It is not only the muesli eating men with beards and corduroy suits who want to save the planet. We should all do our bit to make the world we live in a bit greener. In the same way that charity begins at home the fight against global warming should start there as well.
You may think that there is little you can do with your humble home to take on the environmental problems that we face. As you will see there are a number of ways to create an eco-friendly home. A greener home could also end up saving you money.
Insulate your home
We all learnt at school that heat rises. The thermal energy created in your home goes up and up until it leaves the building without so much as a goodbye through the roof. Your poor old column radiators then have to continue to pump out the heat so that you stay warm.
If something else in your home that you paid a lot of money for escaped in such a simple manner you would want to stop it getting out. Say your telly decided to walk out the door meaning you had to replace it every time it left you would not be too pleased.
That is why it makes so much sense to insulate your loft and stop that expensive energy leaving your home. By keeping your home warmer your central heating system does not need to work so hard and you will save money.
Unfortunately the government no longer pay for insulation but if you investigate you may find that your energy company will offer you a deal on loft and cavity wall insulation.
Look to the Sun
The idea of solar panels in the UK seems laughable. After the wettest summer on record the notion that there would be enough sun to make them viable seems crazy. Yet people who have fitted solar PV panels have received a return on their investment of over 9%.
That is a better rate of return than customers receive from most banks or standard investment opportunities. If your home has photovoltaic panels it will become a generator of electricity. You will be paid 16p per kilowatt hour of electricity you feed back in to the system.
Solar panels also allow you to take control of your energy bills. Even if they don’t generate enough energy to feed in to the system they will reduce your reliance on fossil fuel energy which should bring down those bills.
Think Energy Efficient
Make sure you don’t lazily leave the TV on standby, get LED light bulbs and if you have to replace your washing machine or fridge you should look out for those that are marked energy efficient. It will help the planet and your pocket.
The key is to use as little energy as possible so if you have an old boiler you should replace it for one that is more energy efficient. In the long run it will pay for itself and you should see the difference when the dreaded energy bill flies through your letter box.
If we all make the effort to be greener we can save the planet.
