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June 27, 2023
Retrofitting your home with energy efficiency upgrades is a process where homeowners and landlords look to reduce their property’s bills, carbon emissions and improve their home’s comfort. This is done by improving the existing fabrics of the house like double glazing and insulation, installing new energy efficiency measures like draught excluders and energy efficient lighting and by switching to cleaner energy sources like heat pumps and solar panels. These changes not only impact your experience of the home, but also improve the value of the property too.
Incorporating energy-efficiency upgrades in your home adds value because it automatically lowers the operational costs of the property, so retrofitting your home is worth the investment.
Rightmove claims that improving the energy rating performance of your home from the UK average of a D rating to a C rating, the government’s potential target for all homes over the next decade, should add 4% to the value of your home. And if you’re improving your home from an E to a C you can add 16% to its value.
Last year Rightmove reported that homeowners were banking as much as 16% more on average on their home by making them more energy efficient. And as the housing market slows down it appears that homes with high energy ratings are holding their value.
Higher energy ratings for houses are becoming increasingly important to buyers as the cost of energy has increased, and sellers are now attaching premiums to their homes if they have ratings over C.
If you’d like to get a full breakdown of what your home needs to improve its energy efficiency, reduce its running costs and see the impact it has on your house value then you can book a home assessment with Furbnow. Book a home assessment here.
Improving your energy rating now also means you’ll be on the front-foot as the government works towards its net zero goal. As a part of this, the government is consulting on whether by 2030 all houses have to have an energy rating of C and right now the average rating is D. You can find your home’s energy rating on the government website. A huge amount of work is going to need to be done to get all UK houses up to a rating of C and above.
As the saying goes, the cheapest energy is that which you don’t use. The most apparent financial benefit homeowners see in retrofitting to improve their home’s energy efficiency is the reduction in their energy bills, which, with the increasing cost of energy, has become an increasingly attractive option.
An example of how much homeowners can save on bills is that those with EPC level A and B homes can expect to save more than £3,100 per year in energy bills (after the April 2023 energy price cap rise) versus those with C and below. Per month energy efficient households can expect to save around £260. This does require significant investment in your home, with only 4% of older houses making the cut for the B and above energy rating. There are financial schemes available however which you can read more about in Furbnow’s article here.
These energy efficiency improvements can include:
When you are retrofitting your home with energy efficient measures, you’re essentially addressing any potential issues before they can become widespread problems. Be that avoiding damp through better ventilation or avoiding damaging your window frames by fitting double glazing. In doing so, you can dodge future repairs and save yourself some money.
If you have a big home improvement in mind, it’s worth considering how retrofitting can help to enhance the energy efficiency of your home at the same time.
1. Consider a heat pump – If you’re looking to replace your radiators then you should consider getting a heat pump. You’re already getting the hard work of changing all the piping around your home done why not use a more efficient, clean source of energy
2. Fit solar panels on your new extension – if you’re building a new extension chances are you want it to be full of natural light, in which case why not harness that light to lower your bills (or even make you money if you sell the energy to the grid).
3. Replace your windows with double or triple glazing – if you’re doing some wholesale changes then you could consider upgrading your windows which can lose a huge amount of energy if old or faulty.
4. Cavity wall insulation for your attic conversion – a really easy change you can make yourself is to buy and install insulation to go in the gaps in your walls. Not just if you extend the house but in any walls for that matter.
5. Solar battery storage for your EV – The dream set up, you take in the sun’s energy, save it in your battery, and then whenever you need it you can charge your car without it affecting your bills.
You can buy a Furbnow homebuyer retrofit report here, where an experienced surveyor will assess the property, so that you know exactly what you’re getting into before you move in.
Homeowners are confused. They don’t know where to start or how best to invest in their home to reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint. This is why we founded Furbnow: to give impartial, actionable advice, and retrofitting your home with the work it actually needs.
If you’re looking for support with an ongoing project we can help with that too from DIY tips to project management, just get in touch.
Furbnow’s Home Energy Plan allows you to plan a retrofitting path forward for your property. You will get:
If you’d like to get a full breakdown of what your home needs to improve its energy efficiency, reduce its running costs and see the impact it has on your house value, then you can book a home assessment with Furbnow. Book a home assessment here.
March 25, 2025 
