Saving Energy

Saving Energy cuts your bills and helps the environment!

Over the coming years people will think about energy differently.

Until now power has been "unlimited", and barely restricted by price. People just use as much as they want and pay the bills when they come in. But all this will change!

Industry pundits predict that domestic energy prices will more than double in the next ten years, and that's accounting for inflation! According to some inductry sources energy prices may well accellerate fater than that, and could be three times or more what we are paying now in ten years (some people have already experienced over 40% increases in the past two years!, and other predict a doubling of current prices by the edn of the decade!).

Installing renewable energy generators fixes your costs. You are in effect inflation proofing your energy, but any excess energy you sell will be index linked to the rising price of energy. Thus a system that has a 10 year payback period may pay for its self in as few as 5 or 6 years, and generate huge savings or a tidy income after that! (not to mention the increase in value to your home).

But weather you buy your energy or generate it one thing is for sure, in general people will know more about how much energy they use, and they will endevor to use less of it. People will look at the energy ratings of an appliance like a fridge freezer in the same way they consider the engine size of a car. Quite apart from the environmental benefits it will pay to do so.

There are a number of simple things you can do to reduce your energy consumption. Do them all and it will have a big impact on your bills!

12 easy steps to save energy at home

FREE STEPS

• Put lids on pans when cooking
  Cooking is quicker and uses less fuel if you use a pan that's the right size for the job, put the lid on, and use as little water as necessary. And use the right ring size to avoid heating the air instead of the pan!
• Don't leave TVs on standby
  85% of the electricity used by your VCR is consumed while it is not actually on!
• Use economy settings on dishwashers and washing machines
  Using a 40°C wash cycle rather than 60°C means you use a third less electricity. Modern washing powders and detergents work just as effectively at lower temperatures so unless you have very dirty washing, bear this in mind.
• Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping
  Just doing this could save you about £15 a year.
• Don't leave the fridge door open longer than is necessary
  For every minute that the fridge door is open, it will take three minutes for it to regain its temperature.
• Turn your central heating down
  If you are too warm, turn the room thermostat down by 1°C - it could save up to 10% off your fuel bill.

LOW-COST STEPS

• Invest in draught excluders
  Invest in draught excluders for letterboxes, keyholes, doors and windows that open onto the outside.Fitting insulation tape, brush seals and draught strips is highly effective in cutting down those nasty draughts. If you plug the gaps between floorboards and around skirting boards Invest in energy efficient light bulbs for all the lights in your home that are on for an average of 4 hours a day or more
  
• Use Energy Effocient Light Bulbs
  Energy saving light bulbs use electronics that enable them to produce a highly efficient and compact light using a fraction of the energy. They last up to 12 times longer than their inefficient counterparts and you can make a amazing saving of £68 over each bulb's lifetime. If every UK household installed 3 energy saving bulbs this would save enough energy in a year to power all street lighting.
  
• Put an insulating jacket on your hot water tank
  They cost less than £10, yet if everyone in the UK fitted one the energy saved would be enough to power 64,136 households for a year, and CO2 emissions would be cut by 0.45 million tonnes (90,000 hot air balloons).

…AND FOR A FEW £££ MORE!

• Insulate your loft
  250mm (10 inches) of loft insulation can save up to 25% of your heating costs.
  
• Replace your old boiler
  Replacing a 15 year old boiler could save you over 20% on your fuel bills or 32% if you install a super-efficient condensing boiler.
  
• Buy energy efficient appliances
  If it's time to replace some of the white goods in your home, make sure energy efficiency is high on your shopping list. If everyone in the UK upgraded their old fridge to an A-rated, energy efficient product, energy wastage would be cut by over two-thirds. That's the equivalent of over 47 million hot air balloons of CO2 and over £1 billion on bills.