Be better off being green
If you'd like free, impartial advice on energy-saving ideas, suppliers of energy-saving products and renewable energy options, we'd like to recommend that you contact The Energy Saving Trust.
Ashley Baxter, their Director, says:
"We are delighted to be working with N&P to help its customers and staff learn more about how to reduce the energy they use every day. Typically almost half of carbon emissions come from things we do every day, such as leaving appliances on standby and using the car for short journeys, so it is important that we all try to do our bit to save energy.
As well as cutting down on carbon emissions, householders can save up to £300 a year on their energy bills by doing things such as switching to energy efficient light bulbs and insulating their cavity walls and lofts".
Following a few energy saving tips can help to minimise wasteful use of energy in your home every day:
- Use energy-efficient lighting
If you replace one standard bulb with a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulb, you'll get between 5,000 and 14,000 more hours of use and knock £6 off your electricity bill. Also supplement large lights with smaller decorative lights such as low wattage sidelights, fairy lights or candles.
- Re-cycle it instead
Each week the average family in a developed country throws away four glass bottles, thirteen cans, three plastic bottles and five kilos of paper, producing one tonne of rubbish annually. You'll find it handy to have a bin for separating cans, plastic, bottles, paper. Contact your local council for details of its doorstep collection or nearest recycling depot.
- Turn down the heat
We tend to sleep better when the temperature is a little cooler than the rest of our home, the optimum being between 17 and 19 degrees centigrade. Turn down the heat and reduce the energy consumption in your bedroom.
- Turn the room thermostat down by 1 °C. This can save up to £30 a year.
- Don't put curtains or furniture in front of a radiator - they will block the heat.
- Pull on a jumper or warmer layers rather than turning the heating up.
- Save energy
Fridges and freezers are the appliances that keep on giving and are on the go 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Try not to waste energy by:
- Leaving your fridge/freezer door open.
- Putting warm food into the fridge.
- Failing to defrost regularly to keep the appliance running efficiently.
- Installing your fridge/freezer next to a cooker or boiler.
- Save water
Have a refreshing shower instead of a bath. Although, a power shower can use more water than a bath! A five minute shower uses 35 litres of water, compared to a bath that uses 80 litres - this can save over 300 litres of water a week. Fit a flow restrictor to the shower and restrict flow to six litres a minute for optimum flow and water saving.
Toilet flushes accounts for a third of total domestic water consumption; we are literally flushing money down the pan every time we flush. To cut consumption, reduce the number of times you flush. Fitting a save-a-flush (a bag of harmless crystals) in your toilet cistern can save up to one litre per flush giving a saving of nearly 2,000 litres per person per year.
Water your garden with a watering can. A watering can uses nine litres of water whereas a sprinkler uses 540 litres per hour. To conserve water, use mulch such as bark to cover the bare soil between plants, this will reduce evaporation as will watering early morning and towards dusk.
If you're interest in finding out how you can become more energy efficient, or you'd like to carry out a free home energy check, contact the Energy Saving Trust Advice Centre Anglia on 0800 5512 012 or visit www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.
