• Question: how can you save energy in the home?

    Asked by 546hafc42 to Chris, Josh, Rebecca, Rob, Susan on 16 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by Jenn, 247hafc42, 119hafc42, 739hafc42.
    • Photo: Josh Meyers

      Josh Meyers answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      There are a number of ways you can save energy at home.
      – Make sure your heating is only on when you need it
      – Change light bulbs to ‘energy saving’ bulbs
      – Turn electrical appliances off instead of leaving them on ‘stand-by’
      – Keep the fridge full! It costs more to cool an empty fridge
      – Squeeze the air out of empty cartons, 50% of the volume of waste is just air!
      – Use your washing machine at 30 or 40 degrees

      There are many ways to save energy and these also save you money on your bills!
      For more information, see here:
      http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/domestic/energy-saving-quick-wins

    • Photo: Rebecca Dewey

      Rebecca Dewey answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      Turn off any electronic equipment when you’re not using it. Do you really need the television to be “on standby” for 24 hours a day? Turn lights off when you’re not in the room. Only have the heating on when you need it and don’t have it any higher than you really need it – go and put a jumper on! 🙂

    • Photo: Susan Cartwright

      Susan Cartwright answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      The best way to save energy is to ensure that everything is well insulated. Add more loft insulation – heat rises, so a lot of heat is lost through the roof. If it’s an old brick house, check if it has insulation in the cavity between the inner and outer brick skins (new houses all do, older ones might not). Check that the windows are double-glazed; if they aren’t, consider replacing them with energy-saving double-glazed ones (which are specially coated to reduce heat loss). Lag the hot water pipes. Heating hot water on demand, as is done in more modern hot-water systems, is better than filling a hot-water tank and letting it cool down again!

      I know these are things you can’t do yourself, but you can ask your parents.

      I’m not a big fan of the “turn off electrical equipment” thing. My TV hasn’t got an off switch – you can only turn it off by pulling the plug out – but on standby it uses less than 0.7 W (I checked in the book), so who cares?? You’d need about 50000 of my TVs on standby to be equivalent to boiling a kettle.

      Energy saving bulbs do help: a 100W tungsten filament can be replaced by a 12W fluorescent.

      Fridges use a lot of energy, so anything you can do to make your fridge more efficient is a good thing. The first thing is to set the temperature right – about 5 deg C. There is no need to overcool your fridge: if your milk regularly freezes solid, you’re overdoing it. KEEP THE DOOR SHUT! You lose a lot of cold air when you open it, so if you need something from the fridge, get it and shut the door again, don’t stand there with the door open. If the fridge is right next to the oven, move it!

      New fridges are much more efficient than older ones: if your fridge is an antique, and the cook in the house wants to buy a new one, support him or her!

      Don’t have the central heating on all day if everyone in the house is at work or school – why heat an empty house?

      Use the dishwasher: modern dishwashers are more energy efficient than hand-washing (they use less hot water). Run the washing machine at the lowest temperature that works – 30 or 40 deg C, not 60.

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