Recent research has revealed that since 2016, over half a million new homes are not resilient to future high temperatures as a result of global warming, meaning that the demand for eco-friendly homes has never been more prominent.
This led experts at Uswitch.com/mortgages to uncover the trendiest eco renovations which can help your home against rising temperatures, and how much they can increase house value. To do this, they analysed social media hashtags, as well as average monthly search volumes of popular eco home repairs and awarded each of them a ‘trend’ score out of 10.
The results:
| Renovation | Instagram score / 10 | TikTok score / 10 | Online interest score /10 | Trend score /10 | |
| 1 | LED lighting | 9.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 | 9.67 |
| 2 | Solar panels | 9.50 | 9.50 | 9.50 | 9.50 |
| =3 | Rainwater harvesting system | 7.50 | 8.00 | 8.50 | 8.00 |
| =3 | Reclaimed wood | 10.00 | 9.00 | 5.00 | 8.00 |
| =3 | Underfloor heating | 8.00 | 8.50 | 7.50 | 8.00 |
| 4 | Smart meter | 6.50 | 7.50 | 9.00 | 7.67 |
| 5 | Reclaimed furniture | 8.50 | 7.00 | 4.00 | 6.50 |
| =6 | Bamboo flooring | 6.00 | 4.00 | 8.00 | 6.00 |
| =6 | Wooden window frame | 7.00 | 5.50 | 5.50 | 6.00 |
| 7 | Air source heat pumps | 5.50 | 3.50 | 7.00 | 5.33 |
| 8 | Green roofing | 2.50 | 6.00 | 4.50 | 4.33 |
| 9 | Sun tunnel | 5.00 | 4.50 | 3.00 | 4.17 |
| 10 | Double glazed windows | 4.50 | 0.50 | 6.50 | 3.83 |
LED lighting is the trendiest eco renovation
Having amassed over 5 billion views on the social media platform, LED lights received a perfect TikTok score (10/10), a staggering 3674% increase from the total views received by solar panels (133,999,509) in second. According to property experts at HouseBuyFast.co.uk, LED lighting can add up to £1,000 to your house value and can be up to 80% more energy efficient than conventional bulbs.
The second most on-trend eco renovation is solar panels, with a score of 9.50/10. Saving around 1.3 to 1.6 tonnes of carbon per year, solar panels have proven to be popular on social media – amassing over 800,000 Instagram hashtags to date, an impressive 694% increase to the number of tags for underfloor heating (101,010) in third. Although not much value can be added to your home through installing solar panels, they still receive 706,100 online searches each month on average, 42% fewer than LED lighting (1,222,400).
Reclaimed wood, rainwater harvesting systems and underfloor heating all come in joint third place with an overall trend score of 8.00/10. Reclaimed wood achieved a perfect Instagram score (10/10), due to accumulating 2,321,862 hashtags to date; a whopping 189% increase from the total tags solar panels received. From kitchen flooring to desks and worktops, using reclaimed wood in your house can not only look trendy, but also help limit the effects of mass deforestation.
Rainwater harvesting systems also scored 8.00/10, largely due to accruing 61,600 global monthly searches on average each month, the fourth highest of all renovations analysed. Increasing the value of a property by up to £500, this system is used to collect rainwater during the wetter months, which can then be recycled to water plants in the warmer seasons to reduce water bills by up to 50%.
With over 15 million TikTok views to date, 21,861% more than bamboo flooring (71,354), underfloor heating also comes in joint third place for the trendiest eco renovations. This eco-friendly heating system can increase your house value by up to £1,000, and is also popular with Instagram users, amassing 101,010 hashtags so far, the fifth highest of all renovations analysed.
Double glazed windows can add £5,000 to your house value
Despite achieving a trend score of just 3.83/10, installing double glazed windows is the eco-renovation which can add the most value to your home – a staggering £5,000. Effectively reducing the transfer of heat, this renovation will keep your home cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Around 18-25% of heat can be lost through windows in homes which aren’t energy efficient, which means switching to double glazed not only can increase property value, but also slash your heating bills.
For more information regarding the most on-trend eco home renovations, see the full blog post here: https://www.uswitch.com/mortgages/guides/eco-friendly-home-renovations/