Ways to save the planet that won’t cost the earth...
Do you feel that the eco revolution is going faster than you can keep up, or are you just worried that it’s not going fast enough to keep up with climate change? Natural disasters leave us in no doubt that the planet is heating up at an unsustainable rate. A recent UN report warning of a ‘code red for humanity’ was scary, but so are the costs being bandied around for the electric cars and green boilers. World leaders at the COP26 summit hope to agree how to slow the climate emergency. But there are many ways we can all live a greener life, and they don’t have to cost a fortune.
THE planet we call home is in a mess, so if we are going to do some environmental housekeeping, where better to start than in our homes and gardens? Almost one quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions come from our homes, most of it from our heating and hot water.
The cost of ‘green boilers’ – heat pumps – to replace the gas boilers that 83 per cent of us currently use may seem expensive, even with the new £5,000 Government grant available next year, but there are plenty of other steps we can take first.
The independent Energy Saving Trust, which promotes sustainable energy use, has some suggestions for things we can do straight away, at little or no cost, as well as longer-term measures that will require more time and investment. Plus, you can use your garden to help restore the environment.
HEATING CONTROLS
New technology is coming but we can save money and energy by better using what we already have. Make sure you understand your heating controls, and set them to only heat the rooms you need, when you need them heated, and not above the required temperature.
That means a system including a timer or programmer, a room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves. Fitting these and using them properly could save you £70 a year on your bills and reduce your carbon emissions by an estimated 300kg.
Some systems include advanced features, such as automation, to help determine exactly when to turn the heating on and off, saving on energy use.
DRAUGHT-PROOFING
Homes can lose heat through small gaps around windows and doors, floorboards or through chimneys, particularly older houses. Draught-proofing these areas can be an easy and cost-effective way to save energy and reduce bills.
Professional draught-proofing your home could cost around £200, but might be worth it if you have traditional features such as sash windows. Quick and simple DIY solutions include fitting foam strips, plastic seals or brushes around doors and windows, and using readily available sealant to fill gaps between floors and skirting boards.
Joanna O’Loan, Knowledge Manager at the Energy Saving Trust, said: “There are definitely things you can do to make a difference before considering big expenses like changing your heating system.”
Many of them are common sense, but Joanna said: “The savings may seem to be small, so people don’t get around to doing them, but they all add up.A recent survey showed the situation is definitely improving, but there are still a lot of homes where people have not taken these simple steps.”
INSULATION
Good insulation is vital to make your home more energy efficient, and may allow you to fit a smaller, cheaper heating system, which will run more efficiently and save you more, especially if you switch to lowcarbon heating.
A useful first step is to insulate any exposed hot water pipes, and your hot water cylinder if you have one, but insulating the building itself will make a bigger difference. Around a third of heat in an uninsulated home is lost through the walls. Older homes in the UK have solid walls, which can be insulated from the inside or outside, saving a gas-heated, semi-detached home around 890kg of CO2 emissions a year.
Most homes built after the 1920s have cavity walls, which have a gap that can be filled with insulation, saving around 660kg.
A quarter of heat from uninsulated homes is lost through the roof. Loft insulation is effective for at least 40 years and should pay for itself many times over.
Unless you live in an upstairs flat, fitting ground floor insulation will also save on energy loss. In newer homes with solid concrete floors, a layer of rigid insulation can be added. Older homes with suspended timber floors can be insulated by fitting a layer of mineral wool under the floorboards. A typical installation could cost between £520 and £1,300 and could save around 175kg of CO2 emissions and £40 on your energy bills each year.
UPGRADE YOUR HEATING
Most of us heat our homes using a gas boiler, but the Government plans to phase them out by 2035 to help make the country net carbon neutral by 2050.
When the time comes to replace your boiler, you could save running costs and carbon by switching to a low-carbon heating system such as a heat pump.
Air-source heat pumps currently cost between £6,000 and £18,000, depending on the type and the size of property, which is why, from April, the Government will be offering a £5,000 grant to encourage uptake.
The funding over three years will only subsidise around 90,000 boiler replacements, but it should kickstart competition, which ministers hope will bring the price down to close to the cost of a new gas boiler. Heat pumps are much more
efficient than gas boilers, but they run on electricity, which is more expensive than gas, so you will need advice on how efficient a heat pump would be in your home.You will also need good insulation.
Joanna O’Loan said: “For smaller homes, a high heat-retention storage heater with smart controls might be the answer instead.” These can benefit from a smart or time-ofuse tariff and make use of cheap, low-carbon electricity when available.
SAVE ENERGY ON WATER
In the UK we use an average 145 litres of water per person every day, and an estimated 22 per cent of our heating bills relate to heating water.
But a water meter could help you to save money on your bills because you only pay for what you use, rather than a fixed amount.
If your shower is fed by hot water straight from your boiler or hot water tank (rather than an electric shower), a water-efficient aerated shower head will reduce the amount of water you use without impacting the pressure and may reduce your water usage by around 32 litres a day.
GREENER APPLIANCES
Cooking, cooling, freezing and using your washing machine and dishwasher account for around 12 per cent of total domestic energy consumption. Small changes, such as using ‘eco’ modes on appliances, can reduce energy use. The average UK household spends £35 each year powering appliances left on standby, so switch them off where you can. If it’s time to replace an appliance, choosing a model with a high energy efficiency rating will minimise your home’s carbon emissions.
And get a smart energy meter, so you can see your usage, and identify where you can make savings.
ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHTING
Get into the habit of switching off lights you are not using. Replacing existing light bulbs with the more efficient LED bulbs could save 65kg of carbon emissions a year, equivalent to driving your car around 220 miles.
GENERATE YOUR OWN ELECTRICITY
Wind turbines are usually only cost effective for larger properties. Biomass boilers, which burn pellets that produce much less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels, could save you more than £800 a year. But they are expensive to install.An automatically fed pellet boiler for an average home costs between £9,000 and £15,000 and you need a lot of space for the wood pellets, chips or logs. Solar electric panels allow you to generate your own renewable energy if you have enough space on your roof or garden.A south-facing, unshaded roof at a pitch of 30 or 40 degrees is ideal, but not essential.
A roof of around 20 square metres would typically cost £4,000 to £5,000, and could generate as much electricity as you use, averaged out over the year. Solar panels can cut your electricity bills by between 15 per cent and 35 per cent and you can earn extra by selling surplus energy back to the grid.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
There is a range of financial support, grants and loans available across the UK to help you make your home more energy efficient.
For advice, go to:
England – www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk Scotland – www.homeenergyscotland.org Wales – www.nest.gov.wales Northern Ireland – www.nihe.gov.uk/ Community/NI-Energy-Advice
●For more information go to: www. energysavingtrust.org.uk