From looking on the energy saving trust i found out lots of information about this.
Areas you can save energy:
Heating and hot water
The latest on energy-efficient boilers to save you energy and money, and the right controls to use as little energy as possible, whatever the age of your boiler. No boiler? Find out about controls for electric systems too.
Replacing boiler
Thermostates and controls
insulating pipes and tanks
Lighting
If you replace a traditional light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb of the same brightness you will typically save around £3 per year, or £55 over the life of the bulb.
If you replace a 50W halogen downlighter with a 6W LED you will typically save around £4 per year, or £70 by the time you have to replace the bulb.
Whether you rent or own your property, or live in a house, flat or bungalow, you can save money today by changing the way you use your lights and by fitting new energy-saving lights. Many homes today use a mixture of standard light fittings and halogen downlighters or spotlights (mainly in kitchens and bathrooms). There are low-energy alternatives for both these types of light:
- Compact fluorescents (CFLs) – these are what most people think of as an energy-efficient light bulb. A cost-effective option for most general lighting purposes, and now widely available.
- LEDs – even more efficient, and the ideal replacement for halogen downlighters. More expensive than CFLs but save even more money in the long term.
Of course, the easiest way to save on your lighting bill is simply to turn off the light when you’re not using it. You will ALWAYS save energy if you turn the light out when you leave the room, even if it’s only for a minute or two.
We all need light to do the things we want to do, but sometimes we leave lights switched on when we don’t need to, or we use more lights than we need. The basic message is simple – turn it off if you don’t need it. But here are a few tips to help...
- ALWAYS turn the lights off when you leave the room. Whatever type of lights you have, you will save energy by turning them off even for a few seconds.
- Most types of light bulb will last longer if you don’t switch them on and off repeatedly throughout the day. But you won’t save money by leaving any type of light on for a few minutes just to try and make it last longer. Just turn it off when you don’t need it and turn it back on again when you do. Simple.
- Try and arrange light switches so that it’s easy to turn them off. Most houses are wired so you can switch the landing light on at the top or the bottom of the stairs. Make sure you can do this wherever it will help, usually at every door to a room or corridor. Otherwise you may be tempted to leave the light on for later.
- If you have external lights, then a sensor that turns them on when you approach will make them much cheaper to run. If you fit a time switch too, they won’t keep coming on all night whenever a cat walks past.
- Use the right light for the job in hand. If you’re watching television you probably only want low level background lighting, but if you’re reading a book you will want something bright but local.
- Having a range of lights in a room, all with separate switches, will make it easier to achieve the lighting you want and need, whenever and wherever you want it. And you’ll save more energy than you would by using a single dimmer switch for the whole lot.
Appliances
On average UK households spend £35 a year each powering appliances left in standby mode. This is the energy used by certain appliances when they are not in use and not switched off at the plug. That’s quite a lot of money to spend powering your microwaves clock display!
As well as standby power, other new additions to the average household’s collection of electrical goods such as broadband modems, broadband routers, digi-boxes and cordless telephones remain using low levels of electricity when not being used. These are not items that we tend to think to turn off, but can gradually go on to consume a great deal of electricity over the year. For instance a broadband modem router can consume as much as £7 worth of electricity if left on for an entire year.
Fortunately there are a number of Energy Saving Trust Recommended productsavailable to help cut down your standby electricity consumption, such as standby savers that allow you to easily turn all of your appliances off from standby without having to reach for the plug.
Recent regulations specify that all electronic products sold within the EU after 2010 cannot have a standby power greater than 1W, which means we won’t have to worry as much in future about the standby consumption of our products. However, whilst the average standby consumption of new products is going down, households are being filled with more and more electronic gadgets, therefor it is still worth looking at your standby energy usage throughout your home.
Energy ratings labels on appliances are generally given to products based on size categories. The idea is to enable you to compare between two similarly sized products.
This means two differently sized appliances with the same energy rating may use quite different amounts of electricity. For instance an A rated 180-litre fridge freezer could cost only £36 a year to run whereas a larger 525-litre fridge freezer with a better A+ rating would cost £49 a year to run. That’s £13 a year more.
In trying to save energy it is therefore best to look for the product with the best energy rating for the size of product you require.
Roofs, floors, walls, windows
-Roof and loft insulation
-wall insulation
-cavity wall insulation
-solid wall insulation
-floor insulation
-draught proof
-windows
Water
Did you know that much of your water use at home contributes to your energy bill? Each person in the UK uses on average, about 150 litres each day. But about 30% of your household energy bill is from heating the water - when you shower, run hot water from the tap, and use your kettle, washing machine and dishwasher. This is on average about £200 per year.
When we use water, we are often using energy – mostly to heat the water. Generating energy produces carbon dioxide emissions - and carbon dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gases which causes climate change. Heating water in our homes adds up to make up about 5% of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions.
Saving a little water is very easy. Saving water can reduce your water bill (if you’re on a water meter), reduce your energy use and bills, reduce the impact on your local environment, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by using less energy to pump, heat and treat the water. If every UK home reduced their hot water use by just 5%, the carbon dioxide saving would be equivalent to taking more than half a million cars off the roads!
No one likes to waste water. However, only about 8% of people release their water usage contributes to their energy bills. How well do you know your water usage? Do you know how much your family uses? Do you know how much water and energy you could save by being water efficient? Do you know what simple water use changes can save you money? Find out now.
Facts about saving energy in the home:
-washing clothes @ 30c - save 42% energy consumption
- turn off plugs - save 25% energy consumption
- change to energy saving lightbulbs - save 74% energy consumption
- lower room temperature - save 36% energy consumption
- switching lights off - save 30% energy consumption
- lower fridge power - save 20% energy consumption
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