New build homes save those living in them almost £700 a year in energy bills as they are considerably more efficient than older properties, new research suggests. According to Energy Performance Certificate data 84.4% of new builds have the top A or B rating for energy efficiency compared to just 2.2% of existing properties.
Meanwhile, Government data shows that as a result, new homes are using on average 103kWh/m2 worth of energy compared to an average of 294kWh/M2 for existing homes. This means that new build home owners will spend on average £443.30 a year with £276 on heating, £108 on hot water and £60 lighting, well under half of the £1,072 the owner of an older home can expect to spend, saving, on average, £52 a month, or £629 a year.
With fuel costs having already increased by around 36% in the past decade, and likely to increase even further, new homeowner savings are likely to grow, according to the research report from the Home Builders Federation (HBF). It also points out that with housing accounting for nearly 30% of the UKs energy use, new build homes are also delivering significant benefits for the environment.
The report explains that in accordance with modern regulation, house builders are driving energy savings through a combination of innovative design and more efficient materials,for example, by installing boilers that only give you hot water when you need it, fitting modern creating sophisticated water drainage systems.
It points out that by upgrading to increasingly popular smart energy systems, owners of new homes are able to control their heating via their smartphone or set up a weekly heating schedule. However, adding such technology to a second hand home could require making significant changes to the existing heating system.
When it comes to the building materials used, new homes usually have cavity wall insulation and the latest are six times more efficient that homes build in the 1960s and the latest double glazing is filled with argon gas which lets the sun in but reduced heat loss making it twice as efficient as double glazing from the 1990s.
In older properties a lot of heat can be lost through flooring and ground floors in particular can be difficult to improve while they will also have poor insulation in the roof. The report points out that new homes are designed to have a minimum level of thermal performance and insulation.
