I prioritised these 5 energy upgrades in my Victorian home renovation, here's why and what they've achieved

Victorian houses built between 1837 and 1901 are often romanticised for their high ceilings, and original features such as cornicing, fireplaces, wooden windows and fancy brickwork.

And it’s true, they all add immeasurable character, but this comes at a cost. Victorian houses are spectacularly inefficient when it comes to heat retention, and therefore require high energy input to heat. On particularly cold winter days, heat escapes these draughty old homes almost as quickly as it’s produced.

So, when my wife and I took on a Victorian home renovation, improving the energy efficiency quickly became one of our top priorities. We had to decide which improvements to make so that they could improve our energy use both now and in the future. These are the 5 energy upgrades we selected to make, why we chose them and the results we've seen to date.

1. We added internal wall insulation

The most effective improvement we made, both in terms of energy performance, and comfort, was adding internal wall insulation to the external-facing walls. The house is built from solid brick, which means there wasn't an option to opt for cavity wall insulation.

Instead, we installed internal wall insulation using funding from the UK government’s Green Deal to help cover a large portion of the cost. An important point to make here is that we never considered external wall insulation as adding external cladding of any kind would have ruined the facade of the house. On a few external-facing brick walls without windows we were able to install 95mm insulation, while walls with windows were limited to 65mm to maintain the original window depth.

The end result was a dramatic improvement in thermal performance. Solid Victorian brick walls typically have a U-value somewhere around 2.0 W/m²K. With internal insulation, installed performance can improve to around 0.3 W/m²K which is comparable to modern, new-build standards.

More importantly the house immediately felt warmer and easier to heat, as well as feeling cooler in the summer – an added benefit as summers become increasing warm with climate change.

2. We replaced our old windows with new ones

The next major upgrade was replacing the original windows. Like many Victorian properties the house still had its original timber sash windows. While they looked beautifully dilapidated, they were single-glazed, draughty and extremely poor at retaining heat.

Rather than installing modern uPVC units we chose to replace them with bespoke timber windows which were specifically designed to replicate the original windows.

They were double glazed and argon-filled to improve thermal insulation by reducing heat transfer between the panes of glass. These type of windows typically achieve U-values of around 1.2 - 1.4 W/m²K, offering a huge improvement compared to single glazing.

Another welcome benefit was noise reduction. Our house sits on a road that becomes surprisingly busy during the school run. After the window replacement, noise dropped significantly, probably in the region of 10 - 15 decibels.

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3. We insulated our loft

Insulating the loft was another obvious priority. We installed around 300mm of loft insulation which aligns with current UK recommendations for energy efficiency. This significantly reduces heat loss through the roof which is often one of the largest sources of energy loss in older homes.

After insulating, we boarded sections of the loft to make it usable for loft storage. Care was taken to maintain airflow above the insulation layer however in order to avoid loft condensation issues. It’s a relatively simple upgrade compared to many other renovation tasks but it can have a big impact on heating demand and comfort.

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4. We upgraded our heating system

We undertook a number of upgrades related to heating to help with energy bills. Firstly we replaced the tiny old boiler that was still working, but straining beyond its intended capabilities to meet demand. In place of it, we installed a modern Baxi EcoBlue gas boiler.

We then considered the types of radiators we needed and replaced the old panel steel radiators with steel column radiators. They are heavier and larger than modern panel radiators, but they offer good heat output and suit this style of older home.

An online heat loss calculator, such as this one offered on the Best Heating website helped to estimate the required BTU output for each room. The calculations take into account factors such as room size, ceiling height, insulation levels and window area.

This allowed us to choose radiators with the correct combination of height, length, number of columns and depth to meet the heating demand of each room. Pipework throughout the house was also insulated so that the water stayed hot en-route to the emitters.

We also included a smart heating system to give us extra control

One additional heating upgrade was the installation of a smart Google Nest Thermostat, such as this one from Amazon.

Smart thermostats allow heating schedules to be adjusted remotely via a smartphone app, and can automatically adapt based on usage patterns. The system allowed us to fine-tune heating schedules throughout the day, which helped reduce wasted energy while still maintaining comfort.

Once it was all installed, I also adjusted the flow rate on my boiler which helps the boiler maintain a more consistent use of energy, rather than operating in short bursts and sharp peaks.

5. We draught-proofed and replaced doors

Finally, as part of our renovation we installed timber front and rear doors which had double-glazed panels above them to replace the older single-glazed glass. We also added draught-proofing around doors and other small gaps throughout the house.

These details may seem minor compared to some of the other improvements we made, but preventing uncontrolled air leakage has helped the entire heating system to work more efficiently.

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Wondering how much energy upgrades might add to your renovation costs? Find out what you can expect to pay for new window costs, and discover the ways you could save money when you know what to salvage and what to scrap.