If you've done the basic things to stop wasting energy at home, such as installing loft and wall insulation and energy efficient lighting and appliances, then you might want to consider installing your own renewable energy technologies.
Working out which technology is most suitable for your home is a good way to start. The Energy Saving Trust has an online questionnaire to help make that decision here.
Wind turbines
Wind turbines are the iconic renewable energy technology. At home, small turbines are only suitable in certain parts of the country, if they have clear sightlines away from other buildings or trees and where there is a wind speed of no less than 5 m/s. Be aware that, in some areas, erecting a turbine will also need planning permission. You can see if your home is suitable for wind power at the Energy Saving Trust website.
Solar power
Despite a distinct lack of sunshine in many parts of the country, the UK is quite well suited to solar power. As contrary to popular belief solar photovoltaic (PV) cells don't need direct sunlight to work, so you can still generate some electricity on a cloudy day.
Solar PV panels convert sunlight directly into electricity. In addition to Solar PV there are also solar water heating systems that use the sun's heat to warm up water, which can then be used directly. Both are best placed on south-facing roofs but other orientations can also work, though less efficiently. You can find out here if your home is suitable for solar power.
Solar systems are no doubt useful for cutting your energy use – but they can be expensive. A full set of PV panels can cost upwards of £10,000 and solar thermal systems around £4,300.
Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) will be introduced to Great Britain on 1 April 2010. The scheme requires energy suppliers to make regular payments to householders and communities who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources such as solar electricity (PV) panels or wind turbines.
The scheme guarantees a minimum payment for all electricity generated by the system, as well as a separate payment for the electricity exported to the grid. These payments are in addition to the bill savings made by using the electricity generated on-site.
From April this year, every unit of electricity generated at home could earn up to 41.3p for a PV system – which could mean around £800 per year for a typical-sized solar electricity installation. Find out more about Feed-in Tariffs here.
Other technologies, such as wind, hydroelectricity and micro combined heat and power, will also benefit from the scheme, though with smaller payments than solar PV.
Air and ground source heat pumps
A ground source heat pump uses pipes buried underground (usually in a back garden) to extract heat from the ground and warm water for radiators in a home. A typical system costs around £12,000, with running costs of around £650 per year where the heat pump provides all heating and hot water. They can save around 540kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) and £160 a year if they replace an oil-fired central heating system, or more if replacing coal or electric heating.
Air source heat pumps extract heat from external air in the same way that a fridge extracts heat from its inside and these systems can operate with outside temperatures as low as -15C. They are cheaper than ground source heat pumps to install, – £5,000 to £9,000 – but are not always as efficient with running costs for heating and hot water at around £790 per year. The Energy Saving Trust says that the system could save up to 5,000 kg of CO2 and £700 per year if it replaced an electric heating system.
Wood fuelled heating
A stove burning logs or pellets could heat up a single room or, for full home use, a wood fuelled boiler can replace your current boiler/heating system. Because the boiler uses wood, it will only release the CO2 that was absorbed as the tree was growing in the first place. If the wood has been sourced responsibly and new plants are grown to replace the ones chopped down to make the fuel, wood fuelled systems are essentially carbon neutral.
A standalone stove costs around £3,000, while a typical automatically-fed boiler would set you back around £9,000. But wood fuel systems can save up to 9,600 kg of CO2 per year if they replace a coal-fired system.
Hydroelectricity
Finally, there is small-scale hydroelectricity. These use running water to turn a turbine that generates electricity. The faster the water flows and the more water there is, the more electricity can be produced. Clearly only suitable for people with a stream nearby, the advantage of this technology is that it is also eligible for the government's feed-in tariff. You can find out if your home is suitable at the .
Grants
There are grants available for heat generating technologies such as wood fuelled boilers, air and ground source heat pumps and solar water heating from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, which you can find out about by using the Energy Saving Trust handy online guide. Bear in mind that, to qualify for any of this, you need to have already made the basic steps to make your home more energy efficient, such as insulation and draught-proofing.
energysavingtrust.org.uk
full article
Sunday 21 March 2010
Fuel rebate for those over 70
A quarter of a million people over 70 will get an £80 discount off their electricity bill this summer.
To qualify they have to be on a very low income - getting the pension credit 'guarantee credit'.
The rebate will be paid by the six top energy suppliers including British Gas and Eon as well as their subsidiaries.
No claim is needed as the Department for Work and Pensions will tell the energy companies who is eligible for the rebate.
The people who qualify will have a birth date of 26 March 1940 or earlier. They will also have to get the guarantee credit of the means tested benefit pension credit and not get the savings credit element.
That means their income in 2010/11 - apart from pension credit - is no more than £98.40 a week (single) or £132.60 (couple).
A couple will qualify if either meets the age qualification.
People who pay their bill through a prepayment card will also get the £80 paid by cheque or voucher posted to their address.
full article
To qualify they have to be on a very low income - getting the pension credit 'guarantee credit'.
The rebate will be paid by the six top energy suppliers including British Gas and Eon as well as their subsidiaries.
No claim is needed as the Department for Work and Pensions will tell the energy companies who is eligible for the rebate.
The people who qualify will have a birth date of 26 March 1940 or earlier. They will also have to get the guarantee credit of the means tested benefit pension credit and not get the savings credit element.
That means their income in 2010/11 - apart from pension credit - is no more than £98.40 a week (single) or £132.60 (couple).
A couple will qualify if either meets the age qualification.
People who pay their bill through a prepayment card will also get the £80 paid by cheque or voucher posted to their address.
full article
Saturday 20 March 2010
Replace your old boiler with energy-efficient Daikin Altherma heat pumps
The boiler scrappage scheme introduced by the Government has the potential to transform the future of central heating. But rather than simply replacing one old boiler for another newer model, home owners should seize this opportunity to move away from traditional fossil fuels towards a more efficient renewable energy alternative.
It’s the perfect chance to grab the biggest cash subsidy in the market today with up to £1,300 of funding available from the Government plus a £500 Top-up Fund from Daikin UK. So don’t get left out of the renewables revolution!
Daikin Altherma heat pumps offer triple the efficiency of even the most efficient boilers in the market and produce 2/3rds of all the heat for warming our homes and hot water absolutely free from the air. Fact not fiction. Yet so far, heat pumps barely get a foot note in the ‘What’s it all about’ section of the boiler scrappage scheme website. The chances are, you’ve not even heard of them yet.
But the Daikin Altherma heat pump range offers a much more future-proof and low carbon alternative to any old (or new) boiler. And one that not only qualifies for the Boiler Scrappage Scheme £400 voucher, but also qualifies for up to £900 grant from the Government’s Low Carbon Building’s Programme and also attracts a further £500 discount available exclusively from Daikin UK: the biggest top up funding currently available in the market today.
The reality is that Daikin Altherma heat pumps are the heating and hot water solution of the future because: It provides all your hot water and home heating needs - even when the weather is down to -20°C You don’t need to rip out your central heating system or change your radiators; just replace your boiler with a heat pump It could save you up to £670 per year in fuel costs, compared with running a G-rated boiler, or up to £270 per year compared with running an A-rated boiler.
To see how these figures add up, take for example a typical Victorian three-bedroom house (120sqm), which has a total heating demand of 27,000kWhr per year. When running on a G-rated gas boiler (typically 65% efficient) the fuel costs for heating this household are on average £1,500 pounds per year. A more energy efficient A-rated condensing boiler (typically 91% efficient) will bring fuel costs down to £1,100 per year.
However, with a Daikin Altherma HT system, which delivers seasonal efficiency of more than 300%, the running costs go right down to £830 per year. That is £670 saving: a 45% lower running cost than a G-rated boiler and 24% lower than an A-rated boiler. The same major savings are calculated when the Daikin Altherma HT system is compared with G and A-rated boilers, based on a typical dual fuel tariff. And that’s without factoring potential rise in energy prices through the lifetime of your heating system.
What’s more, the entire Daikin Altherma product range available from Daikin UK is accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) so you can access all the grants available towards the cost of your installation when fitted by an MCS accredited installer. Check Daikin Altherma’s website to find an MCS certified installer near you.
full article
Daikin Altherma Heating Only Air Source Heat-Pump Boiler System installation kit
It’s the perfect chance to grab the biggest cash subsidy in the market today with up to £1,300 of funding available from the Government plus a £500 Top-up Fund from Daikin UK. So don’t get left out of the renewables revolution!
Daikin Altherma heat pumps offer triple the efficiency of even the most efficient boilers in the market and produce 2/3rds of all the heat for warming our homes and hot water absolutely free from the air. Fact not fiction. Yet so far, heat pumps barely get a foot note in the ‘What’s it all about’ section of the boiler scrappage scheme website. The chances are, you’ve not even heard of them yet.
But the Daikin Altherma heat pump range offers a much more future-proof and low carbon alternative to any old (or new) boiler. And one that not only qualifies for the Boiler Scrappage Scheme £400 voucher, but also qualifies for up to £900 grant from the Government’s Low Carbon Building’s Programme and also attracts a further £500 discount available exclusively from Daikin UK: the biggest top up funding currently available in the market today.
The reality is that Daikin Altherma heat pumps are the heating and hot water solution of the future because: It provides all your hot water and home heating needs - even when the weather is down to -20°C You don’t need to rip out your central heating system or change your radiators; just replace your boiler with a heat pump It could save you up to £670 per year in fuel costs, compared with running a G-rated boiler, or up to £270 per year compared with running an A-rated boiler.
To see how these figures add up, take for example a typical Victorian three-bedroom house (120sqm), which has a total heating demand of 27,000kWhr per year. When running on a G-rated gas boiler (typically 65% efficient) the fuel costs for heating this household are on average £1,500 pounds per year. A more energy efficient A-rated condensing boiler (typically 91% efficient) will bring fuel costs down to £1,100 per year.
However, with a Daikin Altherma HT system, which delivers seasonal efficiency of more than 300%, the running costs go right down to £830 per year. That is £670 saving: a 45% lower running cost than a G-rated boiler and 24% lower than an A-rated boiler. The same major savings are calculated when the Daikin Altherma HT system is compared with G and A-rated boilers, based on a typical dual fuel tariff. And that’s without factoring potential rise in energy prices through the lifetime of your heating system.
What’s more, the entire Daikin Altherma product range available from Daikin UK is accredited by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) so you can access all the grants available towards the cost of your installation when fitted by an MCS accredited installer. Check Daikin Altherma’s website to find an MCS certified installer near you.
full article
Daikin Altherma Heating Only Air Source Heat-Pump Boiler System installation kit
Npower boiler scrappage scheme to run indefinitely
Energy giant Npower has pledged to continue offering its £400 boiler scrappage discount after the government’s scheme ends.
Consumers who want to replace their old G-rated boiler for a new energy efficient one will still be able to get a £400 discount from Npower, once the government’s boiler scheme ends.
Currently, Npower - along with British Gas - promises to match the government’s £400 grant, which means eligible households can combine the scrappage schemes to get an £800 discount on an A-rated boiler installation from Npower when they trade in their old G-rated one.
Government vouchers running out fast
The government’s boiler scrappage scheme was launched in January 2010 and has seen an impressive take-up. Last month, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reported that of the 125,000 boiler scrappage vouchers available, Decc had already issued more than 54,000 scrappage vouchers .
Npower retail chief executive Kevin Miles said: ‘The scrappage scheme has proven to be extremely popular and if take-up continues at the same rate, we expect the government’s scheme to close in April.
Shop around for the best boiler deal
Which? home editor Liz Edwards warned: ‘While it’s good news that Npower will continue this discount, don’t assume that the company offering the biggest discount will necessarily be offering the best boiler installation deal.
‘When we took a snapshot of boiler installation costs in 2009, we compared British Gas quotes against several independent central heating engineers and found British Gas charged up to twice as much as the lowest priced independent boiler engineer for the same job.
‘If you’re considering replacing your boiler, make sure you shop around and get several quotes before committing.’
full article
Consumers who want to replace their old G-rated boiler for a new energy efficient one will still be able to get a £400 discount from Npower, once the government’s boiler scheme ends.
Currently, Npower - along with British Gas - promises to match the government’s £400 grant, which means eligible households can combine the scrappage schemes to get an £800 discount on an A-rated boiler installation from Npower when they trade in their old G-rated one.
Government vouchers running out fast
The government’s boiler scrappage scheme was launched in January 2010 and has seen an impressive take-up. Last month, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reported that of the 125,000 boiler scrappage vouchers available, Decc had already issued more than 54,000 scrappage vouchers .
Npower retail chief executive Kevin Miles said: ‘The scrappage scheme has proven to be extremely popular and if take-up continues at the same rate, we expect the government’s scheme to close in April.
Shop around for the best boiler deal
Which? home editor Liz Edwards warned: ‘While it’s good news that Npower will continue this discount, don’t assume that the company offering the biggest discount will necessarily be offering the best boiler installation deal.
‘When we took a snapshot of boiler installation costs in 2009, we compared British Gas quotes against several independent central heating engineers and found British Gas charged up to twice as much as the lowest priced independent boiler engineer for the same job.
‘If you’re considering replacing your boiler, make sure you shop around and get several quotes before committing.’
full article
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