Home Energy Efficiency
The Home Energy Efficiency service provides information and
advice to people who wish to make energy efficiency improvements to
their properties.
Improving Energy Efficiency helps to reduce fuel poverty as
well carbon dioxide emissions. Encouraging the installation
of energy efficient forms of heating will help the country achieve
the Government's aim of reducing carbon emissions by 12 million
tonnes by 2010.
There are grants available to assist with the funding of
energy improvements.
Lighting Efficiency
One of the best things you can do to save energy in the home
and reduce your electricity bills, is to buy and fit low energy
lamps. These are compact versions of the familiar fluorescent tube;
they are known as Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). They do cost
more than a normal light bulb but they are worth it. A CFL can last
up to ten times as long as an ordinary light bulb and uses less
than a quarter of the electricity. They cost around £4 -
£10. If you replace an ordinary 100 watt bulb which is used
for about six hours a day with a CFL of similar light output, it
will have paid for itself in reduced electricity costs in about a
year, and will continue to make savings for another 4½
years.
Where you have dimmer switches or certain other electronic
switching devices and timers you might not be able to use
CFLs.
CFLs are available in a bayonet or screw type fitting. They
come in various shapes, colours and sizes to fit different light
fittings.
No Cost Tips
- by turning your heating down by one degree you can reduce your fuel bill by 10%
- When you are not using your television, switch it off at the set rather than leaving it on stand-by
- Using a shower can be up to five times cheaper than a bath
- put draught proofing on your doors and windows
- Change to energy-efficient light bulbs - they use a fraction of the electricity of ordinary bulbs and last up to 10 times longer
- defrost your freezer regularly
- use a microwave oven wherever possible - it is much cheaper than a conventional oven
Low Cost Tips
- If you have a water-filled radiator against an outside wall, attach a reflective panel or kitchen foil to the wall behind it
- Put a shelf over a radiator to help distribute heat into the room
- Insulate your loft to a depth of at least 250mm. You could save as much as £70 per year
- Fit a hot water tank jacket of at least 80mm. This could save you £10 a year
- Lag hot water pipes - saving another £10 per year
- Fit a hot water cylinder thermostat (normal setting: 60degC) - £15 a year saving
- Replace your three most used light bulbs with low energy ones. This could save you £45 per year
- When buying a washing machine, freezer, etc look out for the energy label and check the energy efficiency of the model
- Put a thick lining on curtains and tuck them behind radiators - £20 a year saving
- Get any dripping taps repaired - £5 a year saving
Condensation
When warm moist air produced by ordinary household activities
such as cooking and bathing hits a cold surface, e.g. an outside
wall or a window, condensation occurs. Unless the moist air can
escape to the outside through an open window, air vent or extractor
fan, it will always stay in your home moving around until it finds
a cold spot where it can condense into condensation. Condensation
can lead to mould which can contribute to problems of asthma and
other respiratory diseases.
Condensation occurs on cold spots, so if you can warm up the
cold spots you will help to control condensation. Insulating your
loft, external walls, and draught proofing doors and windows will
reduce the cold spots and make your house cheaper to heat. Find out
if you are eligible for a Warm Front grant for insulation.
Try and avoid cold areas in the home. It is better to heat the
whole home to a lower temperature rather than one room to a very
high temperature. When you get condensation and mould forming, it
is often not in the room where you are making the moisture, e.g.
the kitchen, but in a room you don't often use like the spare
bedroom. This may be because this room is not usually heated. Try
heating all the rooms regularly. Make sure you are using the
heating system and controls efficiently as this will save you money
and enable you to afford to heat more of your home.
Reducing moisture in the home will cut down the amount of
condensation.
Drying clothes produces 10 pints of moisture (6lbs of spun
washing in an unvented tumble dryer) Washing clothes produces 1
pint. If you use a tumble dryer make sure it is vented to the
outside. Don't dry clothes indoors if possible. If you have to,
open the window and shut the door of the room where the clothes are
drying as this will let the moisture from the wet clothes go
outside rather than circulating in your home. Using a paraffin or
bottled gas heater for 5 hours produces 3 pints of moisture Avoid
using portable gas and paraffin heaters. These fuels give off a lot
of moisture when they burn so open a window in the room where the
heater is if you have to use one. A window should be kept open for
safety reasons too. They are also expensive to run - they cost
about 7- 9p per hour to use, compared to a mains gas fire which
costs 2 - 3p per hour. Keep the kitchen and bathroom doors shut to
stop moisture moving around your home. Cover boiling pans with pan
lids - this will save on your fuel bills as well as reducing
moisture.
Ventilating your home adequately, by opening windows a little,
using extractor fans or vents provided, will allow moisture to
escape to the outside.
Use an extractor fan in the bathroom if you have one when you
have a bath or shower to let the moisture out. Open the windows on
one notch for half an hour after bathing to get rid of the
moisture. Remember to shut them afterwards.
Use the extractor fan or open the window on one notch in the
kitchen when cooking to let the moisture out. If you have trickle
vents above the windows, keep them open all the time. Don't block
up any air vents.
Home Appliance
Energy Usage
When you are considering purchasing a
new household appliance such as a fridge, freezer, washing machine,
dryer or dishwasher, check out the energy label. These labels give
the appliance an energy efficiency rating from A (most energy
efficient) to G (least energy efficient). An A rated appliance will
use less than half the energy of a G rated appliance of the same
type - this means half the electricity costs too!
When you are purchasing a washing
machine or dishwasher the energy labels will also say how much
water the models use. If you are currently on metered water or
might be in the future a water efficient model will save you money
too.
PECT - Peterborough
Environment City Trust (PECT) is a charitable trust with over 200
partners working to protect and improve the city's
environment
Home
Energy Check - Free Home Energy Check
Warm
Front Scheme - Providing Government grants towards the
cost of energy efficiency improvements to homes
SEDBUK - for advice
and information about boilers
EST - Energy Saving
Trust (EST) gives information about sustainable and efficient use
of energy
Save Energy -
how to save energy in your home
Heat
Project - information about grants for loft and cavity
wall insulation
Contact:
Project Officer (Energy Conservation)
Strategic Housing
Community Services
Bayard Place
Broadway
Peterborough PE1 1HZ
Tel. 01733 742558
Renewable Energy Grants are available via the Clearskies initiative
Our thanks to Braintree District Council for allowing us to use some of the information from their website.
