Creating a 'Green' Loft

Why Create a Green Loft

Everybody today is looking for ways to make their life more environmentally friendly, so why not do the same with your loft conversion. Building upwards is one of the best ways to protect the environment as you are already saving space and resources by adding on to what you already have.

People living in cities will often create a loft conversion to allow them to escape the everyday hustle and bustle of city life, but there are more ways to make a loft green other than using recyclable materials. Being kind to the environment will not only help the planet but your loft could also help your wallet. So if saving the planet isn’t reason enough for you to turn your loft green, then the savings you could make to your monthly outgoings and bills may just be enough to tempt you.

Saving Money by Going Green

The biggest bills for any household apart from your mortgage is normally the gas and electric bills, so any way that these can be cut down will be welcome. You should think about what your loft conversion is going to be used for and try and adapt it to be as energy efficient as possible, this may involve a number of large steps such as loft insulation or it could be smaller ones, such as using energy saving light bulbs. It’s going to be cold in your loft, possibly colder than the rest of your house because of its height, so you may find that you will use more electricity.

Your first step in energy saving should be to install loft insulation, this is a great way to stop the heat spreading from the rest of your house to your loft. Good loft insulation will cut down on the amount of heat that escapes through the loft, which in turn will reduce your loft, it’s a great energy saving thing to do. Loft insulation can save you over £100 a year in heating costs and should cost no more than £300 to install, which means you will make your money back in a few years.

Loft Design

You should think about your loft and how your loft room can cut down on the amount of heating it will need to use. A great way to do this is to install skylights, they will not only let a lot of heat in during the summer but they will also provide a lot of light so you will not need to spend so much on electricity. You should also make sure that you windows are double glazed, as this will help trap the heat.

You may want to consider installing solar panels from your loft and using recyclable materials for your loft design. You will be surprised how discreetly they can fit into your current loft room, and keep costs to a minimum. Loft insulation is a great way to trap the heat and cut down on your bills, older lofts may also have a lot of cracks, simply by filling in any small cracks which could allow a draft in will save you money.

Making your loft green does not have to mean making huge changes, you can take small steps along the way in your loft conversion that will add up to big savings for you and the planet.