Energy Saving Tips for the Home on a budget

Depending on which statistics you choose to believe our homes account for between 25% - 35% of carbon emissions. This means that by making small changes in our day to day activity we can make a real difference to climate change. If you follow the advice on this page then not only will you be making a difference but you will be saving money. In this article I offer some obvious and some not so obvious ideas.

Heating - Lighting - Refrigerator - Freezer - Cooking

Heating

If your radiator is mounted on an outside wall then the majority of the heat will be lost, it simply heats up the wall. By simply placing cardboard wrapped with tin foil behind your radiator you can deflect that heat back into your room.

Check the radiators and temperature in your rooms, in my house the spare room has the boiler in it and it gets very hot. It means there is no need to have the heating on and I have turned the radiator off in this room as I have in the kitchen. There are 7 radiators in my house so it means I have saved 28.5% of my energy cost by simply not heating in unneeded areas.

The obvious thing to do you have no doubt hear, that is to turn your heating down a few degrees and wear more clothing instead. I also tend to bring a duvet downstairs and sit on the sofa with it round me when watching a film. It is pretty cozy.

Lighting

I am sure you have read about energy saving light bulbs and know that they are much more efficient; but, did you know that by dusting your light bulbs and fittings they can run more efficiently too? (make sure that the light it switched off and do not use water or any liquid to clean).

You can also make more use of the lights you have by placing mirrors to reflect the light back into the room.

The easiest way to cut back on electricity usage is to simply turn off lights when not in the room. If you leave a light on when you go out for security reasons think again, a better approach to home security is to fix a burglar alarm box to the front of your house. The appearance of a burglar alarm is far more likely to deter potential thieves than a light left on in the hall.

Refrigerator

Keep your fridge well stocked with beer, the cold cans will help keep it cool saving the fridge from working overtime. Also ensure that the coil on the back of the fridge is kept clean.

You can also make your own fridge as Nev Sweeney, our self sufficient guru, describes in his article.

Freezer

Your freezer will run more efficiently if you keep it full, mine is full of veg so it is no bother but if you simply don't have the stuff in it then fill it with old newspaper.

Defrost regually.

Cooking

Out a lid on it! Your saucepans will need less heat if they have a lid on them, about 15% less heat.

Use the microwave more - I heard on the radio the other day that if everyone who was going to cook a jacket potato in the oven used a microwave instead we (in the UK) could do without one power station.

A final note

This is by no means an exhaustive list and if you want to add your own or look for some more tips then why not visit our forum? You can also find a list of 101 to help save the environment on there, feel free to join up and add your own.

By Andy Hamilton