Green Services Direct

Simple Ways to Cut Your Emissions

Almost a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions are as a result of using heating, lighting and other electrical appliances in our homes. This would suggest not one, but two good reasons to look closely at our domestic energy usage. By using less energy we would cut down our ever growing fuel bills and at the same time reduce our carbon emissions.

Heating our homes is important to most households, a cold house is not a comfortable one, but with the current cost of living trends, we need to ensure that we keep a sensible divide between being comfortable and being wasteful.

There are a wide variety of products on the market which would help us to measure and control the way we heat our homes, ranging from simple radiator valves to fully programmable control systems which will monitor every aspect of our heating. From a purely cost point of view, it is always wise to work out the cost of any improved heating controls you may be considering and balancing that against the savings you are likely to make.

Look closely at each room or area in your home individually, rather than just treating the property as a whole. Not every room needs to be heated to the same temperature at the same time. The main living area of the home may need to be heated during daytime and evening hours, if there are people at home during the day, whereas if the house is empty during the day, with the family either at work or in school, you may choose to heat the area accordingly. Bedrooms are only used normally at night time, so require little or no heating during the day. Some would argue that bedrooms only need heating just before bedtime and just before rising in the morning.

There is another discussion around setting the heating controls to keep rooms at a low temperature when not in use, rather than turning the heating off altogether. This would mean that when the area is required to be brought up to a comfortable temperature, it does not need a surge of electricity to quickly heat an otherwise cold living area. By utilising timers and thermostatic radiator valves it is relatively simple to control your room temperatures. Set the times when you require heat and set the individual room temperatures by opening or closing the thermostatic radiator valves in each room. Check the temperature settings on your heating control and set it two degrees below its present temperature. This will make little difference to the heat felt in most areas of the home but if after a week or so you feel cold in any of your rooms, readjust it.

The next aspect of energy saving in the home is insulation, ensuring that the warmth you put into your home, stays there and is not lost to the outside by poorly insulated walls and ceilings. A well heated home can lose up to 33% of its heat through an uninsulated attic. Loft insulation is relatively inexpensive and the payback time for the investment will be relatively short. Likewise, look for any draughts from ill-fitting doors or windows and fit draught excluders to the offending areas.

The most widely used source of domestic heating in the UK is the gas boiler, however due to the fact that these add the majority of the homes carbon emissions, the gas boiler’s days seem numbered. UK government have said that from 2025, it is likely that gas boilers will be banned from all new-build homes with replacement gas boilers in older properties be illegal as of 2035. The market appears to be favouring heat pumps as a replacement for gas boilers, but heat pumps have drawbacks.  Gas boiler will heat water for your heating system up to 75’C whereas a heat pump only heats to 65’C, so requires a larger area of radiator to achieve the same heat. They are also more expensive. A gas boiler can be replaced like for like for around £2,000, an air source heat pump installation can cost upwards of £8,000.

Gas boilers are rated for their efficiency, with an older boiler likely to be running at less than 75% efficiency and a new, up-to-date boiler capable of achieving 90+%, which would deliver a considerable saving on your heating bills. On that basis, now might be a good time to think about replacing that old gas boiler, while you can.

Lighting makes up around 11% of the average UK household electricity usage, so it’s worth having a look at your light bulbs. The old incandescent light bulb which was in common use for around 100 years, was extremely inefficient with only around 5% of the electricity they use being converted to light and they are now no longer being manufactured. In the last few years, we have seen light bulbs evolve from the old traditional incandescent bulb, through halogen bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps. The latest LED lamps are much more efficient sources of light and they last around 10 to 12 times longer than an incandescent bulb and could save around £8 per year per bulb, whilst once again helping to cut your household’s carbon emissions.

We use electricity for a wide range of household appliances other than for heat and light. Our kitchens are full of power hungry appliances, most of which we could cut down the usage of. Turning down the thermostat on the fridge/freezer, even slightly can make savings and small things such as only heating the amount of water we need in the kettle, rather than filling it every time. In the laundry department, energy can be saved by washing fewer loads but fuller loads and restricting the use of driers by using airers or hanging washing outside.

Modern kitchen appliances and white goods show energy efficiency ratings on their labelling so if you are looking to replace an existing appliance, or buying a new one choose a model with a high energy efficiency rating. It may cost a little extra but the extra investment will soon be paid back in the extra efficiency.

If you live in an older property and are unsure of the energy efficiency of your home, get advice from an energy assessor, who will assess your property then produce a report which will highlight any areas where he sees possible efficiency improvements and issue you with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).