EDF ENERGY birmingham
half marathon
Intermediate Schedule – Energy innovators
- Draught proofing your home – In a typical home 20 per cent of all heat loss may be lost through poor ventilation and draughts. There are several types of draught proofing available from brushes, foams and sealants to strips and shaped rubber or plastic. Draught proofing is an easy, cost effective way to reduce heating bills, and most materials are available from DIY stores. Installing draft proofing may save you around £25 a year on your heating bills and reduce your emissions by around 150kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year.
- Insulation – half the heat loss from your home may occur through your walls and loft. Loft insulation for example can act as a blanket, trapping heat rising from the house below. You should also consider lagging your pipes at the same time for optimum efficiency. If you currently have no loft insulation and you install the recommended 270mm depth you may save around £200 a year on your heating bills.
- Lighting – normal bulbs use up to 5 times more energy than energy saving bulbs such as CFLs. CFLs tend to pay for themselves in the first year of use and a CFL can save £100 over its lifetime (and may last up to 10 times longer than normal bulbs). Remember to recycle energy saving bulbs properly (usually returnable to the store where you bought them).
- Ask your energy supplier if they have a tariff they consider to be ‘greener’
- Leave the car at home. Chose to cycle or walk instead of driving, saving on fuel costs, and contributing to your overall health and well being.
- Monitor your energy use more carefully by using a wireless electricity monitor to see the effect of turning on and off individual appliances. Available at DIY stores.
- If the evenings are too warm for you this summer, don’t buy or rent an energy guzzling air conditioning unit – instead you can:
- Turn off unused appliances to reduce internal heat produced
- Install awnings to protect rooms from the sun whilst allowing light and ventilation
- Improve loft and cavity wall insulation and double glazing – this will help keep your house cool in summer as well as warm in winter
*Fit aluminium foil or reflective panels behind radiators. This reflects some of the heat back into the room rather than the walls absorbing and losing that heat. Available from most DIY and hardware stores.
