re interested in specific measures or looking at your house as a whole, there are a range of free services worth considering to form your home energy upgrade plan. Try one of the free online retrofit assessment tools below. These tools can help you identify potential improvements and provide a personalised starting point for your home upgrade journey.
Select your address to generate a whole home improvement plan with costs, savings, grants and installer options based on your home, budget and goals
Select your address to generate a whole home improvement plan with costs, savings, grants and installer options based on your home, budget and goals
Furbnow offer a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your home, priorities and next steps before committing to a paid plan
3. Decide how much support you need
What you do next depends on your confidence level, budget, and how involved you want to be in the process.
Some homeowners prefer to carry out their own research, compare options, and choose installers independently for a "DIY approach". Others want expert guidance to help them create a whole-house plan before investing in improvements.
There are several levels of support available:
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Self-guided advice – Use online tools and resources to explore suitable upgrades and research installers yourself. If this sounds like you, take a look at our local installers page.
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Targeted assessments – If you're mainly interested in a specific technology, such as a heat pump, solar panels or insulation, you may choose a specialist assessment focused on that measure.
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Detailed retrofit assessments – A whole-house assessment looks at your property in detail and creates a long-term plan showing the most effective sequence of improvements. We provide examples of these below.
Targeted assessments from installer procurement platforms
Detailed retrofit assessment and coordination
PAS 2035 retrofit assessment, installer coordination & project delivery
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A survey and plan including a home visit and detailed whole house retrofit plan with staged measures, savings and indicative costs
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Access to vetted, accredited installers with quotes checked for quality
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Delivery including free coordination of any works progressed
Architect-led retrofit
Guidance Notes
Both the Energy Saving Trust and the Centre of Sustainable Energy have helpful guidance notes covering various energy improvement measures you may be considering for your home, links to which we've provided below.
If you are considering installing a solar PV array or air source heat pump, we advise that you only deal with installers certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). If you are considering energy efficiency upgrades, we advise you consult the guidance notes as to the appropriate certification schemes for each measure.
Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation founded in 1992 working to reduce fuel poverty, lower fuel bills and promote healthier homes and cleaner air.
Visit the site for guidance on a range of home energy improvement recommendations here, or use the links below to access their guidance on various measures you may be considering for your home.
The Centre for Sustainable Energy are an independent national charity formed in 1979 which provides practical knowledge and experience to empower people to change the way they think and act about energy.
Visit the site for guidance on a range of home energy improvement recommendations here, or use the links below to access their guidance on various measures you may be considering for your home.