I was very interested in this pie chart which I saw in a BBC editorial about domestic energy use. It says that 84% of UK household energy use goes on space heating and hot water.Lighting, by comparison, accounts for only 3% of UK household energy use. So whilst switching to low energy lightbulbs is an easy way you can reduce your energy use and your carbon foorprint, it's not going to make a big difference overall. Instead you should focus your energy on savings in space heating and water heating.
What can you do to cut space heating and water heating costs?
- Add to your loft insulation
- Make sure you have cavity wall insulation
- Install double or even triple glazing
- Exclude draughts
- Close curtains when it gets dark.
- Make sure the curtains have thermal lining
- Put foil behind radiators
- Turn off radiators in unused rooms
- Use timers to make sure the heating is only on when it needs to be
- Wear a jumper
- Turn down your heating thermostat
- Lag hot water pipes
- Have showers instead of baths
- Share baths
- Have shorter showers
- Install a low-flow shower head
- Don't use hot water when cold will do
- Turn down your water thermostat (if you always have to add cold water to your bath or washing-up water, then your water thermostat is too high)
- If possible, install a solar hot water system
I can see where I can make improvements in my own household. You can bet that one or more of these will be showing up in March's Bean Sprouts Challenge.
6 comments:
Your suggestions are wonderful - I'm sure all of us could save by following these suggestions.
One more that we have used is to have a timer on the hot water heater. We timed it for 3 hours in the am & 3 hours in the pm. That took care of showers and dishwashing for a family of 5.
The pie chart was so helpful! At our house we have focused a lot on electrical use and space heating, but the hot water part was off our radar. I was eye-opening to see how large a percentage of our energy use goes to that. Thanks for the info! Now we can tackle that area.
I found long ago that most of my energy use, and by far the largest monthly bill of mine, was from home heating. Unfortunately, I've tried almost everything on your list and it has not made an appreciable dent. In the warm months my natural gas bill is quite low, but in the fall and winter it can be over $100/month. And this is after adding a foot of insulation to the attic, installing low-E, double-pane windows, turning down the thermostat, etc. Short of ripping down the walls to reinsulate or burning down my house and starting over, I'm running out of ways to address the issue.
You may have just inspired my blog post for the day.
Mmmm... food for thought there. I could make a few adjustments, too. Will have to have a look at the boiler and see if I can turn it down. I'd turn off the rads in the unused (for the time being) bedroom if I only knew how. I've tried turning the knob but even with a spanner it won't budge! I used to nag my ex about getting a shower installed but he wouldn't hear of it (don't even ask) but now that he's gone, that's the next project on my list once the kitchen's finished.
Thanks for eye-opener. We all need a kick up the derrier at times :)
How do you insulate three-foot thick random-stone built walls, Mel?
All good points. Unfortunately I live in a freezing cold draughty old terrace, with ridiculously high ceilings.Dh is forever trying new places to block the draughts, we installed double glazing etc, all the obvious stuff, and it's still freezing! Only pojt leftis wearing a jumper (or six!!). Now, I like my house so I'm staying here, but what's your take on knocking down ancient barns to build modern more efficient housing Mel?
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