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The oil, gas and electricity we use to heat, light and power our homes can generate a big carbon footprint.
There are two steps to dealing with this:
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Reduce the amount of energy you need
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Get what you need from greener sources.
On top of this, you can help Britain as a whole become greener – and reduce its dependence on expensive imports of oil and gas – by reducing your use of electricity at peak times, primarily between 4 and 7pm. We’ll talk more about this later…
Reduce your need for energy – especially fossil fuels
Having a smart meter fitted will help you get to grips with your energy consumption.
On their own, they just tell you how much electricity and/or gas you are using minute by minute. The displays that come with the meters also allow you to see how usage varies week by week, month by month, and year by year.
Some suppliers (for example, OVO) analyse the figures the meters give them and break your consumption down by types of appliance. The figures are just estimates, but they give a pretty good idea of how much energy you’re using to wash clothes, keep food cool, cook and so on.
To cut your energy consumption, save money and slim your carbon footprint, consider the following:
Wrap your home up warmly!
Look at adding more insulation and drought-proofing to your house. It doesn’t cost much, so you quickly get your money back as less of the heat you pay for escapes through your doors, windows, roof and walls. Using less energy to heat your home will also cut your carbon emissions.
Martlesham Climate Action has thermal imaging camera that can show you where heat is leaking out of your home and help you understand what to do about it.
The camera works best during the winter months when the outside temperature is low enough to see heat escaping through your roof, walls, doors and windows.
If you would like someone from Martlesham Climate Action to come round to check your house, mail us at martleshamclimateaction@btinternet.com.
Turn your thermostat down
In a typical UK home, around 80% of the total energy used in a year goes towards heating space and water, so any change in heating makes a big difference.
Researchers at University College London found that for each one degree reduction in thermostat temperature between 22 and 18 degrees, an average home used around £130 less energy a year and generated correspondingly fewer emissions.
Turn your boiler down
If you have a combi boiler, adjusting it so the temperature of your radiators is 55 rather than 80 degrees can reduce the amount of gas used by nine percent. As well as cutting carbon emissions, that would save the average household £112 a year.
Ditch your tumble dryer
At December 2022’s prices, it costs about £1.80 every time you dry a load of washing in a tumble dryer. Drying on an airer or washing line is cash- and carbon-free.
Buy energy-efficient appliances
When you’re shopping around for new appliances, always check the energy ratings of the models on offer. Paying a bit more up-front for a more energy-efficient device may save a lot in the long term – and cut your carbon emissions as well.
Stop using gas in your kitchen
When your gas cooker or hob needs replacing, get an electric one instead. They can run off green energy; gas appliances cannot.
Swap your boiler for a heat pump
When your gas or oil boiler reaches the end of its life, the best option is to replace it with an air-source heat pump. They generally cost less to run and there’s a Government scheme that gives you £7,500 towards the cost of getting one installed. Octopus Energy says it will soon be able to replace gas boilers with heat pumps for as little as £500, once the Government grant is taken into account.
Heat pumps run off electricity so, if you’re on a green energy contract, your home will be heated pretty much carbon-free. Compared to gas boilers, which could just give you 750w or heat for every 1,000w of gas you buy, heat pumps can give you 3,000w or more of heat for every 1,000w of electricity.
So, even though electricity costs about four times as much as gas, the cost for every 1,000w of heat you need is the same.
Using greener supplies
According to the Government’s Committee on Climate Change, headed until recently by our former MP, Lord Deben, if everyone switched to getting electricity from low-carbon sources – wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear – Britain’s emissions would be reduced by 79 percent, cutting the average home’s carbon footprint by 1.25 tonnes.
Here are three ways to make the change:
Choose a green energy tariff
Why not switch to a supplier that promises 100 percent green electricity, or swap to one your present supplier offers? Some supply green electricity at no extra cost if you have a smart meter, and you can get one of those fitted free. Some offer “greener” gas tariffs. These include a percentage of biogas in the supply, sometimes with a promise to offset the emissions from the balance. And, of course, some suppliers offer both.
Install solar panels
Demand for solar panels increased when energy prices rocketed, so bargains have been hard to come by over recent months. East Suffolk Council’s Solar Together scheme used to offer good deals, but reports suggest people are getting cheaper quotes by shopping around. You’ll find examples of costs and savings elsewhere on this site.
Buy a share of a wind farm or solar park
This isn’t easy, but it isn’t as odd an idea as you might imagine.
Ripple Energy sets up wind farms and solar parks as co-ops, owned by members who buy shares in proportion to their energy usage. They estimate that, if you buy enough shares to cover all your home's electricity consumption, you'll cut your bills by about 25 percent. Your electricity would be free, but you would still need to pay for it to be delivered from the wind farm or solar park to your home and for your supplier’s administration costs.
By joining such a scheme, you help the UK move away from fossil fuels.
Avoid using electricity between 4pm and 7pm
Demand for electricity varies through the day, typically peaking between 4 and 8pm. That’s when it is most likely that gas-fired power stations will be put to work – covering demand that green sources can’t meet.
There are also times when demand is low – notably overnight, when suppliers offer Economy 7 and other cheap rates.
Over winter 2022/3, suppliers offered cash back to encourage households to move consumption out of the early-evening peak.[1] Octopus offered 20p for every unit (kWh) of electricity selected customers cut from their peak consumption or moved to another time of the day. For winter 2023, OVO is giving customers £15 a month if they used less than 15% of their electricity between 4pm and 7pm.
Such schemes look likely to become common in the years ahead, as suppliers look to even out consumption over the day, stop gas-fired power stations being brought into use and reduce carbon emissions.
One way you can benefit is to install a battery in your home - either on its own or alongside solar panels. These can be programmed to charge when electricity is cheap and supplies are greenest.
A stand-alone 4kWh battery costs around £5,000 to install. By charging it overnight on an Economy 7 tariff, you would save £1 a day at Spring 2023 rates just as a result of buying cheaper electricity. You could also take advantage of any incentives your supplier offers to shift consumption off peak.
To probe further…
- How can your energy choices significantly reduce your carbon footprint? [blog – PDF]
- Solar system considerations [advice note – PDF]
- Water efficiency [advice note – PDF]
- Wall insulation [advice note – PDF]
- Solar [advice note – PDF]
- Smart meter [advice note – PDF]
- Heat pumps [advice note – PDF]
- Loft insulation [advice note – PDF]
- Heating controls [advice note – PDF]
- Green tariffs [advice note – PDF]
- LED lighting [advice note – PDF]
- DIY insulation [advice note – PDF]
- DIY draught proofing [advice note – PDF]
- Getting off gas [case study – PDF]
- Heat pump installation [case study – PDF]
- Solar panel battery and hybrid heat pump solution [cost analysis – Word]
- Solar costs summary [cost analysis – Word]