Energy Efficiency

Low Energy Lighting

You will notice that many, if not all, of the electric lights in your home are what are known as ‘low energy’ lights. In the kitchen, it is likely that it will be a fluorescent light and in the remainder of the house, they will probably be Compact Fluorescent Lights, which are known as “CFL’s” for short. They will be in special fittings so that they can not be replaced with the older tungsten light bulbs.

The life of a CFL is usually about three times longer than for ordinary tungsten bulbs (although no guarantee can be given) and when you need to replace them you will find that they cost more and you may begrudge that fact. However, not only do the bulbs last longer but they also reduce your fuel bills so overall, you will be making a saving. The amount of electricity that light bulbs use and you pay for depends on their wattage, so a 60-Watt bulb uses 50% more electricity than a 40-Watt bulb. The CFLs need less power to produce the same amount of light.

Here is a comparative table:

You will see that the CFLs use only between a quarter and a fifth of the electricity of a normal tungsten light bulb and so your lighting bills will be reduced accordingly.

Heat Losses From Your Home

Your home has been built to a higher standard than would have been likely even just a few years ago. Starting in 2006 your home had to pass ‘air permeability’ tests to minimise the amount of heat lost through the fabric like gaps around pipes or gaps under skirtings. In addition, the windows and doors that are fitted are of a higher quality that is designed to minimise the possibility of draughts. You can help too. If you close your curtains at dusk, it prevents heat from escaping through the windows. It will help even more if the curtains have a thermal lining.

Energy Saving

The reasons for saving energy are so we use less of the world’s natural resources and to reduce the harmful carbon emissions that result from burning the fuels when producing power.

Whilst we have built your home so that less energy is used; you can help as well by some of the things that you do. Not only will you help the planet but it will have a good effect on your purse too! Often we do not realise the consequences of the everyday things that we do. Many of us leave our televisions and computers on standby when we are not using them, boil more water than we need in a kettle or keep our mobile telephone chargers permanently in the socket even when the phone is not plugged in. Did you know that if everyone in the UK turned their televisions off instead and switched off their phone chargers it would save the equivalent of the output of a whole power station?

When you, or members of your family, go from one room to another, do you remember to switch off the lights from the room that you are leaving? Let “switch them off and be better off” be your new motto. You can also help by buying more energy efficient white goods.