Energy Saving Tips

Before embarking on installing any micro power generation equipment, it pays to consider how energy efficient your home is. Heat will escape through the building fabric if it is not well insulated or is inadequately draft proofed. It is much cheaper to improve insulation and draft proofing, than adding extra capacity to wind or solar power generation equipment.

  • Check for drafts around the house. You may find it helpful to test for leaks first. Close the windows and doors and switch on an exhaust fan, positioning a powerful fan in an open window, should have the same effect, test for leaks around windows, doors and light fittings by using a smoke column from an incense stick or the flame of a candle. Seal any leaks with weather stripping or mastic as appropriate.
  • Use energy saving light bulbs and switch off lights if they aren’t in use. If you have exterior lighting, connect it to a motion detector and timer, so they are not on all the time.
  • Buy energy efficient appliances, Freezers and refrigerators use a lot of energy as they are on all the time. Look for appliances with an A+ or A++ rating. Don’t make your refrigerator colder than it needs to be for food hygiene, and clean the coils at the back of the unit twice a year, in order to keep it running at optimal efficiency.
  • Turn off appliances when they are not in use, they can draw a lot of current even when idle.
  • Use a clothes line rather than a spin dryer, whenever possible, and buy a cloths horse for use in wet weather. Dryers consume a lot of electricity. Clean dryer vent hoses and remove lint regularly to keep it running at optimal efficiency.
  • To avoid excessive solar insolation, ensure any large south facing picture windows are fitted with blinds. This will avoid uncomfortable conditions inside or reduce the load on your air conditioning system, if you have one. Close the blinds on cold nights to provide additional insulation.
  • Reduce the thermostat setting on your water heater and central heating. If your boiler is old, it is probably inefficient. Consider installing a condensing combination boiler, or other heating-on-demand type water heater.
  • Turn off radiators in rooms you are not using. Avoid heating the house when no one is at home during the day, or when on holiday. You can achieve additional savings by reducing the setting on room thermostats and radiator valves. Adjust to a level you are comfortable with, and consider wearing that sweater you received as a Christmas gift!
  • Consider fitting double glazing if you haven’t already done so. Fit heavy curtains and remember to draw them at night, or in rooms that are not in use. If you have an unheated basement cellar, check the ground floor is insulated. If it is not, insulation can be readily fitted between the floor joists.
  • Check the insulation in your loft is adequate. It should be around 300 deep, if not, top it up with another layer. Lofts do require ventilation to prevent dry rot and gaps are generally provided around the eaves for this purpose, so avoid pushing the insulation into the eaves and blocking the air flow. Using some corrugated plastic sheeting between the rafters, around the eaves, will ensure that ventilation is unaffected by the insulation, alternatively there are many proprietary ventilators available.
  • Make sure all hot water pipes are insulated. The preformed foam tubes are readily available from your local hardware store, and can be simply clipped over existing pipe-work.
  • Consider having an energy audit carried out on your property by a professional auditor, with a view to reducing your energy use and your carbon footprint.
  • If you live in an older property, it is likely the walls will not be insulated, modern houses have well insulated cavity construction, but the solid brick wall of older properties have no insulation layer, and have correspondingly low thermal performance. Unfortunately the problem isn’t easy to solve. However, you can add insulation internally or externally at a price. As both will affect the character of your property, it is best carried out when undertaking other repair work or remodelling is being considered. Several external proprietary systems are available, typically they comprise insulated panels ranging from 50 to 100 mm thick, protected by a layer of render. The most common form of internal wall lining is an insulation / plasterboard laminate fixed to the external walls, more traditionally, studwork may be fixed to the wall and filled with insulation, with a layer of polythene and plasterboard fitted over it. Other proprietary systems are also available.
  • If you live in a house with a cavity wall built before the 1980’s, it may not be insulated, and you might want to consider having it retro filled. The insulation is generally blown or pumped in through holes drilled into the outside wall for the purpose. The work is typically carried out by specialist subcontractors, following an assessment of the suitability of the cavity by a qualified surveyor. The insulation fill is typically of three types, mineral wool fibre, bonded polystyrene beads or foam which expands and sets inside the cavity. However, retro filling a cavity is not as good as a cavity wall that has been insulated at the time of construction. Cavity walls should ideally have the insulation fixed to the inner leaf, with an air gap between the insulation and the outer leaf, so that water penetrating thought the outer wall can drip down the inner face, without coming into contact with the insulation. Retro filled cavities clearly cannot achieve that, giving rise to the possibility that the insulations will become wet and water may pass through it, from the outer to the inner face, thereby giving rise to dampness and mould growth on the inner face. Other problems that have been reported are increased rates of corrosion to cavity wall ties, and partially filled cavities, leading to areas of condensation on internals walls. While retro filling cavities is the industry standard approach, to insulating early cavity walls, it might be prudent to also consider the methods used for solid walls, particularly in areas of high exposure to wind driven rain. 

 
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Renewable Energy
Solar water heating
Wood fuel heating and biomass
Heat pumps
Solar Photovoltaics
Wind power
Combined heat and power (CHP) and micro CHP