Buying Guide
Best Energy Saving Products for UK Homes 2026
Updated August 2026
The average UK household spends £2,500 per year on energy. Up to 30% of that is wasted through draughts, inefficient heating, and poor insulation. These 10 products cost under £200 total and can save £300-600 per year — paying for themselves within the first winter.
Quick answer
Our top pick: Smart TRVs + Draught Kit + Thermal Curtains
approximately £300 on Amazon
The 3 highest-impact products: smart TRVs (save £135-225/year), draught-proofing kit (save £60-100/year), thermal curtains (save £80-120/year). Total cost: ~£300. Annual saving: ~£375-445.
Check Price on Amazon →10 energy saving products, ranked by annual saving
tado° Smart Radiator Thermostat
Heating is roughly 60% of the bill, so anything that reduces heating hours beats everything else. Start with the two rooms you heat but rarely use — a spare bedroom and a dining room — and you'll usually recover the cost inside a single winter.
Pros
- Room-by-room scheduling — stop heating empty rooms
- Geofencing turns the heating down when the house empties
- Open-window detection
- Works alongside almost any existing boiler setup
Cons
- Expensive to fit to every radiator at once
- Needs a bridge for remote control
Who it's for: The single biggest saving available under £200 for two or three rooms
Check Price on Amazon UK →Deconovo Thermal Curtains
Windows are usually the biggest single cold surface in a room. Closing lined curtains at dusk is the cheapest habit change with a measurable effect on how warm a room feels at a given thermostat setting.
Pros
- Triple-weave lining cuts window heat loss substantially
- Works on single and double glazing
- Blocks light and noise as well
- No fitting beyond hanging them
Cons
- Only effective when closed
- Needs a full-width pole to avoid gaps
Who it's for: Living rooms and bedrooms with large or old windows
Check Price on Amazon UK →Stormguard Door Draught Excluder
A 10mm gap under a standard front door is equivalent to leaving a small window permanently open. This is the highest return-per-pound item on the whole list.
Pros
- Seals the biggest single gap in most homes
- Aluminium and brush construction lasts years
- Screws or sticks to the door bottom
- Pays for itself in weeks
Cons
- Needs cutting to width
- Brush wears on rough thresholds
Who it's for: Front and back doors with a visible gap at the bottom
Check Price on Amazon UK →Radflek Radiator Reflectors
Ignore the exaggerated claims made for kitchen foil — properly made reflectors on external-wall radiators do give a modest, real saving, and they cost under £30 for a house.
Pros
- Reflects heat back into the room from external walls
- Independently tested, unlike most foil products
- Fits behind the radiator without removing it
- Lasts indefinitely
Cons
- Only worth it on external walls
- Fiddly on narrow radiator gaps
Who it's for: Radiators mounted on uninsulated external walls
Check Price on Amazon UK →BKSAI Window Insulation Film
Effectively DIY secondary glazing. On single glazing the improvement is immediate and obvious; on modern sealed units it isn't worth the effort.
Pros
- Cuts single-glazing heat loss by 40–50%
- Renter friendly and removable
- Also stops condensation on the film surface
- 15 minutes per window
Cons
- Marginal on good double glazing
- Slightly visible edge
Who it's for: Any room with single glazing
Check Price on Amazon UK →Tapo P110 Smart Plug with Energy Monitoring
The measurement matters more than the switching. Put one on the tumble dryer, the second fridge in the garage and the heater in the spare room for a week and the numbers usually change your behaviour immediately.
Pros
- Shows exactly what an appliance costs to run
- Schedules heaters and airers so they can't be left on
- Finds standby waste you didn't know about
- Pays back in one or two months
Cons
- Only useful on plug-in loads
- Needs 2.4GHz WiFi
Who it's for: Diagnosing where the electricity is actually going
Check Price on Amazon UK →UAP MailPlate Letterbox Draught Excluder
A bare letterbox is an open 250mm × 40mm hole into the hallway. Sealing it is cheap and the effect on hall temperature on a windy day is noticeable within minutes.
Pros
- Seals a hole most people never think about
- Twin brush and flap design
- Screws over the existing letterplate
- Stops the hallway wind tunnel
Cons
- Needs drilling two screw holes
- Check letterplate dimensions first
Who it's for: Any front door with an unsealed letterbox
Check Price on Amazon UK →Self-Adhesive Silicone Draught Strip
The unglamorous workhorse of draught-proofing. Measure the gap with a coin before buying so you get a profile that compresses rather than jams.
Pros
- Seals casement windows and internal doors
- Silicone outlasts foam by years
- Cuts with scissors, sticks in minutes
- One roll does several windows
Cons
- Needs a clean dry frame
- Wrong thickness stops the window closing
Who it's for: Rattling windows and gappy internal doors
Check Price on Amazon UK →Tapel Foam Draught Seal Tape
Foam is the right answer where a gap is wide and irregular and nobody sees it. The loft hatch in particular is a big hole most people never seal.
Pros
- Cheapest possible sealing per metre
- Fills wide, irregular gaps well
- Good for loft hatches and cupboard doors
- No tools needed
Cons
- Compresses and needs replacing every couple of seasons
- Less durable than silicone
Who it's for: Loft hatches, cellar doors and one-season quick fixes
Check Price on Amazon UK →ThermoPro Digital Hygrometer
Most households run rooms two or three degrees hotter than they believe. Each degree is roughly 8–10% of the heating bill, so a £10 thermometer that corrects a two-degree error pays back several times over.
Pros
- Shows humidity and temperature so you stop guessing
- Damp air costs more to heat than dry air
- Prevents mould damage as well as saving energy
- Under a tenner
Cons
- Doesn't save anything on its own
- Needs a second unit to compare rooms
Who it's for: Knowing whether your room is actually at 18°C or 21°C
Check Price on Amazon UK →Total cost vs total saving
| Product | Cost | Annual saving | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart TRVs (×2) | £140 | £135–£225 | 8–12 months |
| Thermal curtains | £35 | £80–£120 | 4–5 months |
| Door draught excluder | £15 | £40–£60 | 2–3 months |
| Radiator reflectors | £25 | £25–£45 | 7–12 months |
| Window film | £15 | £25–£40 | 5–7 months |
| Smart plug | £15 | £20–£40 | 5–9 months |
| Letterbox excluder | £13 | £15–£30 | 5–10 months |
| Silicone + foam strip | £20 | £25–£45 | 5–9 months |
| Hygrometer | £10 | £10–£20 | 6–12 months |
| Total | ~£288 | £375–£625 | Under one winter |
Savings assume 24.5p/kWh electricity, 6.5p/kWh gas and a typical three-bedroom UK home. A well-sealed new-build will save considerably less; a draughty older property will often save more.
Which to buy first — the priority order
- Under £30 first. Door excluder, letterbox seal and draught strip. Fastest payback of anything here, and they work on day one.
- Then measure. A hygrometer and a smart plug tell you which rooms and which appliances actually deserve attention.
- Then windows. Thermal curtains everywhere; window film on any single glazing.
- Then radiators. Reflectors on external walls, and bleed every radiator while you're at it.
- Then smart TRVs. Highest saving but highest cost — buy two at a time for the rooms you heat least often.
Full breakdown of the cheap wins: how to reduce your gas bill this winter →
Energy saving for renters
- Everything on this list except reflectors installs without permanent alteration.
- Smart TRV heads screw onto the existing valve body — keep the originals and refit them when you leave.
- Choose velcro window film rather than shrink film so the tape doesn't lift old paintwork.
- Use removable hooks and existing poles for curtains rather than drilling.
- Take the smart plugs, hygrometers, curtains and TRV heads with you — they're your property.
- Ask the landlord before buying insulation or anything fixed; loft and cavity work is their responsibility, not yours.
Government grants and schemes
The products above are what you buy yourself. The bigger measures — loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, a new boiler or a heat pump — are often partly or fully funded:
- ECO4 — supplier-funded insulation and heating upgrades for low-income and vulnerable households.
- Great British Insulation Scheme — loft and cavity wall insulation support for a much wider band of homes, based on council tax band and EPC rating.
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme — a grant towards a heat pump in England and Wales.
- Warm Home Discount — an annual rebate on the electricity bill for eligible households.
- Home Energy Scotland and Nest (Wales) — devolved equivalents with their own funding.
Check eligibility on GOV.UK and directly with your energy supplier. Treat unsolicited doorstep or phone offers of "free insulation grants" with suspicion.
Buying advice
Seal before you upgrade
Tip
One degree is worth about 8–10% of the heating bill
Warning
Don't seal a house shut
Frequently asked questions
Bundle
Energy Saving Starter Kit — The three highest-impact buys
- tado° smart radiator thermostat£70Amazon →
- Stormguard door draught excluder£15Amazon →
- Deconovo thermal curtains£35Amazon →
- Tapo P110 smart plug£15Amazon →