Carrying out a personal energy review

Whatever you think about nuclear energy, few people would venture that it is a magic bullet poised to solve our energy problems. Even our nuclear-friendly Prime Minister, who today has given the green light to the building of new plants, recognizes the need for an open-minded approach to other methods of generation. He has outlined plans for carbon-free technologies to make up 10 per cent of our electricity supply by 2010.

But while politicians bicker over our country’s energy strategy, what role do we play - other than gasping at ever rising bills? On the letters page in The Times last week, a number of professionals demanded greater public engagement in the issue, calling for a public debate. “The issue is of such widespread national and international importance…that any decisions should only be taken on the basis of a national referendum,” they said. Fat chance of that, I fear. But we can all play a part in the debate by registering - and improving - our own impact on energy consumption. 

The wider picture is that we all have the power to increase our country’s energy efficiency, making renewable technology go further to closing the energy gap. The best bit is that we are becoming more receptive to the idea of saving energy, whether it’s buying special light bulbs or favouring two wheels over four. If you want to check you’ve got everything covered, cast an eye over the ten tips below.

Until last week, I had no idea that mobile phone chargers use up energy if they are left on at the mains even if there is not a phone on the end of them. Scurrying home to unplug mine, I felt more than a stab of guilt. What kind of Eco-Worrier am I? Sensing it my duty to make amends, I’m now on a mission to find out about other greedy appliances that could be lurking in our homes. Let me know if you’ve come across any, or if you have additional tips on saving energy in the home and conducting a personal energy review.

1/ Get to know your meter
Looking at it regularly will help you deduce what areas of the house are the most costly for electricity use, says Good Energy, the only UK company to provide 100 per cent renewable energy. “Kettles, toasters, tumble dryers, older televisions and computer equipment are high wattage and use a lot of power. Where possible, minimise their use.”

2/ Insulate your home
Hard to think of it when the sun’s beating down but ensuring your home is properly insulated can cut the amount of heat that disappears through the walls by up to 35 per cent, while a well-insulated roof cuts heat loss by up to 25 per cent. Check out if your home is suitable for cavity wall insulation.

3/ Turn off chargers
The Energy Saving Trust estimates that if one mobile phone charger in every household is left permanently plugged in for 12 months, the energy wasted nationwide is enough to meet the electricity needs of 66,000 homes a year. Turn chargers off at the mains when they are not in use.

4/ Buy an Electrisave
This - the kind of device my father would have loved to use against me back when I was an energy squandering teenager - is attached to the cable running from an appliance to find out exactly how much electricity it uses and how much it is costing you. You can even set an alarm to go off when you are using excessive amounts.

5/ Turn lights off - if you’re out of a room for five minutes or more
It’s easy to think that if you’re only popping out of the house for twenty minutes, it’s not worth turning the lights off. Well, it is. According to the Energy Saving Trust, only leave the light on only if you are going to be out of a room for less than five minutes. This is the same whether you are using energy-saving light bulbs, conventional bulbs or even fluorescent strip lights.

6/ Update bulbs
Some of us cling to energy inefficient light bulbs in the belief that they are cheaper and prettier. Wrong on both accounts. Try Megaman lighting for all imaginable shapes, sizes and prices. Eco-designer Oliver Heath also has a lighting range, available at John Lewis, that use LEDs and low-energy bulbs. The best bit is they use a quarter of the electricity of an inefficient incandescent bulb and last up to five times longer.

7/ Look for the Energy Saving Logo
Over a thousand household products from digital televisions to dishwashers now carry this logo, indicating the Energy Saving Trust has been impressed by their energy efficiency. For more info, go to the Energy Saving Trust.

8/ Support renewable energy
Either by swapping to a green energy company (try ecotricity.co.uk or good-energy.co.uk) or by generating your own power. The Low Carbon Buildings programme provides micro-generation grants to householders, community organisations, schools and the not for profit sector.

9/ Say no to stand-by buttons
The enemy of energy efficiency. As a nation, we have grown to love them. But, really, what have they ever done for us, except made it easier to flick on the telly and sink down into the sofa. It is estimated that Britons waste the equivalent of around two power stations' worth of electricity each year by leaving TV sets and other gadgets on standby. Much of the damage is done over the holiday season when houses are abandoned with TVs on stand-by.

10/ Turn down the heat on washing machines
Washing clothes at 40C rather than 60C uses a third less electricity. And if you cram the machine, you also save energy. There is no evidence to suggest that clothes wash better if they have room to move about. As they get wet, they take up less space anyway, so there is always room for the machine to do its job.

Comments

[lampostwalker]

I just worried about how the nuclear waste will be deposited. Perhaps labour might shamble it with the waste ending up on the shoreline near hunstanton.

[Rhyuso]

I would really like a product that allowed me to leave somthing on for a pre-programmed amount of time for instance two hours.

That way I could plug in my phone to charge press a button, it would switch on. Then two hours later when fully charged the charger would switch off. No wasted power (or at least a whole lot less

[john.pownall]

So much wasted energy. For example, where I work, we were all asked to help on a speial Carbon day, by turning off the PC screen when away (at lunch etc).
Nobody did this (except me). If you mention it, people just laugh. To be honest most people see the issue as either (a) not serious or (b) nothing they can influence. The group psychology of climate change is the key to its solution; change the way people see the problem...and solve it. Otherwise, I am afraid, we will just see things get worse and worse. I am perceived as an interfering ninny in my own home and workplace when I try to suggest things should be turned off/conserved.
The lead must come form Government and cross party leaders; why no Public Information ads like we used to get in the 80s when nuclear war seemed imminent?

[Clare de Mowbray]

I think your blog is excellent, a mine of information covering great topics. Like a lot of folk I’m trying to live as ethically as possibly, switching to renewable energy, buying clothes from howies, purchasing fair trade, selling my car.
I know that people are always discussing this topic but wondered what you thought on renewable energy, particularly wind turbines? I recently worked for a conservation charity and coming up with a renewables policy was not as simple as it sounded! The main debate seems to centre around where to position these turbines. My gut feeling is to put them up in an urban/industrial environment where the infrastructure is already in place and the eyesore, affecting biodiversity, negative environmental factor is not such an issue.
For a long time I’ve thought that putting turbines on/near football stadiums would be an ideal solution (Man. City have just signed up to this). Football clubs could then sell “green energy” to their supporters and local residents; a great way to get renewable energy into the whole marketplace and not just focussing on the greenies!
Anyway just a thought, I don’t work for a renewable energy supplier by the way…

[Chuck Unsworth]

As I stagger round our shops I often wonder at those which have air-conditioning (or heating, in Winter) on full blast – and the doors wide open. What’s that all about? It’s the same with things like patio heaters – why are these people trying to cool (or heat up) the street - or even the Stratosphere? Surely shop doorways can be closed?
The energy costs of air-conditioning are staggering - so much so that in some American states Summer Peak (usage of electricity) is getting to point where it will completely outstrip capacity. The level of CO2 emissions from power stations is colossal. There are alternatives to air-con which are very effective and which use about one tenth of the energy, but maybe we should start simply by shutting the shop door on the way in and out.

[Tim Woodward]

Comment number 10 from the above article about cramming washing machines full of clothes should surely be deleted from this site. In a basic fire training course one is taught that the washing machine is the number one killer when it comes to starting household fires. Washing machines tend to catch fire when they are crammed full of clothes which burns out the engine.

good idea.

[Bad experience with Good Energy]

Good Energy have appalling customer service - is there really not a 100% renewable alternative in this era of deregulation and competition?

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[Duncan Munday]

We sell heaps of low energy light bulbs to consumers but have a concern these all contain small amounts of mercury and although we have the WEEE directive in place the government are not doing enough to promote this and help people recycle these lamps so they just go into landfill to add to the growing pollution.