The Blewbury Energy Initiative aims to reduce energy consumption in buildings in Blewbury,
and to encourage the effective use of renewable energy resources. It is hoped to reduce the amount of the coal, oil,
gas and electricity used and to help the global environment.
Awards
The Oxfordshire Sustainability and Conservation Awards (OSCAs) recognise schools, community groups and businesses
that have taken action for the environment. There are four categories:
- Biodiversity and Grounds Development
- Energy Efficiency and Renewables
- Waste Minimisation, and
- Water Efficiency
At the presentation on the 19th October, 2006 the Blewbury Energy Initiative
was presented with the Gold award for the category "Energy Efficiency and Renewables".
This came with a very welcome prize of £1000 which will be used to further our work.
This year there were also awards for "Environmental Community Champions", and this web site gained recognition
with its webmaster being chosen for the Silver award.
- September 2005 Sample Questionnaires
- We asked a small sample of people from different house types to fill in a questionnaire on the
features of their houses, such as insulation, which affect energy usage.
The results would be analysed to provide a report for each household surveyed.
The survey had two purposes, to obtaining an outline of the household energy issues in the Village, and
to help us develop a survey to be offered to all households in Blewbury.
- December 2005 Web Site Launched
- This energy web site was launched as a subset of the Blewbury web site. It is intended to provide information
to support the aims of the Blewbury Energy Initiative.
It also provides a general introduction into energy issues.
- January 2006 Sample Questionnaires Analysed
- The results from the sample questionnaires had been analysed by a program and was returned to those who filled them in,
with an explanatory note. The results are only indicative, but could be helpful.
The lifestyle of each household is significant but is not recorded.
The energy price data used by the program is out of date.
- January 2006 Revised Questionnaires Distributed
- An improved questionnaire has been derived from experience with the sample and was circulated
to every house in Blewbury with the Blewbury Bulletin.
Those who return the questionnaire received an Energy Survey Report and two low energy light bulbs.
- February 2006 Infrared Survey of Selected Buildings
- On a cold night at the end of February, a team from Thermascan took
Infrared pictures of about 30 buildings in Blewbury.
As in the above image of the Vale Room and kitchen of the Village Hall, the results look very attractive and interesting
but need to be interpreted with care, taking account of the effects of electric light.
- Some buildings have hot spots that are probably caused by specific building issues.
- In many buildings there is a warm area under the eaves, where the gap to allow air into the roof space also allows
warmer air to escape.
- Integral garages can lose significant heat through and over the garage doors,
presumably this happens if the garage area is not well insulated from the rest of the house.
- Outside drainage pipes can carry heat from the bathroom.
- Internal radiators against a solid outside wall can be seen to be heating the garden, if not insulated against this.
- Drawing curtains has a very obvious effect.
- March 2006 Energy Survey Reports delivered
- Energy Survey Reports have been delivered to nearly all those who had supplied completed
questionnaires. Reports on a few questionnaires have been delayed as the analysis software did not generate a sensible
report on the first pass. The reports give an indication of measures that may improve home comfort whilst reducing fuel
bills and carbon emissions. Information on no cost/low cost measures has also been included as well as information on
the District Council backed discount insulation scheme.
Key findings are -
- Whilst many homes have some loft insulation, many would benefit from a top up.
- There is scope for a much larger uptake of low energy light bulbs.
- Blewbury has higher than the national average use of cavity wall insulation, although a number of properties
could still benefit from this measure.
- Efficient hot water tank lagging and the use of a hot water tank thermostats is much less than expected.
Several of these improvements are cheap and easy to install and would have fast paybacks.
- May 2006 Energy Footprint of Blewbury Estimated
- A spreadsheet of all Blewbury properties was produced, and the results of the analysed energy surveys were entered.
From this estimates were made of the average CO2 contribution from each type were made by averaging all those
results from similar houses. The result was as follows:
- A carbon footprint of 5136 tonnes of CO2 per year
- generated by 707 buildings, giving an average of
- 7.2 tonnes/year/building.
- June 2006 Monitoring Electricity Usage
- During the Blewbury Village Society Open Day in March and in our follow-up discussions with the Home Energy Surveys
it became apparent that most householders have little idea of how much electricity they are consuming at any point in time.
Many said they get a horrible shock when the bill comes in. The Energy Initiative identified an energy monitor
then called the Electrisave, evaluated it and arranged for a bulk purchase for residents who wished to buy one.
The device is now called the OWL Monitor.
See the description below.
- July 2006 A solution to reduce energy used by Fridges is no longer recommended
- The SavaPlug device used to be sold as a device to reduce the energy used by fridges and freezers.
The technology involved reducing the voltage supplied to a fridge once the compressor motor was running, when less power
is needed to keep it operating. This would work with most old style mechanical fridges. However more modern fridges have
internal controls to reduce overall energy consumption and the introduction of devices like the SavaPlug is not recommended
and may be harmful. This is probably why the device appears to be no longer being sold.
- September 2006 A report on our initial work is Published.
- This can be read here.
- September 2006 The aims for the next period are defined.
- These are:
- To find and publicise practical solutions to the domestic energy issues that arose from our surveys
- To expand our investigations and education on renewable and alternative energy options suitable for the community.
- To seek to help community buildings and local businesses to improve their energy efficiency.
- November 2006 Articles in the Blewbury Bulletin
- A series of short articles are being prepared, reviewed and published in this monthly magazine.
This site contains a fuller coverage of the topics in these articles starting with
Grants for Energy Improvements.
- January 2007 Alternative Energy for the Home
- An evening meeting on Alternative Energy for the Home was held in the Methodist Chapel
at 7.30pm on Friday, 26th January. The options were presented
and discussed. Some specialists and a regional installer of alternative technologies were available for the discussion.
- April 2007An Inconvenient Truth
- There was a FREE showing of the Oscar winning, Al Gore film on climate change, 'An Inconvenient Truth',
at 7.30pm on Friday 27th April 2007 in the Methodist Chapel, followed by a discussion session on the issue and
how we can all 'do our bit' here in Blewbury and beyond. About 50 people attended. This event arose as an initiative of the
Blewbury Environment Group.
- June 2007Exhibits at Blewbury Festival
- There was an Energy Initiative stall at the family day fair at the start of the Blewbury Festival.
Later as part of the Exhibition weekend there was a
display of a working solar PV installation set up on a pergola in a garden.
- July 2007 Survey of Business Premises
- We are contracting with a professional company to survey the premises of those businesses in Blewbury who have agreed to this,
to investigate their energy consumption and make recommendations for saving energy and costs. The surveys are being subsidized
by use of our Oxfordshire Sustainability and Conservation Award.
- November 2007 Survey of Business Premises Completed
- The results of the survey the premises of those businesses in Blewbury who have agreed to this have been delivered.
- November 2007 Review of Electricity Monitors
-
Dr Sarah Darby of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University visited Blewbury to get feedback from the
users of the Electrisave monitor in Blewbury. This was part of her research into consumer displays of energy information.
We also used the interviews to get feedback from the interviewees on the work of the Blewbury Energy Initiative, and
what they thought we should be doing in future.
This web site is intended to support the aims of the Initiative. The key actions are listed above, and
supporting information is provided below, including the Home Energy Surveys and current grants for energy improvements.
Other sections of this site provide information and advice on energy conservation and related issues targeted at
the current situation in Blewbury. Much of this will be eleventh to other locations in the United Kingdom.
These include a discussion on possible Energy Savings in individual households, the
scope for local sources of green energy, and
the legal requirements in the United Kingdom
for energy conservation.
Some general facts and figures are provided to aid the understanding of energy saving suggestions.
Any serious calculations should refer to more comprehensive data sources.
Background Information summarises the issues on:
A separate page lists the committee
and the Initiative's aims and
constitution.
The intention is that the site contains short, accurate, up-to-date and interesting summaries of relevant information.
Suggestions for corrections or improvements are welcome.
However "to err is human" and no warranties are made about accuracy
or the use of the site for any particular purpose.
The Blewbury Energy Working Party offered a free energy survey for any home in Blewbury. Those who filled up a
questionnaire received advice on how to lower energy bills and on the grants and discounts
which are available.
Guidance on Filling up the Questionnaire
The Guidance provided is now reached by this link
The Energy Survey Report is an attempt to estimate the energy likely to be used by the property reported on,
and to evaluate a number of the measures that might be taken to save energy. This can only be an approximate
exercise, as this kind of analysis can only work on the information gathered in the questionnaire.
Energy use can depend on a number of other factors, such as:
- significant details on construction such as window size,
- for how much of the week the property is occupied,
- how many people are living in it,
- the temperature they like to keep it at, and
- their usage of appliances, electronics and hot water.
Nevertheless the individual improvements discussed are likely to be the most appropriate ones to consider.
The government is keen to encourage meters which inform users of their continuing energy consumption.
This is easier to do for electricity than for gas or oil. There are now several devices which can display
the electrical consumption of a house. It is of little use to provide this information at the main meter,
as these are not normally easily visible so all current units sense the consumption at the meter and use a
wireless link to send the information to a portable display which might be 30 metres away.
It has been claimed that some users have saved up to 25% on their electricity bills using such devices.
However, the amount you save will depend upon how conscientious you are in using the monitor and on taking action
to turn off or reduce the consumption of non-essential appliances. If you do not need a permanent monitor
in your home, you may consider it would be sensible to share a monitor and its cost with your neighbours.
Energy monitors can now be ordered from several suppliers.
OWL Monitor
The Blewbury Energy Initiative working party found, evaluated and can recommend an easy to use monitor,
which displays current consumption in cost or kWh per hour.
This is now known as the OWL monitor (details: www.2saveenergy.com).
The monitor was developed by an Australian company Wireless Monitors Australia Pty Ltd (WMA).
A large number of these monitors have been in use in Australia and New Zealand. The company has now been purchased by
2save Energy plc, a company based in Newbury, England.
This portable wireless monitor currently sells at £49.95 from www.theowl.com.
The Blewbury Energy Initiative was able to get these at a discount on the original price.
providing we ordered a minimum quantity. We collected enough orders for a bulk purchase
in August 2006.
EFERGY Monitor
This newly introduced monitor is similar to the OWL, and currently is slightly cheaper at about £42.
It appears to provide the key features for monitoring electrical energy consumption
with the important addition over the OWL of a record of total
consumption by day, week and month. It has not been tested by the Blewbury Energy Initiative working party.
WATTSON 01 Monitor
This monitor is more expensive at around £150. The display part of the system is an eye catching gadget
with flashing lights as well as the display.
It has not been tested by the Blewbury Energy Initiative working party.
CurrentCost Monitor
This monitor is being trialed by Scottish and Southern Electricity, and is likely to be inexpensive to customers.
It does not seem to be sold retail at present.
It does not need batteries, the transmitter seems to be powered by the radiation picked up from the mains cable and
the display requires a mains plug. It keeps a record of past consumption and also provides a data feed to PCs.
It is described on the www.currentcost.com web site.
The Blewbury Energy Initiative working party looked for a device which would accummulate the total energy
used by a single appliance over time in addition to measuring the current power consumption
of the appliance in kiloWatts. We found and tested one last year but this does not seem to be available now,
however there are now several alternative devices, priced in the range £10-15.
Typically they are plugged into the mains socket,
and provide a 13 amp socket for the device to be monitored. Such monitors may not be sensitive to very low currents such as those taken by a
phone charger when no phone is being charged.
One example with the ability to total the energy used is the Wattsaver Energy Monitor.
None of the currently available products have been tested by the Blewbury Energy Initiative working party.
The power supply in Blewbury is a fairly steady 240 Volts, however the electrical equipment sold in the UK must be designed
to work with voltages down to 216 Volts, and in time EU regulations will require that devices must
run with as low as 207 Volts - actually in a range of 230 volts + or - 10%. Thus it is possible to reduce the power supply
in a house and all devices would still work. A reduction by 7% is often suggested leading to a nominal voltage of 223.
With many devices reducing the voltage by 7% reduces the energy used by nearly 14%. The benefit of this depends on the use of
the electricity:
- Heating applications will have 14% less power, thus fan heaters,
clothes dryers, ovens and hot plates will take longer to be effective
- Lighting applications will get less power. Incandescent lights will be dimmer and will last longer.
The effect on Fluorescent lights is less clear.
- Other devices such as computers, televisions, motors and possibly freezers are likely to operate
satisfactory while taking less power.
The main disadvantages are the cost of the transformer required and the energy it takes even on no load,
which might be about 1% of peak load. The normal load in a house is typically a very small fraction of the peak load.
Thus a transformer rated at 7.5kVA, which is the minimum likely to be specified, might
introduce a standing load when the building requires no power of 1% of this or 0.075 kW.
This continuing loss may well exceed any gain made from the voltage reduction.
Energy Saving Transformers can be appropriate in Industrial and Commercial Environments
The idea is clearly relevant to industrial and commercial sites. Here the load is more continuous so the transformer losses
at low loading are less significant. Also transformers applying to a three phase supply can achieve power smoothing and
other benefits.
For one supplier see Power Perfector
A separate but related idea suitable for industrial and commercial applications is exemplified by the
Fluoresave device. This is specific to fluorescent light installations.
It maintains full mains voltage when there is no load, but reduces the voltage to the lights after they have been switched on.
It increases the voltage again for a time if the load changes. The physics of this device arises as fluorescent lights require
a large voltage to strike the light, but then need much less voltage to maintain the plasma.
For up to date information on the grants available in Blewbury, the best source is probably the Vale of White Horse
District Council Energy Advice Centre.
They can be contacted on the free phone number 0800-592865
email vet@whitehorsedc.gov.uk.
If your energy bill currently exceeds 10% of your household income, you are very likely to be able
to get improvements to reduce the cost of heating paid for.
An effective system for encouraging Energy Improvements would be easy to access, easy to understand, stable and
would encourage the most effective ways of saving energy.
At present:
- a number of different organisations may be offering grants or other assistance,
- each organisation sets its own conditions,
- the availability lasts until the sponsoring organisation has used up the funds it has allocated, and
- the less useful systems often attract the higher incentives.
The sources of grants can include local government,
the Department of Trade and Industry and
energy suppliers.
The assistance can be:
- a fixed sum towards a professional installation of a given type such as for a solar panel installation,
- a proportion of the costs of an installation by a recognised installer of, say, a photovoltaic system,
- a low fixed price for insulation work, and
- a three for two offer on DIY insulation supplies at nominated retailers.
- Turning your thermostat down by 1 degree centigrade could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent and
save the average home around £40 per year.
- Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat shouldn't need to be set higher than 60 deg C/140 deg F.
- Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.
- Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
- Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily.
- If you're not filling up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, use the half-load or economy programme.
- Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle).
- A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath,
so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off!
- When cooking choose the right pan size for the food and the cooker, cut food into smaller pieces and put
lids on pans as the food will then cook a lot quicker.
- The sun is the most readily available source of heat there is - and the cheapest!
So make the most of it by opening internal doors of any rooms which get more sun than others and
let the warm air travel through your home. Avoid using tumble driers and radiators to dry your clothes;
on nice sunny days clothes can be dried outside.
What is draught proofing?
Draught proofing is the process of filling in unnecessary gaps in the fabric of a building to reduce heat loss
and discomfort due to draughts. You can draught proof windows, doors, letter boxes & keyholes.
You can also fill in gaps in walls due to plumbing and gaps in floorboards or skirting boards.
The materials used for draught proofing include foams, brushes, sealants and thin sections of rubber, plastic or metal.
What are the benefits of draught proofing?
Draught proofing is a cheap and cost-effective way to reduce your heating bills and make your home feel warmer.
Draught proofing is also very effective at eliminating cold draughts that can make you feel uncomfortable and
cause you to turn up the heating. You can easily check where in your home needs draught proofing.
Hold the palm of your hand up near windows or doors. If you can feel any cold air coming in,
then it's worth draught proofing that area; it'll stop the cold air getting in and the warm air getting out.
How much does draught proofing cost?
Draught proofing costs very little if you do it yourself, but contractors or the local handyman should not be expensive.
If you decide to fit draught proofing yourself, you can buy the materials in most DIY stores;
make sure they conform to standard BS7386.
What else can I do to stop draughts?
Try hanging thick curtains in front of doors and windows.
They will stop heat escaping and prevent cold air from entering, so your home will feel warmer and more comfortable.
Shut the curtains at dusk to keep the heat in.
Curtains with a thermal lining will be even more effective and placing material "snakes" at the bottom of doors
will also help stop draughts. Don't forget the letter box and keyholes.
BUT . . .
A word of warning - don't go mad! Your home needs ventilation to be safe,
to stop it becoming stale and stuffy, and to eliminate the possibility of condensation and mould growth.
Ventilation is essential if you have solid fuel fires, gas fires or a boiler with an open flue.
So check airbricks for blockages, do NOT block them up.
Ventilation is also essential in kitchens and bathrooms, so if there are not other means such as an extractor fan,
don't draught proof there either.
The village energy survey conducted earlier this year revealed that most homes had some loft insulation
but nearly all could benefit from a top up. Cavity walls are often not filled with insulation.
There was also little solid wall insulation, which whilst difficult, is possible in many cases.
All this adds to fuel bills and impacts on the environment as more fossil fuel is used to keep warm.
Simple additional insulation measures can be effective and inexpensive.
Through the roof - 250mm (10 inches) of insulation is recommended for lofts.
Mineral wool, fiberglass, sheep's wool and recycled paper products all work well.
Insulation can be installed by a contractor or you can do it yourself.
If doing it yourself:
- Wear a face mask, goggles and protective clothing.
- Leave sufficient gaps around the eaves to avoid condensation.
- Do not insulate under water tanks that may freeze,
- Ensure all pipe work is insulated and also
- Insulate the loft hatch.
Through the walls - Wall insulation can reduce heat loss through the walls by two-thirds
and make your home more comfortable. Cavity walls can be safely filled with insulating fibre, beads or foam.
For solid walls internal insulation can be highly effective. Typically an insulated board is fixed to the wall.
This means rooms have to be redecorated and may lose architectural detail.
The work can be done by competent DIYers and may be done on a room by room basis at the same time the home is redecorated.
External insulation is more difficult, it usually needs planning permission and
should only be carried out by specialist companies.
The Big Green Insulation Scheme has excellent deals on cavity wall and loft insulation
(prices are normally below £200) and they can advise on further discounts for those on a range of benefits.
Contact the scheme on 0800-1070047 or
www.green-insulation.co.uk/insulation
Energy efficiency in the home is not just about improving levels of insulation.
Modern, easy to understand controls, designed to ensure that the boiler is only working when heat is needed in the home
are every bit as important.
Good heating control package will normally include the following:
- an electronic timer or programmer
- a room thermostat
- thermostatic radiator control valves (TRVs), and
- separate thermostatic control on the hot water system
Additional controls that may be worth considering to get the very best from a central heating system include:
- intelligent heating controls
- a weather compensator
- a boiler energy manager
- full zone control
Basic Controls
The Timer or Programmer
The electronic timer or programmer decides when the boiler is able to run.
It is not true that boilers work best when they are running continuously or that energy is saved by leaving the
heating on all day, even if the home is unoccupied. Whenever the boiler is firing it is using energy,
and whenever the home is being heated to a temperature above that outside, it will be losing heat to the outside world.
In spring and autumn there is no need to keep the heating on all day; a reasonably well insulated home can be left to
cool down slowly with the heating timed to come on perhaps an hour or so before people return home from work.
A seven day timer is also strongly recommended, so that it is possible to set a different heating pattern for weekdays
and weekends. Some programmers incorporate built in thermostats and temperature sensors.
These need to be sited in a living room rather than by the boiler, but can often represent a good investment.
The Room Thermostat
This is best located in a living room, rather than the hallway, as is commonly done, as the hall temperature can be affected
by the front door being used. The thermostat records the home's temperature and if it is at or above the set level
(and 20&#deg;C/68&#deg;F is usually adequate) stops the boiler from operating the central heating.
Thermostatic Radiator Control Valves (TRVs)
These switch individual radiators on or off, depending on how warm the room that they are located in is.
They usually have a fat valve at one end, marked with a * and numbers from 1 to 5.
The * setting is to protect against frost; it will typically leave the radiator switched off unless the temperature
falls below about 6&#deg;C. For a normal living room, the setting of 3 or 4 is likely to be about right;
for a bedroom a cooler temperature will normally suffice.
Turning the dial up when the radiator is already on will not increase the room temperature!
It is not a good idea to have a TRV on the radiator in the same room as the main thermostat,
as if it turns the radiator off at a lower temperature, it can mislead the main thermostat into thinking that the house
is cooler than it really is.
Thermostatic Controls on the Hot Water System
This section only applies to systems with a separate hot water tank.
Firstly, it is most important that the hot water can be controlled by the programmer separately from the central heating.
Some older systems only allow the heating to run when the hot water is on; this can be quite wasteful of fuel.
Secondly, there should be a thermostat on the hot water tank - this is usually strapped to the outside fairly near the bottom.
This controls the water temperature - it should not normally need to be set higher than 60&#deg;C.
The room thermostat and the hot water thermostat should be wired up to the boiler in what is known as an "interlock".
This means that if both the house and hot water are at temperature, the boiler will be switched off.
If this does not happen, when the water temperature inside the boiler itself falls, an internal thermostat will cause the
boiler to fire to heat up this water - a process known as "dry cycling". All the energy used in this cycle is wasted as
it is not used for any useful purpose.
More Advanced Controls
Intelligent Heating Controllers
Intelligent heating controllers, such as the "Dataterm", combine several of the functions above and can also learn how long
it takes for a house to heat up in different weather conditions. These also often allow for different temperatures
to be set between day and night. They give the very best control over central heating, although they cost somewhat more than
normal controls.
Weather Compensators
These measure the temperature, either internally or externally, and delay switching on the central heating on milder days.
Simple ones are quite inexpensive and replace a normal room thermostat; they are well worth considering,
although the programmer will appear to need to be left on for longer periods when they are first installed.
Boiler Energy Managers
There are many kinds of boiler energy managers on the UK market, ranging from simple devices that delay a boiler firing
(and work rather like just turning down the thermostat!) to complicated ones optimised for a particular model of boiler.
The general advice is that simple strap-on devices are probably not a good investment, but that if a boiler manufacturer
recommends one for use with a specific model of boiler, then they are worth fitting at the time that the boiler is installed.
Full Zone Control
Most homes have a single heating zone - the only controls in the rooms are by TRVs.
However the need for heating in the main living rooms can be quite different from that in bedrooms,
with the latter requiring lower temperatures for longer hours. At the time a new central heating system is installed,
it is possible to fit a full zone control that has different pipe loops and separate thermostats for two (or more) areas.
This can save significant amounts of fuel in larger houses.
A number of common assumptions about saving energy are myths, while others are largely true. The following
assumptions are based on a similar list from the National Energy Foundation.
1. It uses less energy if you leave fluorescent lights switched on
MYTH - If you are out of a room for 5 minutes it always saves energy to switch fluorescent lights off.
2. It is wisest to leave your immersion heater on 24 hours a day
Sometimes a TRUE, sometimes a MYTH - Provided your hot water tank is properly insulated,
and no water is being used,
the tank should only cool by about one degree every few hours. This makes very little difference to the rate of energy loss
through the insulation, so the extra cost of maintaining hot water continuously for use as required is negligible.
If your tank is poorly lagged (with thin foam or tank jacket) then switching the heater off
when no hot water is likely to be used, e.g. overnight, will save energy.
Reducing the temperature setting of the thermostat controlling the immersion heater always saves significant energy.
3. If you have Thermostatic Radiator Valves you don't need a Room Thermostat
MYTH - Thermostatic Radiator Valves will only switch the flow to a single radiator on or off.
They do not stop the boiler from firing and so using energy. Energy is saved if the boiler runs only when it is
needed for heating or for hot water. This requires a room thermostat.
The room thermostat should not be in a room which also has Thermostatic Radiator Valves or
the room may never get hot enough to switch off the boiler.
4. It's cheaper to use an immersion heater in the summer than to heat water from your central heating boiler
Usually a MYTH - As gas costs about 25% of the cost of electricity providing the same energy,
a boiler would have to be less than 25% efficient before electricity is cheaper.
If you have a modern boiler controlled by a hot water tank thermostat, then it will be better to use the boiler all year.
5. Leaving your PC screen switched on during a break prolongs its life and doesn't waste much energy
MYTH (mainly) - Whilst in operation, cathode ray tubes typically use between 30W and 200W.
Screens do not use less energy when they are in screen saver mode (that's just designed to stop the phosphor coating being damaged).
Some PCs go into sleep mode after about 20 minutes if they are not being used,
but even in sleep mode they still use some energy.
The end of life of a cathode ray tube is nearly always caused by obsolescence not failure.
6. Use less power - take a shower!
Sometimes a MYTH, but sometimes TRUE - If your shower uses the same source of hot water as your bath,
and you use less hot water when taking a shower, you will use less power. However if your shower is heated electrically and your
bath water is heated by a cheaper fuel, the shower must use considerably less water than the bath before there is any saving.
If the shower is over the bath, and you put the plug in, you can find out whether your shower actually uses less water than
the bath you might have taken.
7. Strapping on a gizmo to your boiler can save you at least 10% from your heating bills
MYTH - High-pressure salesmen claim amazing improvements in boiler efficiency
if a simple device is placed round the gas pipe. Such a major improvement would be very easy to prove in objective
controlled tests from an independent laboratory, however the salesmen will not be able to provide such data.
Instead the salesman will cite "satisfied customers".
A device which increased the calorific value of a fuel by 10% would be hailed as a major advance and would be installed worldwide.
Think of the money this would save a power company. This cannot be claimed, so the sales pitch is that the device
improves the efficiency of the domestic boiler.
Generating a 20% improvement in a condensing boiler which is already 90% efficient would clearly be impossible.
Much of the lower efficiency of older boilers is for reasons such as the discharge of steam in the flue,
and the need to heat the mass of the boiler, which cannot be affected by any supposed change to
the way the fuel burns. How likely is it that a reasonably maintained boiler is not burning 10% of the fuel it is using?
If it was operating so badly, how likely is it that the problem can be cured by any minor change to the fuel?
8. Big freezers cost more to run than little freezers
Usually TRUE, but not always - Small freezers are often upright models,
which lose a significant amount of cold air whenever the door is opened. It can take as much as 30 minutes for a freezer
to regain its temperature after a door has been opened for a minute.
Chest freezers, with a lid opening - and typically thicker insulation levels - will often use less than half as much energy
for a given volume of food storage.
So a 125 litre upright freezer will often use more energy than a 250 litre chest model.
If you have empty space in either type of freezer, it's best to fill it, for example with empty cardboard boxes,
to stop air flow when the door opens.
Most of us are familiar now with changing our electricity supplier and many would like to sign up to a 'Green' tariff
(where the electricity comes from a renewable source, such as hydropower or wind turbines),
but what exactly are these and are they worthwhile?
There are two types of tariffs that you can sign up for:
- Green Supply - where the electricity company ensures that for every unit of electricity you use,
a set proportion of green electricity is generated. However, as supply companies have a Renewables Obligation
set by Government to supply a minimum level of renewable electricity (currently around 5%) some companies use
the renewable electricity they sell as a 'green' tariff towards meeting their own Renewables Obligation or,
through certificate trading, to allow other suppliers to meet theirs. The net effect of this is that although
you are getting more renewable electricity, everyone on standard tariffs is getting less.
- Green Fund - where the electricity company invests some of what you pay on your bill in new renewable energy projects.
However, many supply companies have already made a decision to invest in renewables, to ensure they can meet their
Renewables Obligation or for other commercial reasons, so signing up for their 'green' tariff might not have any real effect,
except perhaps to boost their profits.
The market for 'Green' tariffs is very fluid and confusing and getting up to date information is difficult.
Friends of the Earth are currently campaigning for
Ofgem (the government funded independent regulator for Britain's gas and electricity services,
which is tasked with promoting choice and value for all customers) to implement, as a priority,
a robust accreditation scheme for green electricity tariffs. For the moment, the best source of information of the
various tariffs is www.greenelectricity.org/index.html.
Given this confusion, if you are really concerned about making a difference, then we suggest action in your own home
is the best option, including anything from installing low energy lightbulbs, through to installation of
solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that generate electricity. Every action counts.
Blewbury Energy Initiative
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