There is now a plethora of products available which offer energy saving potential in your home. Overall, design and efficiency of these products has improved vastly as prices have become more affordable. They also seem to have been designed for fitting by the average householder and don’t need professional installation, anyone can do it so if you’re a single mum, an older person or if like me you lack confidence in doing it yourself, you can take advantage of these energy saving products without having to pay someone to fit them. If you haven’t looked at them for a while, take another look, you will be surprised. Here are some examples of the type of products you can fit easily yourself:
Hidden Heat Reflective Panels:
Radiators are notoriously inefficient with nearly 70% of their heat simply heating the wall of your rooms and then being lost to the outside of your home. By attaching hidden heat reflecting panels behind your radiator not only will the heat loss be minimised but you will reduce your heating bills by 20%.
Automatic Appliance Switches:
Leaving your appliances on stand by , and let’s face it, we all do this from time to time, expecting to return to the room later perhaps, is not only adding unnecessarily to your energy bill but it is contributing to CO2 emissions. A number of devices are available which will automatically switch your appliances off and others will switch them all off remotely.
Energy Saving Light Bulbs:
I think we are all aware these days of energy saving light bulbs but many people resist using them despite the evidence that each energy saving bulb saves a household about £10 a year. Improvements in design and manufacture mean that today’s light bulbs have the same appearance and brightness as the ones you are replacing so no excuses now not to use them!
Dual/Triple Flush Toilet Products:
Flushing the toilet is the largest single use of household water and although new toilets are fitted with dual or triple flush , there are now products available that can be quickly fitted to the cistern , which detect when the pan is clear and stop automatically, thereby using only as little water as is required. This can save 50% of water apparently.
Solar Chargers:
If like me you have lots of devices which need charging up, mobile phone, digital camera, Ipod, Nintendo and so on, instead of using the main charger, have you considered buying a solar charger?
Thermostat Timers
There are lots of ways to reduce your energy use at home and some don’t cost anything at all! For example if you just turn down your thermostat by 1 degree this will cut 10% from the heating bill. There are thermostats available now which offer more complex timing and heating options to enable the householder to set variable temperatures for different times of the day. Nowadays dishwasher and washing powders are designed for the low energy programme so don’t worry that your clothes or dishes won’t be cleaned.
Obviously some energy saving projects do need an expert to fit them, these would include solar panels, double glazing and loft insulation. Whereas these might have been considered ‘nice to have’ when buying a new home, they will soon become ‘must haves’ as we all become more aware of how saving energy reduces our own bills but also impacts on our mission to save our planet.
