Tips how to help save energy

How to be Environmentally friendly. Useful tips

• Use energy saving light bulbs, these may cost more, but they use far less electricity than normal bulbs, saving you money in the long run.
• Use the kettle to boil water for cooking, instead of heating a pan on the stove. Not only will this be more efficient, but it generally takes less time too!
• Place heat reflectors behind radiators, which are attached to outside walls, this reduces the amount of heat lost to the outside, especially on older houses without so much insulation.
• Draw the curtains at night to keep the heat in (especially if you don’t have double glazing).
• After having a bath in winter, don’t pull the plug on the hot water until it has cooled down (and thus heated your house) it may look dirty, but you've just used a lot of energy to heat up that water. There's no point letting it, and your money, go down the drain. Or using a shower instead of a bath uses far less energy.
• Do not use your dishwasher / tumble dryer /washing machine unnecessarily. They are some of the most energy intensive devices in your home! Make sure you load them up correctly, and do put them on when they are practically empty.
• Switch all electrical appliances off at the plug instead of using the 'standby' function. During standby the appliances are still using electricity, and astonishingly, this accounts for 6% of all electricity usage in the home!
• Think ahead! By applying light throttle and avoiding heavy braking, you can reduce both fuel consumption and wear and tear. Try to predict traffic at junctions and when in queuing to avoid accelerating and then braking. Research suggests driving techniques can influence car fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent.
• It is estimated that about 50% of tyres on the road are under inflated. Aside from increasing the rate of wear, this wastes fuel and decreased your fuel efficiency. Check your tyre pressures every fortnight. Worn tyres will also decrease fuel efficiency (and your safety!), so check the tread regularly. If you are replacing tyres then consider some of the newer ‘Eco’ tyres that are designed specifically to increase fuel efficiency.
• Probably the best way to decrease the amount of petrol you burn, is to leave the car and home, and take a bike, bus, or train, or to walk. A quarter of all car journeys in Britain are less than two miles long, and walking or cycling are cheap and clean alternatives, and healthy too!
• Insulating your walls and ceilings can save 20 to 30 percent of home heating bills and reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 1 tonne per year.
• Painting your house in darker colours can reduce energy usage in colder climates (lighter colours in hotter climates).
• Wrap your boiler in an insulating jacket, which costs just ~£15 and can save as much as 500 kgCO2 emissions per year.
• Refrigerators are responsible for about 20% of Household electricity use. Use a thermometer to set your refrigerator temperature as close to the recommended 1-4 degrees C and your freezer as close to -18 degrees C as possible. Defrost your freezer regularly and ensure that the seal your refrigerator/freezer door is clear and will and sealed tightly.
• Cut down on waste by reducing packaging on items that you purchase. Re-use shopping bags and go to local producers to avoid heavily packaged items.
• Recycle glass, metals, plastics and paper. For every kilogram of waste you recycle, you save energy and reduce emissions of CO2 by at least 1 kilogram. Making products with recycled materials, instead of having to process them from raw materials, uses up to 55% less energy for paper products, 33% less energy for glass, and a whopping 90% less for aluminium.
• Get rid of the petrol mower - old 2 stroke mowers produce as many pollutants as 40 cars, and huge amounts of fuel are spilled each year from filling them - in the US the same amount of petrol is spilled each year from mowers, as was in the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster. Switch to an electric mower, or even better a mechanical push one (although this will depend on the size of your lawn!)
• Switch off lights and unused computers - one computer (standby rating 6.9watts) wastes 60 kWh per year.