Homeowners can cut their fuel bills by asking for a free energy inspection on their boiler when an engineer visits.
The latest government initiative is part of the wider drive to help consumers make their homes more energy-efficient.
Heating and hot water are the largest utility costs, though most people remain unaware the average boiler is 'E' rated and has the potential to produce over 50 per cent more heat.
Experts have pointed out that a family could save up to £100 every year by getting a water cylinder jacket, installing heat controls and insulating their hot water pipes.
"With winter heating bills just around the corner, now is the perfect time to get a maintenance check on your boiler. This new energy assessment for boilers will help households cut their fuel bills and carbon footprint too," said communities minister Iain Wright.
He pointed out that the next time an engineer visits, consumers should ask him or her to check their boiler so they can find out how efficient it is and what improvements and savings can be made.
According to the Heating and Hot Water Industry Council, there are still around four million old boilers being used in homes. Replacing them could save two and a half million tonnes of carbon every year by 2010.
© Adfero Ltd
full article
Thursday 4 October 2007
Tuesday 2 October 2007
Helping home owners meet the green challenge
Two-thirds of home owners believe they are making an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, while 80% say they would be more likely to buy a new home that was eco-friendly, according to new research by Redrow Homes.
A survey of some of its home owners to assess their eco habits and awareness, brought replies from 20% of respondents that they were doing everything they possibly could, whilst 45% believe they make an effort in the more important areas.
In particular home owners appear to be taking positive action in areas such as using low-energy light fittings (72%); using segregated recycling bins (70%); having ‘A-rated’ energy-efficient appliances in their homes (69%); recycling glass and plastic-based products (81%); recycling newspapers and other paper-based products (85%); not leaving electrical appliances on stand-by (78%).
Redrow’s survey coincides with the company’s introduction of a range of eco-options that customers can now choose when personalising their new home through the ‘Indulge with Redrow’ package.
New homes are already inherently more energy efficient than older properties thanks to modern standards of insulation, efficient heating systems and double glazing. However, purchasers can now choose to introduce a range of additional energy saving measures to their brand new Redrow home, including low energy light fittings, motion sensors and light timing devices, zonal heating controls and solar water heating.
They can also select kitchen waste segregation bins to be built into their base units, flow restrictors on all taps and showers, plus compost bins and water butts for the garden.
Further examples of home owners’ individual endeavours to be more energy efficient include filling the kettle with only the amount of water needed (85%); turning down the central heating (77%) and hanging out the washing to dry rather than using a tumble dryer (76%).
full article
A survey of some of its home owners to assess their eco habits and awareness, brought replies from 20% of respondents that they were doing everything they possibly could, whilst 45% believe they make an effort in the more important areas.
In particular home owners appear to be taking positive action in areas such as using low-energy light fittings (72%); using segregated recycling bins (70%); having ‘A-rated’ energy-efficient appliances in their homes (69%); recycling glass and plastic-based products (81%); recycling newspapers and other paper-based products (85%); not leaving electrical appliances on stand-by (78%).
Redrow’s survey coincides with the company’s introduction of a range of eco-options that customers can now choose when personalising their new home through the ‘Indulge with Redrow’ package.
New homes are already inherently more energy efficient than older properties thanks to modern standards of insulation, efficient heating systems and double glazing. However, purchasers can now choose to introduce a range of additional energy saving measures to their brand new Redrow home, including low energy light fittings, motion sensors and light timing devices, zonal heating controls and solar water heating.
They can also select kitchen waste segregation bins to be built into their base units, flow restrictors on all taps and showers, plus compost bins and water butts for the garden.
Further examples of home owners’ individual endeavours to be more energy efficient include filling the kettle with only the amount of water needed (85%); turning down the central heating (77%) and hanging out the washing to dry rather than using a tumble dryer (76%).
full article
Saturday 29 September 2007
Is this Britain's greenest house?
Anywhere else in Britain it would not seem unusual. But this is on the border of Norfolk and Lincolnshire, by Holbeach Marsh, where hillocks hardly ever happen.
Might the periwinkle-clad mound be an ancient barrow, or spoil from some long abandoned mine? Well no.
What you see is the home and workplace of the Harrall family, probably the "greenest" house in the country.
Jeremy Harrall, a doctor of architecture, runs his practice SEArch (Sustainable Ecological Architecture) in an earth-covered building, beside the one that now houses his family; and in the oneacre grounds he grows fruit and vegetables for the family and no fewer than 17,000 trees and shrubs.
David Hoppit
full article
Buyers kept in the dark about green issues
Eighty per cent of consumers say that they are not given enough environmental information to make informed choices about electrical products.
The latest in a monthly series of surveys for The Times by Populus, charting consumers’ social and environmental attitudes, finds that while many want to make ethical choices, they are frustrated by a lack of information.
The findings follow growing calls from across the political spectrum to make consumer electricals more environmentally friendly. Despite proposed measures such as banning standby buttons and forcing manufacturers to print carbon footprints on their packaging, the survey shows that an information gap is driving a wedge between consumers’ intentions and their actions. Electrical goods are on the frontline in the battle against carbon emissions, according to campaigners. While it is estimated that household appliances become on average 2 per cent more energy efficient every year, the fall has been more than offset by the soaring number of electrical items in homes.
The Energy Saving Trust says that the average number of electrical goods in British households has risen from 17 in the 1970s to 42 now. Appliances on standby comprise 8 per cent of Britain’s domestic consumption of electricity. A ban on standby buttons was mooted in a recent Conservative Party policy review and had been suggested already by Gordon Brown.
Marcus Leroux
full article
The latest in a monthly series of surveys for The Times by Populus, charting consumers’ social and environmental attitudes, finds that while many want to make ethical choices, they are frustrated by a lack of information.
The findings follow growing calls from across the political spectrum to make consumer electricals more environmentally friendly. Despite proposed measures such as banning standby buttons and forcing manufacturers to print carbon footprints on their packaging, the survey shows that an information gap is driving a wedge between consumers’ intentions and their actions. Electrical goods are on the frontline in the battle against carbon emissions, according to campaigners. While it is estimated that household appliances become on average 2 per cent more energy efficient every year, the fall has been more than offset by the soaring number of electrical items in homes.
The Energy Saving Trust says that the average number of electrical goods in British households has risen from 17 in the 1970s to 42 now. Appliances on standby comprise 8 per cent of Britain’s domestic consumption of electricity. A ban on standby buttons was mooted in a recent Conservative Party policy review and had been suggested already by Gordon Brown.
Marcus Leroux
full article
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