Millions of people across the UK have already managed to cut their energy bills, but millions more could cut costs further. If you’re still wondering how to avoid the rise in energy prices this winter you’ve come to the right place. Energy Saving Week is packed full of information to help you stop wondering and start taking action.

It’s energy efficiency in the home day!

When’s the right time to buy insulation?

Ever wondered when is the best time to insulate your home? To avoid hassle and unnecessary distractions to your lifestyle, read the Energy Saving Trust’s quick and easy guide

Take the mystery out of your heating system

For many of us, heating systems and heating controls are a mystery and best left alone. But there’s no need to be afraid of going into that dark cupboard under the stairs! Read the Energy Saving Trust’s new guide to understanding your heating system explains how you can save big money with a few simple changes.

Read about heating systems and controls

Water Energy Calculator

The Energy Saving Trust’s Water Energy Calculator just gets better and better. Did you know that about a third of your increasing energy bill is from your hot water use? Do you know how much water you use and how much you can save off your water and energy bills? Try the Water Energy Calculator now and get your household report. The upgrades to the tool include:

• more water efficiency devices added
• downloadable household-specific water report
• your water use compared with the national average
• water, energy and money savings from simple changes in your house
• lets you share your water use and savings on Facebook and Twitter.

Try the improved Water Energy Calculator

Read The Energy Saving Trust’s blog

Visit the Energy Saving Trust’s blog for featured articles and guest blog post all for Energy Saving Week.

Check out today’s post and video

It is energy saving week 2011 – being run by the Energy Saving Trust to help you reduce your energy consumption and take control of the increasing costs you face.

Here is a document from the Energy Saving Trust with their top tips for energy savings.

Click Here to download.

24th– 28th October 2011 will be the fifteenth Energy Saving Week. The week is an annual event lead by The Energy Saving Trust and the focus this year will be on how you can get some control over your ever increasing energy bills.

As you will be well aware, gas and electricity bills have been rising on a regular basis. The current economic climate is the major reason

you are thinking about how you can implement energy saving ideas. The Energy Saving Week is designed to give you the perfect opportunity to learn about how you can make a difference.

The Energy Saving Week will have lots of tips and competitions for you to enter.

The week has 5 themed days:

• Monday – Launch day!
• Tuesday – Microgeneration (learn all about renewable technologies)
• Wednesday – Energy Saving Trust Recommended day
• Thursday – Energy Efficiency in your home
• Friday – Transport day

You need to check the website daily and we will publish the tips here later next week.
In the meantime here is a diagram of your home showing you some of the things you should consider to reduce your energy bills – you can zoom in a scroll round to read the bits that are of interest to you.

The press has been full of the confusion over energy pricing and that even the energy company staff selling them dont know which is the best for any particular customer. The criticism of the energy companies have been growing a pace the government is under increased scrutiny over its “green politics“.

The ever increasing energy prices, along with the reported huge profits made by the energy companies, are focusing attention of the coalition government’s green credentials. Until recently their standing was not too bad with the Green Deal to make 14 million homes energy efficient by 2020. Along with the plans to “try” and break the hold of the 6 major providers and to help cash strapped home owners are essential for them to keep public support for their alternative energy programme.

However, at the recent Conservative party conference the Chancellor, George Osborne, took a huge step to destroying confidence that is necessary for investment. He said ”We’re not going to save the planet by putting our country out of business,”  when talking about the government’s climate change policy. This is not encouraging for people who are worried about their jobs – if the government wont help industry reduce their energy bills by investing in alternative technology then they may well just stop investing here.

Industry currently has a very focussed campaign - the carbon price support scheme that the Chancellor introduced in the last budget. The purpose of this policy is to stop the price of carbon falling. This is supposed to be an incentive to find alternative sources of energy and of course it also generates significant revenue for the Treasury.

By keeping up the price of carbon, it will in all likelihood drive up even further household bills. It should be remembered that according to government figures every 1% increase on fuel bills pushes another 60,000 households into fuel poverty. These home-owners have to rely on a cash restricted scheme operated by energy suppliers for any relief while at the same time the coalition government are putting together a support package for industry.

At the same time the alternative energy industry has created 10′s of thopusands of jobs in past couple of years. But, the £1billion competition announced by the last govenment for carbon capture technology has only 1 entrant. It appears that big projects are not the right direction at the moment but the time is right for the government to provide support for the alternative energy industry and to back British companies in developing new technology and thus new high-tech jobs to take the country forward.

This article from The Guardian 14 October 2011 by Hannah Booth and Susanna Clarke reinforces my post of a few days ago.

Read and check your home to make sure you are saving as much money as possible this winter.

Homes: how to cut energy costs and keep warm this winter

The coalition government has announced a fast track review of the feed in tariff (FIT). The Feed In Tariff was introduced in April 2010 with support from both political parties and was designed to help homeowners invest in small renewable energy sources (solar, biomas, wind etc). Now according to The Guardian -

“the coalition government appears to have shaken off the manacles of calm and considered political leadership and is instead opting for something more akin to the headless chicken approach. The result is an unstable and confused policy environment that is increasingly difficult for the sustainability professional to navigate.”

The government has not had a policy regarding Feed In Tariff rather there have been a lot of confusing indications. The Feed In Tariff was always due to be reviewed based on the number of installations. However, no one is now sure when the reduction will come, if there will be a cap in the maximum amount available or even if it could be scrapped entirely.

One concern that the government has, which seems to be a valid worry, is large scale installations taking the totally of the funds available under the Feed In Tariff. This would benefit the owners of large scale arrays but would have a major impact on you as a home or small business owner. The government is correct to take action on these large field-based arrays. The one issue is that the government has set te size of large arrays as being over 50Kw, which is the size of a medium company or community building so some relatively large arrays will escape the scrutiny.

The thing that has taken the alternative energy providers by surprise has been the full review of the Feed In Tariff programme to be completed by the end of this year. This has dealt a shock to the confidence across the whole sector. The government wants us to move to a low carbon, energy efficient economy this blow to confidence is not what the industry needed especially when a recent survey, by Ernst and Young of 520 UK-based firms and financiers found, confidence was already low. Following the comprehensive spending review, just 13% of respondents believed the coalition government would establish the conditions for success in the clean-tech sector in 2011, compared to 38% between August and October the previous year.

This announcement, by the govenment, will have done nothing to change this trend, and within days some solar investors revealed they were postponing plans for large-scale installations.

So, as a home owner what should you do? Well, in our opinion you should hold your nerve. We believe that the case for investing in an alternative energy system for your home is still financially attractive and the return on investment still justifies doing your installation. The Feed In Tariff will stay in place and even if reduced will still provide a reasonable return.

Does your home have sufficient insulation? If you are looking to make your home more energy efficient it is important to remember
that half the heat loss from a typical house is through the walls and the loft so it is worth checking to see what insulation you have.

Here are some things you should look at to become more energy efficient:

Cavity wall insulation

If your walls are not properly insulated you will be wasting lots of money because the heat you generate just goes out through the walls. It is estmated that you could save about £110 a year by getting cavity wall insulation.

Could cavity wall insulation work for your home?

Generally speaking, your home will be suitable for cavity wall insulation if:

• its external walls are unfilled cavity walls.
• the masonry/brick work of your property is in good condition.
• your cavity is at least 50mm wide

If your home was built in the last 10 years it is likely that the cavity is already insulated.

Cavity wall insulation is so cost effective that it will pay for itself over and over again. The better insulated your home, the less energy you need to keep it warm – and the more money you’ll save.

There are grants and offers available to help pay for cavity wall insulation – to see what’s available call your local advice centre free on 0800 512 012, they’ll be happy to help.

Solid wall insulation

If you have solid walls you can either insulate them with external or internal insulation, saving you around £375 a year on your energy bills.

How does solid wall insulation work?

Heat will always flow from a warm area to a cold one. In winter, the colder it is outside, the faster heat from
your home will escape into the surrounding air.

Solid wall insulation slows down the rate at which the warm air can flow to the outside, thus keeping as much heat in your home as possible.

The insulation works by coating or filling walls with a layer of material that only allows heat to pass through it very slowly.

Solid wall insulation also helps prevent “cold bridging”. Cold bridging occurs when a material that is a good conductor of heat makes a “bridge” between the warm interior and the cold exterior. They are a significant source of heat loss and can lead to condensation and mould forming in buildings. An example of a cold bridge would be the party wall separating two semi-detached homes and spanning the length of the building. Warmth from both homes is conducted along the length of this wall and escapes into the air.

Floor insulation

Insulating beneath floorboards will reduce heating bills and improve the comfort of your home. You could save
around £50 a year by insulating your floors. Gaps and cracks around floors and skirting boards are easy to fill
yourself using a tube of sealant – reducing heating bills by around a further £20 a year.

Floor insulation works by lifting the floorboards and laying mineral wool insulation supported by netting between the joists.

You can also use a regular tube sealant, such as silicon to fill gaps between floorboards and skirting boards to
stop draughts. A note of warning, however – don’t block under-floor airbricks in your outside walls because floorboards will rot without adequate ventilation.

Loft Insulation

Insulating your loft could save you around £145 per year on your energy bills if you don’t have any insulation there at the moment. If everyone in the UK topped up their loft insulation to 270mm, around £520m would be saved each year!

How do you insulate a loft?

The good news is that insulating your loft with loft insulation blankets, often referred to as `quilts’ can be a
pretty straightforward job for either an installer or a competent `DIY-er’. It needs to be done to a high standard to avoid unnecessary wastage so if you don’t feel sufficiently confident that you can do it yourself you should call an installer.

Another type of loft insulation, blown insulation, must be installed by a professional. An installer will
typically take just a few hours and may use specialist equipment which blows loose, fire-retardant insulation
material into the loft.

For DIY jobs, quilts should be used which can be laid over the loft’s area.

If you’d like to use your loft for living space, then you could look at insulating the roof of the loft instead.
This is usually done by insulating between the roof rafters using rigid insulation boards.

Draught proofing

Using strips and excluders to draught proof around leaky door and window frames can save around £25 a year on
heating bills. If everyone in the UK draught proofed around doors and windows, we’d save nearly £200m per year!

Draught proofing – the basics

Draught proofing is one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to save energy in any type of building, from a
flat to a mansion – but it’s often overlooked.

To draught proof your home you should block up unwanted gaps that let cold air in and warm air out. By saving warm air you’ll use less energy to heat your home.

Where can you find draughts?

You’ll find draughts at any accidental gap in your home that leads outside. These are the most common places:

• windows
• doors
• loft hatches
• electrical fittings on walls and ceilings
• suspended floorboards
• pipework leading outside
• ceiling-to-wall joints

You should block most of these – but be careful in rooms that need good ventilation, such as bathrooms or
kitchens.

Which rooms don’t need draught proofing?

You should be careful about draught proofing rooms that need good ventilation, including:

• areas where there are open fires or open flues – It is essential that areas like this have adequate ventilation.
• rooms where a lot of moisture is produced, such as the kitchen, bathroom or utility room. Good ventilation helps reduce condensation and damp.

Tanks and pipe insulation

Both tank and pipe insulation keep your water hotter for longer by reducing the amount of heat that escapes. If everyone in the UK fitted a hot water cylinder jacket that was at least 75mm thick, there would be enough carbon dioxide saved per year to fill 7 million double decker buses!

So, as you can see there are lots of different types of insulation you should consider to save energy costs in your home. If you need help in deciding what insulation you need the contact us and we will help you work it out.

Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, people, communities, organizations, business and industry, civil society and governments are being encouraged to plant trees and enter their tree planting pledges on this web site. The objective is to plant at least one billion trees worldwide each year.

The idea for the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2004 and founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, which has planted more than 30 million trees in 12 African countries since 1977. When a corporate group in the United States told Professor Maathai it was planning to plant a million trees, her response was: “That’s great, but what we really need is to plant a billion trees.”

The Billion Tree Campaign – A worldwide effort

Recognizing that there are many tree planting schemes around the world, United Nations Environment Programme proposes to federate these efforts in both rural and urban areas. People and entities – individuals, children and youth groups, schools, community groups, non-governmental organizations, farmers, private sector organizations, local authorities and national governments – are encouraged to enter pledges on the billion tree campaign online form. Each pledge can be anything from a single tree to several million trees.

The responsibility will lie with the person/organization making the pledge via the campaign website to arrange for the tree planting. All contributing participants will receive a certificate of involvement. They will be encouraged to follow up via the web site so United Nations Environment Programme can verify that the trees have survived, in partnership with certification mechanisms, such as the Forest Stewardship Council. The billion tree campaign website will record the ongoing tally of pledges, and also publish photos and accounts from registered campaign members of what they have achieved.

The campaign strongly encourages the planting of indigenous trees and trees that are appropriate to the local environment. Advice on tree planting (How to plant a tree)is available via the website, as well as information about reforestation and other tree-related issues, including links to appropriate partner organizations best equipped to give locally tailored advice, such as the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). Because ideal planting conditions vary in different regions, the billion tree campaign will operate throughout the year.

This is an interesting article from Scientific America about how many lives the production of energy cost.

Fossil fuels exact the biggest toll in terms of lives lost

By Mark Fischetti  | August 31, 2011

Deadly accidents involving nuclear reactors, oil rigs and coal mines in recent months remind us that all forms of energy generation carry risks. In developed countries, coal is the most hazardous (bottom left), according to the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, which studied more than 1,800 accidents worldwide over nearly 30 years. For coal, mining tends to be the most dangerous step; for oil and gas, most accidents occur during distribution; and for nuclear, generating plants are on the hot seat (orange bars).

Developing nations tend to have higher fatality rates, experts say (although reporting is less comprehensive, so no numbers are shown). “Regulations may be less strict,” explains Peter Burgherr, head of technology assessment at the energy systems analysis laboratory at the institute. “Working conditions are also poorer,” and less mechanization means more people are doing manual labor in harm’s way.

The lion’s share of human costs, however, comes not from accidents but from pollution, which makes fossilfuels the most dangerous form of energy generation (below). As Burgherr notes, “People are often not aware of what is happening to them in daily life.”

Graphic by Jen Christiansen; Sources: Paul Scherrer Institute (deaths); Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (health burden)

Energy Performance Certificate‘s (EPC) give you information about how your home uses energy and the amount of carbon dioxide it emits. The certificate will also have suggestions about how to reduce your energy usage and therefore yourcarbon dioxide. The Energy Performance Certificate will carry a rating that compares the current efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions with the possible figures that could be achieved if energy saving features were used. The rating using a grade from A to G where A is the most efficient. To date the average rating of homes that have had EPC’s produced is a D. One of the advantages of the EPC approach is that every assessment follows the same process and measuring scale so that you can then compare the energy efficiency of different houses. All homes are measured using the same calculations, so you can compare the energy efficiency of different properties.

The Energy Performance Certificate recommendation report

The Energy Performance Certificate contains a detailed recommendation report that tells you what improvements you could make that would help reduce the energy you use and the carbon dioxide your home emits. The report will contain:

• suggested improvements, like fitting loft insulation
• possible cost savings per year, if the improvements are made
• how the recommendations would change the energy and carbon emission rating of the property

These are, of course, recommendations so you don’t have to act on them. However, the more efficient your home the less your energy bills, and should you want to sell then it will be more attractive. Example of energy figures:

The Energy Performance Certificate also contains:

• detailed estimates of potential energy use, carbon dioxide emissions and fuel costs
• details of the person who carried out the Energy Performance Certificate  assessment
• who to contact if you want to make a complaint

Do You Need an EPC?

You will need an EPC when you are selling your home, if you are renting your home and if a new home is being built. It will need an EPC if it has heating, air conditioning or any form of mechanical ventilation so, for example a garden shed does not need one. However, if your home is an apartment where each apartment has its own heating system then each apartment will require its own Energy Performance Certificate. So, you dont need en EPC unless you are planning on selling or renting but it does give you some useful information about your energy usage and the associate costs.