This section is provided to give people easy quick ways to help the environment and sometimes to save money. Very often this is a critical part of preparation for investing in renewable energy, we need to understand and reduce our energy consumption before we can size our system to fit.

We know not everyone who considers renewables is ready to invest straight away, so here are a few things people can do while they think about it.

Energy Efficiency

1a. Contact the Energy Saving Trust

They are lovely people who can help you on all of the energy efficiency things you need to know. They can also help you gain access to grants and discounts to help pay for part or all of it. freephone 0800 512012

2a. Get Cavity Wall Insulation

One of the most effective and best value measures you can take
Costs only £200-£300 and payback is 3 to 5 years. If you have a cavity, you will need it filled before you can apply for a renewable energy grant scheme.
If your house was built after the 1920s you should have a cavity.
The Energy saving Trust can help you access grants (see links page)
You lose 35-50% heat through your walls (due to the size of surface area).

3a. Improve  Your Loft Insulation

This only costs a couple of hundred quid and pays back in a few years as well.
You lose up to 25% of your heat through your roof if uninsulated
You need 10" before you can apply for renewable energy grant schemes so top up if you haven't.

4a. Get energy efficient light bulbs

Contrary to popular belief, they do work as good as normal bulbs nowadays. A 20 watt energy efficient bulb (same light as a 100w normal bulb) lasts 8 times longer, uses five times less electricity and pays for itself within a year. If you want a renewable energy grant you need to use these in your property.

5a. Switch off your Red Standby lights

Your PC costs you £50 per year if it is left on overnight
Your other devices cost you £35+ if you leave them on overnight
If people turned these things off at home and in the office this country could switch off several power stations. A lot of devices have a digital clock, but is worth the expense?

6a. Turn your thermostat down by 1 degree

This can cut your heating bill by up to 10%. Homes should be set at between 18 and 21 degrees, if you have to set it higher then check your insulation measures as you may be losing money.

7a. Contact Sust-It for advice on energy usage for different appliances in the home.

Sust-It is a great resource if you are considering any new electrical purchases. They provide up-to-date information on the energy usage of consumer products available today, so that you can compare the running costs of your new purchase. It does this by taking the manufacturers published energy consumption rates then multiplying this by and average electricity unit tariff.

Visit Website

Carbon Conscious Ideas

1b. Buy Local food

Buying locally grown food helps the environment and local business.
If you buy wine from Australia or vegetables from Mexico remember they have to travel here using fossil fuel.
Look at the labels for their country of origin and buy British or European if you can.

2b. Buy or plant a tree

There are sites online where you can buy trees as gifts, if not, pop down the garden centre and invest in one for the garden. They are the best value presents as they last hundreds of years. The International Tree Foundation offer a tree purchase scheme where you can plant 5 trees of your own for around £35.

3b. Try Carbon Offsetting

There are websites available in our links page where this can be done. It is a very good idea when you take a long train or plane journey to consider contacting these people. They can arrange for trees to be planted to offset the carbon produced.

Other Conservation Ideas

1c. Try to Buy Wooden Products Where Possible.

Wood is a sustainable resource, whereas plastic, especially UPVC, is very bad for the world.
Did you know UPVC creates 9 of the worst 15 chemicals known to man in the manufacturing process?

2c. Use Environmentally Friendly Paint and Preservers

This is for your health as much as it is for the environment.
Some studies have shown normal paint slowly poisons people in their homes and almost certainly exacerbates allergies. There are environmental alternatives for most things.

3c. Avoid Plastics and UPVC

Plastics are created from fossil fuels and materials, often the processes cause enormous lasting damage to the environment.

Manufacture of UPVC is alleged to produce 9 of the top 15 worst chemicals known to man.

If you have any further suggestions please contact us via our "contact us" page and we will try and publish them.