Ways of being greener by David Long

As individual property owners we contribute over 50% of the UK carbon omissions through property and over 25% through our own homes.

If you are building a new home, or buying a new home you may be interested that within the next 2-3 years there will be a new Eco Code for Sustainable Homes which will guarantee better insulated, greener homes that could reduce your carbon footprint. However this will merely a drop in the ocean as the majority of current housing stock will still exist in 2050 when as a nation we aim to be ‘zero carbon efficient’. Here are some helpful hints that will help you reduce omissions in your own home:

1. Change 40 watt down lighters in kitchens and bathrooms to energy saving ones.

2. Take showers, not baths.

3. Use a washing line, not a tumble dryer.

4. Turn the dishwasher off at the drying stage and leave the door open for 30 minutes.

5. Turn your heating down by 1 degree. This effectively saves 10% of energy bills.

6. Replace your current boiler with a more efficient one. A new condensing boiler could save you up to £200 a year.

7. Turn lights off when leaving a room. Lighting accounts for 15% of electricity bills.

8. Insulate roof void and cavity walls. It is indicated that every £1 per £3 of heating is lost. Loft insulation could save you up to £110 per annum and cavity wall insulation up to £90.

9. Draft proof your windows.

10. Lag your pipes.

11. Turn off your TV, computer, DVD at the socket when not using them.

It has been proved in recent experiments that by implementing these points you could reduce your energy bills by up to 46% and at the same time considerably reduce your carbon omissions.