Go green to beat the energy crunch

THE sun has disappeared behind heavy clouds, summer is nearly over and, to make it all worse, some 16million Britons are facing a £250 increase in their energy bills this winter.

British Gas’s plans to raise its fuel bills by 35% – increasing its price rise by 45% already this year – will turn the average household’s dual-fuel bill into a hefty £1,322 price tag. Coupled with the credit crunch, an energy crisis just seems plain unfair.

But by taking a few simple steps in your own home, you could actually cut your yearly bills by nearly £300.

So for those families who have been wondering whether they’ll have only enough money to heat the house or feed the children come December, help is at hand – and it promises to not only be cost-effective, but eco-friendly, too.

The UK Government will fund families aiming to go green by providing up to £2,700 to households on certain benefits. For full details on how to apply for a grant, see www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/ what–can–i–do–today/ energy–saving–grants–and– offers


GET THE BASICS RIGHT

Patrick McCool, who runs his own energy-assessment company, Make My Home Green (www.makemyhome green.com), says draughty British houses are incredibly heat-inefficient.

But before recommending throwing money into expensive double-glazing and thick carpets, he says that little steps across the house can add up to a very eco-friendly whole. It’s all about getting the balance right.

“There’s a lot to do in the house before you worry about things like renewable energy – solar panels and wind turbines and the like,” McCool says.

“Nearly half of our emissions in the UK come from buildings, with 27% of that from domestic buildings, so we need to start looking at our properties differently in how we heat and cool them.

“Most houses in the UK perform really badly in terms of energy efficiency, and it’s relatively simple to make them work a lot better – you just need to know what to do.”

GIVE YOUR HOUSE A HAT

We have all heard that we lose most of our body warmth through the top of our head – but the same can be said for our homes.

About 15% of a house’s heat is lost through the roof – but by insulating your loft with 270mm of insulation materials, you could save £150 on your heating bills, according to Government agency The Energy Saving Trust.

Depending on how much you want to spend, insulation can range from cost-friendly Rockwool (made from glass fibres) to sheep’s wool, to hemp, to Warmcel (made of recycled newspapers – see www.naturalinsulations.co.uk), to Eco-wool (made from recycled plastic bottles and stocked at B&Q – see www.diy.com or www.eco-wool.co.uk).

Once you have done the loft, the next step is to take a look at your walls as homes lose nearly 50% of their heat through both the loft and walls when uninsulated.

The EST says that about 33% of that heat loss is due to warm air escaping through the walls, so insulating them will save you about £120 a year and keep you warm come autumn.

TURN THE THERMOSTAT DOWN

We have all heard that turning the thermostat down just one degree can slash 10% off our energy bills – so why aren’t more of us actually doing it?

“The average house is heated to three degrees warmer than it used to be 20 years ago,” says Edwin Lloyd, who started My Greener Home (www.mygreenerhome.co.uk), a site dedicated to lowering energy bills, in response to his escalating fuel costs a few years ago.

“We are used to going around in T-shirts and shorts in the house when really we should get used to long-sleeved shirts and jumpers.”

Lloyd recommends energy meters such as the Wattson (www.diykyoto.com, or www.mygreenerhome.co.uk/ wattson-energy-meter-54.html) to help families understand where exactly their energy is being used in the house.

“You put a transmitter into your electricity supply near your fuse box which connects wirelessly to a digital display that you can carry around room to room to see what energy is being used where,” he says.

“People don’t realise where their money is going until they see the energy meter jump up once they turn on the kettle or the hi-fi. It makes them think about what they’re doing more.”

CHANGE YOUR LIGHT BULBS

The EST reckons that lighting your house accounts for about 15% of your electricity bill. By switching to energy-saving light bulbs, you could save nearly 80% on your bills per bulb.

“There are good-quality bulbs for every type of fitting now, including the halogen spotlights that are so popular now,” says McCool.

“People frequently have sets of five or 10 in their bedroom or kitchen, which is equivalent to putting on a 500-watt security light every time they walk over to their bed. It’s not necessary, and when they’re dimmer, the room has a much nicer atmosphere.”

DRAFT-PROOF THOSE WINDOWS

Vamping up your rickety sash windows with double-glazed ones could save you about £110 a year – depending on how you vamp them up, that is.

“It can cost about £1,000 to double-glaze a window, which is quite a lot, but I got a company called Quattro Seal (www.quattroseal.com) to do mine,” says McCool.

“I had these old sash windows that they sealed with silicon gel, which has made a huge difference in terms of the draftiness in my front room and only cost about £80 per window.

“If that’s too much money for you, try investing in some heavy floor-to-ceiling curtains – you’ll be surprised at how much that helps, too.”

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