Heating your home can be a costly venture, and sometimes it’s not just your pocket that gets stung. The knock on effect when it comes to the environment can be potentially devastating. It may not seem like much when you think about it on an individual level, but nationally the effect is much, much bigger. If we all just thought about the way we use energy in our homes, and did something about it, then we could end up saving both the planet and a sizeable amount of money. Check out the blog below to see how you can keep your heating bills down and your green credentials up.

Boilers
One of the first things you’ll want to do is check your boiler. Supplying almost all the heat to your house, the more efficient you can make it, the more money you’ll save, and the less damage you’ll do. It’s worth casting your eyes over www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Heating-and-hot-water/Replacing-your-boiler to see the savings replacing your boiler could net you, both financially and environmentally. If it looks as if your boiler needs replacing then you can follow that up with a trip to www.uswitch.com/boilers/guides/boiler-guide to get a great guide to compare and contrast all the different variables. Lastly, head to www.directheatingsupplies.co.uk to pick up your new energy-efficient boiler, though it might be fruitful to visit www.quotatis.co.uk too as they offer a free advice service with no obligation.

Fires
It’s no longer older houses that have fires and flues these days, as many modern builds incorporate contemporary fireplace designs as an attractive focal point. Electric fires are incredibly environmentally friendly but can often lack the je ne sais quoi of the real thing or even gas fires. If you’re set on keeping your real fire (and they do possess an inherent romantic quality that is exceedingly hard to part with) then take a look at www.energysavingsecrets.co.uk/can-open-fire-be-green.html to see what you can do to make yourself a little greener. I would also recommend perusing www.marblehill.co.uk/energy-efficient.html, as Marble Hill offer a fantastic range of eco-friendly traditional fires without sacrificing the traditional feel. However, for the truly eco-conscious, visit www.smartfireuk.com. Smartfire specialise smokeless, clean burning fires that burn bio-ethanol. This combines the romanticism of a real fire with ecological and environmental responsibility to produce greener fires without ever compromising on style or aesthetics. Check out the video below for more information.

Bits and Bobs
Boilers and fires might be the big ideas, but often people can overlook how they can help out and save money with just a few simple tricks. Invest in some draft excluders for your thresholds, as well some thick rubber weather strips to line your doors and windows. You can pick those up at www.stormguard.co.uk, followed by a quick trip to www.greenstamp.co.uk to grab some radiator foil. Radiator foil is the simple but ingenious solution to getting the most out of your radiators, as the highly reflective surface channels all the heat from the back of the radiator into the room, instead of it going to waste by seeping into the wall. For even more tips and tricks, check out www.progressgroup.org.uk/homes/newprogress/save/tips.

Heating doesn’t have to cost the earth, in more ways than one. By utilising advances in modern technology you can make the most of boilers and fires, and once you add a little common sense into the mix too you can really begin to feel the benefits without breaking the bank. Best of all you do your bit for the planet too, so it’s a really a win-win all round!

We could all do with saving a little here and a little there, whether for our pockets or for the planet . One of the ways we can do both is by reducing our energy bills, and all this takes is a few simple steps. Take a look at our guide below to give you some pointers on keeping your energy bills down.

Electricity
Now the days are getting longer it isn’t as necessary to have your lights on all the time, so a simple but effective method to keep energy bills down is just to leave them off altogether! Naturally, however, there are always going to be times when you need to have the light on, and so there are a few things you can do then too. Your number one priority should be getting some energy efficient bulbs installed, so visit www.ecotroniclighting.co.uk for your home or office for some greener lighting. All told, this could save you around £55 per year in the home. Have a look at this article if you want to know more: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Electricity/Lighting, and then start thinking about eco-friendly fridges and all manner of energy efficient electronics!

Water
Lowering your water bills isn’t about switching provider to save money, it’s more about regulating the amount of water you use. If you’re finding that the fixed rate you’re on is too high for your consumption, then it’s well worth considering a installing a water meter. If you take a look at www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/cut-water-bills you can get a better idea on if a meter is a good idea for you and whether it will save you money. Like lighting, however, you can buy more energy efficient products to help keep costs down. Think about investing in an energy efficient showerhead to save up to 2000 gallons of water per year. Go to www.flowpoint.co.uk to learn more about how you can save up to 60% on your water bill.

Gas/Heating
How much energy you are expending here comes down to your boiler. An old boiler will end up costing you as much in monthly bills as it will in the necessary repairs, so first, you need to get your boiler assessed and service. Local tradesmen like www.wearheatingandgasservices.co.uk offer competitive rates so it’s worth investigating local plumbers in your area to get the best deal – take a trip to www.mybuilder.com/plumbers/in/uk to do just that. If you’re looking at other ways to keep your heating bills down, investing in cavity wall insulation can also be a fine choice. Take a trip to www.knaufinsulation.co.uk to look at options for internal and external wall insulation that will help make massive savings in the long run.

As the big three expenditures on energy, doing what you can to reduce your arrears can have a great impact on your finances and on the planet. Making small changes can yield big results, so think about becoming more eco-conscious today and see how much you could save.

There are some good reasons to spend some time assessing your home for its energy efficiency. The two most obvious reasons being, reduction in damage to our planet and environment and saving ourselves money on our energy bills. I’ve put together this blog post as a guide assessing how to improve upon your home’s energy efficiency. You’ll find it useful to arm yourself with a pen and paper and possibly ahead of taking a tour of your home.

Heating

If your home is heated by a boiler, whether you have a combination boiler (one that supplies hot water to the taps on demand) or one that stores water in a tank, note down the make and model of the boiler. Searching online will give you details of the boiler. If your boiler is a non condensing type, it may be worth considering an upgrade. Condensing boilers come in combination types and stored hot water types. They are around 30% more efficient on energy consumption than non condensing types.

Lighting

If you are using non energy efficient bulbs in any room of the house, consider changing them for an energy efficient equivalent. There are efficient equivalents to most bulb types. If you’d like to see some startling statistics on the reduced costs of energy efficient light bulbs, give the interactive energy saving calculator a try at the light bulbs direct website.

Loft Insulation

Improving loft insulation is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to improve energy efficiency. If you have a loft space, open the loft hatch and measure the depth of the loft insulation. If you have 25mm or less of insulation you should consider replacing the loft insulation. You can find out more information on insulating a loft at the energy saving trust website.

Glazing

If you have single glazed windows, you will be losing more than twice the amount of heat through them than you would through a double glazed window unit. Ideally triple glazing is the best way to prevent the heating you pay for from escaping through the window. The added benefit of installing new glazing is that you also improve on your home security at the same time. You might have look a little harder for installers that fit triple glazing but they are out there – a good example being Ace Double Glazing, based in Plymouth.

Appliances

When buying new appliances it is a good idea to check the energy efficiency of the appliance. White goods have an energy efficiency rating sticker on them (similar to the image used at the top of this blog post). You may find yourself paying slightly more for a new appliance with a better efficiency rating, but over the lifetime of the product this will pay for itself in lower energy consumption. It is not worth replacing perfectly functioning appliances with more energy efficient models. The cost to the planet for the raw materials is outweighs the benefits of energy efficiency. When replacing broken appliances, try and consider a recycling centre that can re-use the materials.

Taking it Further

If this simple energy assessment of your home has whetted your appetite for taking it further, then you can do a more comprehensive home energy assessment on the excellent Energy Saving Trust website. Fill out this questionnaire to get your personal assessment emailed to you. Save energy, save money and help save our planet.

Fuel and energy have become regular topics in articles on the national TV news and in the newspapers. Most articles focus on the spiralling costs of energy and the problems faced by low income households who are enduring fuel poverty. What the articles seem to miss out is the reason why fuel prices are so high. Although there are many factors that regulate fuel price, the main reason is rooted in supply and demand. There world energy suppliers are struggling to meet the demand for energy of all types.

In the UK the Chancellor has made incentives via his budget encourage us to adopt environment friendly energy usage. Although the scheme has now closed there was a grant available to those who wished to install high efficiency combination boilers, photo voltaic solar panels (electricity generation) and solar panel heating systems. These systems all use energy in more efficient ways and in some cases can make generate enough energy to power the entire house. The benefits of adopting energy efficient systems in the home is discussed further on the energy saving trust website

Vehicles registered after 2001 have a road fund licence (car tax) that is based upon the CO₂ levels of their exhaust emissions. You can find out what tax band you vehicle falls into based on its emissions on the direct.gov website. The latest fuel efficient cars benefit from very low tax or are even tax exempt.

High emissions vehicles, such as commercial diesel vans face some of the highest rates of road fund licence. This makes it essential that businesses with fleets of vehicles adopt as many fuel saving measures as possible. Buying in fuel wholesale is a better option than purchasing fuel at regular filling stations. There can be real savings made from buying fuel in bulk and dispensing it onsite. Investing in a fuel tank for diesel storage not only allows bulk buying but also means that fuel usage can be monitored.

Filling up vehicles onsite means that the fuel usage of individual vehicles can be tracked. Using some clever technologies like those provided by fuel management  companies allows data capture of amounts of fuel drawn and mileage of individual vehicles.

Whether in the home or in business it is encouraging to see that measures to make the most out of the energy that we use are being adopted. It might be the most welcome news, but high prices for energy are here to stay. We have to adapt to use less energy for the sake of the planet and for the sake of our pocket.

Whether you agree with theories on global warming, effects of consumption, and alternative energy solutions or not, you will positively find it hard to disagree with the fact that as a race we do have moral and ethical responsibilities. On all scales of life we can find ourselves with ethical challenges, maybe on levels we don’t initially recognise, big or small.

We are all encouraged to ‘do our bit’ for the environment and the well-being of our fellow Earth dwellers. We may not see the immediate effects, or any at all in our lifetime, but it would surely be selfish of us as a generation to completely disregard the safety and lifestyle of the rest of Earths generations bit doing the simplest of things.

On an easy day to day basis you can do small things to hopefully create a ripple effect through generations to come. Something as easy as recycling your waste from home or business can have dramatic effects on our environment; and when the facilities are readily provided for us to do so, surely it would just be laziness for us not to bother. I found this article in NatGeo which runs through the fantastic effects that recycling has on our environment, economy and energy consumption.

On a larger scale from a professional point of view there are also things we can do. Not only activities such as being energy aware in the workplace and making sure we have facilities for recycling, but the dealings we make with other companies that we run alongside have similar values and ideals. Essentially making sure that you’re making an ethical investment in our professional future, not just our personal lives.

Even if you don’t have the opportunity to be able to make an investment in an ethical corporation, the solution for doing your bit more may be just be making sure any purchases you make, companies you use and recommend, or even your employer are aware of their professional ethical responsibilities. If we can change people’s attitudes and values not only from a personal perspective, but also from a professional view point also, surely this is the proactive approach to gradually shifting towards a fairer and more aware environment for generations to come.

In the mean time we can all do things as simple as doing our personal recycling, watching how long we leave appliances on for and keeping an eye on how much water you’re using as a household. Check out this brilliant website to see how you can save energy and lower your consumption- as well as saving you some money too. Let’s make this a win/ win situation for all of us!