Saving Electricity
How can I save electricity?
The simplest ways to save electricity are the cheapest, I think. Don't leave appliances like the telly on standby and you can save up to 60% on the electricity it uses. Don't leave your phone on charge when you don't need to. Also save electricity by putting on an extra layer of clothing and turn down the heating thermostat. For every one degree centigrade you turn it down by you could save £40 a year. Install cheap radiator controls on each radiator so you can turn individual radiators down and turn some off to save on electricity, especially at night or in rooms you don't use. Close doors for rooms you don't use to conserve heat and save on electrical bills. Pop a big stone or a brick in the oven when you're cooking and use that to warm the bed. Using more blankets or duvets rather than turning the heating up when you sleep also helps to save energy. Turn your hot water boiler down to 60°C. Close your curtains at night or add a velcroed in lining to your curtains in the winter which sweeps down to the floor and that stops drafts very effectively, helping to reduce the cost of electricity. Alternatively, use some old tights as draft excluders to stop drafts under the doors. Turning off lights obviously helps save electricity. I've put mirrors behind wall lights because that gives the effect of more light bulbs than you actually have. Use candles instead of lighting, but be careful around children and blow them out when you leave the room. I keep a thermos by the kettle, and I put excess boiling water into it so next time I don't need to boil a kettle and use more electricity than necessary. Another thing to do is to make a pot of tea and not a cup of tea, and save boiling the kettle twice - and save on tea bags. Use a tea cozy - if you don't have one of those use an old wooly hat - to keep the pot warm and save having to use more electricity to re-heat the tea. Replace light bulbs with energy saving bulbs and you could save up to £100 during one bulb's lifetime. For more ideas on how to save electricity check out the energy saving trust.
Are there any green forms of electricity I can use?
If you want to switch to green electricity, you won't find it's the best deal financially, but the big six energy suppliers have all introduced green tariffs. There are also new electricity companies like Ecotricity and Good Energy. Ecotricity I particularly like, because they have electrical offers to match the standard tariffs of each regional electricity company, so you don't pay any more than for conventional fuel.
Can I generate my own electricity?
You can generate your own electricity, but it's early days at the moment. You can install solar panels in your roof, or wind, or water generators, if your home is suitable. Perhaps you can become what's called a “microgenerator” and even sell back surplus energy to a supplier. Now Green Energy offers a scheme called “Home Generation”, or “homegen,” which pays you 4.5 penny for every unit of electricity you generate, even if you use them yourself. But you do need expert advice, and you need planning permission from your local authority before you begin.Don't pay thousands of pounds for solar panels if your roof doesn't face south. If you don't live in a windy area, you can't have a wind generator. You need to check with your local authority's planning department, even if you just put solar panels on, especially if you live in a conservation area. But you can get grants towards the cost of all this. The Energy Saving Trust will tell you more. If you live in London, try Green Homes.
Is it worth spending money insulating my home?
It's never worth spending a lot of money insulating your home or any energy saving device, unless you want to spend the rest of your life earning it back or it becomes an especially good plus when you selling your home. The estimation is it adds back perhaps a 1000 pounds to the sale price. You can try to get a grant; though in practice I find this depends on you income that but ask the engery saving trust. Elderly people can check with help the aged. Some local authorities have special skems for elderly people help install insulation for you at a fixed price. You can't always insulate you home as people pretend that you can. For instance, in a period house you can upset it or dry it out by changing its structure, but if it's suitable cavity wall insulation can cost around 260 pounds per room and save up to 160 pounds. Perhaps it will take you two years to earn that money back. Loft insulation can cost around 230 pounds to install and earn back about 220 pounds. So you might break even in a year or eighteen months. Again, I feel that you don't want to get into the grip of eco campaigners then rubish ordinary insulation and suggest you use wool and goodness knows what at massive expense. Draft proofing can save from 20 pounds a year. You can use tight stuff with newspaper to do that and duct tape around the windows for what, two pounds fifty. I also make a special lining for my curtains in the winter which I velcro onto the inside and that sweeps down to the floor and looks absolutely lovely and it really keeps the drafts out. A hot water tank jacket can cost about fifty-five pounds at B & Q or at any of the big shacks and save you twenty pounds a year. Water pipe insulation cost around ten pounds and saves the same in a year.