Smart Way To Slash Energy Bills

A new energy company launches on Monday with the promise to revolutionise the industry and help you with your gas and electric bills.

First Utility is to install smart meters - the next generation of electricity and gas meters that read energy usage every 30 minutes.

It hopes to compete with the Big Six energy companies by letting homeowners see where they are spending their cash.

Mark Daeche, the co-founder of First Utility, told Sky News Online: "Trials have show that you can save up to 15% on your electric bill.

"We are from a background of telecoms. We are bringing the strengths of the telecoms industry to energy. We are bringing smart billing, we are accurate and on time. These are things that the big six just don't do."

He accused the Big Six of operating a cartel - something they deny.

"There is no transparency. They are vertically integrated which means the generator is selling to the supplier. It needs to be broken," he added.

"We need to have a liquid wholesale market where we can go and purchase then it's clear to everyone what the prices are."

So how does the smart meter work?

It is a box fitted to a wall in your home, telling consumers and suppliers how much energy is being used at any given moment.

The information can be sent to our televisions, mobile phones or PCs. It could eventually be broken down by appliance - so letting you see, for example, how much electricity your kettle is using.

First Utility promises a three way tariff with a cheaper rate.

"We will be offering 9p/kilowat compared to the 14p/kilowat that some other firms charge," added Mr Daeche.

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The green kitchen

For the purposes of this week’s column, the kitchen shall embrace the tumble dryer – even if the dryer is in a different room. And it will get a shock. The most efficient tumble dryers, according to figures published by the sustainability group Market Transformation Programme (www.mtprog.com), use electricity at a rate of 2.3-2.5kWh for 4.5kg of laundry (the smallest load its studies measure). The least efficient use 80-90 per cent more.

The environmental and financial cost is enormous. Karen Lawrence from the Energy Saving Trust (www.est.org.uk) says that we spend £400 million a year on drying laundry, producing eight million tonnes of CO2 and using enough electricity “to power almost all the homes in Greater Manchester for a year”.

What can you do? Well, you can buy a more efficient tumble dryer. But more sparing use of it is an even better option. And yes, the alternative to tumbling is air drying, but I wager that you will be converted once you’ve got the hang of it (no pun intended). Watch this space for detailed advice on air drying.

In the meantime, here are some intermediate steps to more environmentally responsible drying. One: make sure that your laundry has spun at at least 1400rpm in the washing machine. This cuts the water content by around 20 per cent over 1000rpm, thus cutting time in the dryer. Two: buy a folding clothes rack and put it next to the dryer. Tumble dry the load for 20 minutes, then let it finish drying on the rack. This is better for clothing, causing less mechanical and thermal stress on the fabric.

And three: never, ever tumble dry items like tea towels and napkins. You can buy small, wall-mounted racks that will accommodate them. Once they’re back in the Green Kitchen, you’ll never know they haven’t seen the inside of your dryer.

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When the wind doesn't blow

By 2020, more than a third of Britain's electricity will be generated by wind power, according to government plans. One problem - six out of 10 days aren't windy enough to make sufficient power. So what happens then?

On a clear summer's day the Horns Rev wind farm off the coast of Denmark could almost double as a tourist attraction. Watching the rows of 200 foot white steel turbines turning gently in the wind, occasionally catching the afternoon sun is beautiful, almost hypnotic.

To see it properly you need a helicopter, as it's in the middle of the North Sea. I had hitched a ride with Bent Johansen, who manages the operations of Danish turbines for the energy company, Vattenfall. For him the future of wind is off-shore.

"Horns Rev can produce as much power as all our 300 onshore turbines put together," says Mr Johansen.

Horns Rev is currently the biggest off-shore wind farm in the world, covering an area of over 20km. In the next decade Britain will be seeing its own versions of Horns Rev cropping up off the coastline.

The government estimates about 35% of electricity will need to be generated from wind power by 2020, to meet an EU target. This will mean a massive increase in the amount of wind power generated, from 2% at present to 35%.

It's a big leap, admits Maria McCaffery of the British Wind Energy Association, "but we believe it is possible".

Denmark is the poster boy for wind power - 20% of the electricity it generates comes from wind, it claims. Horns Rev can provide enough power for 150,000 homes. On the day I visited it would be lucky to power a village. So what does Denmark do when the wind doesn't blow?

The answer is on the giant screens which dominate the control room of Energinet, the Danish national grid. Peter Jorgensen, the vice president of Energinet, directs me to the map of Scandinavia which fills one vast screen. On it are the unique energy connections Denmark has to its neighbours in Norway, Sweden and Germany.

This allows them to import power when it's not windy or export it when they have too much.

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Energy Saving Advice: How to Save £27K

Making a few small, simple changes could save you a massive £27K, and help the environment.

The average UK household can save over £27,000 throughout the course of a lifetime and decrease their carbon footprint by making small, everyday changes to the way energy is used in the home, according to a new report by ASDA.

And these changes could have a significant impact on the environment, saving 209 tonnes of Co2 during a lifetime, the equivalent to travelling 115,000 miles by car.

Energy Saving Tips: Small Changes to Save Energy and Cash

The report found that substantial savings can be made throughout a lifetime by taking simple actions.

Turning the heating down by just 1 degree can save a household almost £6,000 and not heating the house when it’s empty can save a further £4,500.

Also, just by not leaving appliances on standby, each home can save over £2,000 during a lifetime – if all households in the UK did this then it would save enough electricity to power 1.2 million homes every single year.

Pennies can also be saved every time a cup of tea is made, simply by using just the right amount of water in the kettle.

Changing 10 light bulbs to energy saving options could save a household £50 a year.

How Much Energy Will Simple Changes Save?

• Turning off lights when not needed saves £806 and 2,923 C02 Kg over a lifetime.

• Not leaving appliances on standby saves £2,296 and 8,323 C02 Kg

• Using the right amount of water in the kettle saves £560 and 2,030 Kg

• Not heating rooms when not using them saves £3,675 and 60,900 Kg

• Not heating the house when not in it saves £4,533 and 75,110 Kg

• Turning the heating down by 1 degree saves £5,779 and 25,814 Kg

• Using energy saving light bulbs saves £381 and 1,380 Kg

• Using efficient appliances saves £6,944 and 25,172 Kg

• Turning off mobile phone chargers save £426 and 1,543 Kg

• Having showers instead of baths saves £1,680 and 6,090 Kg

• TOTAL SAVINGS: £27,080 and 209,285 C02 Kg over the course of a lifetime

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