DIY Energy. Saving Money, and Saving the Environment

The amount of money you can save using DIY, or non DIY renewable energy devices, is directly proportional to the amount of electricity you consume. It’s no good leaving all the lights on, and all the other gadgets on standby, as well as running the washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, and whatever else you can plug in. So sensible power usage is the key to successful DIY renewable energy usage, (see energy saving tips and video’s). I stress DIY, because if you go the ready made professional installation route, it’s going to take a lot of years to get any return on your investment, typically 15 years plus. Though the way energy prices are sky rocketing, that time will be cut down considerably. Now, I know we all want to go green to save the environment, and I’m serious here, but there are limits to what most of us can afford, and if we can save the environment more hassle, and save money as well, then that’s a bonus. Also, certainly concerning wind turbines, there is no reason why a DIY unit cannot look the business. Even DIY solar cells, with a lot of care, can look the part.

The way to get the best of both worlds is to have a DIY wind turbine, and DIY solar cells linked together. Solar cells work all the time in daylight, so they can take up the slack, when the wind takes a break.
I truly can foresee a future when everyone will live in renewable energy self sufficient houses, and not a distant future either. The way renewable energy is so much to the forefront nowadays, it should be on everybody’s mind. The more efficient, household renewable energy units get, the more people will want to go there, and in the end, it will be out of government control to save the environment, certainly as far as power generation goes. As usual, your average Joe will be the hero.

Energy Saving and Conservation Vids.

Here’s a selection of energy saving and conservation videos. It’s all basic stuff, but there might be some things that some of us never think of. For instance, I didn’t know that drinking tap water instead of bottled water saves energy. So, enjoy. My faves are the Animal Planet and Hippy Shopper.







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Energy Saving Tips

Here is a really ineresting article from Freesource.co.UK: About how we can save energy in our homes. Bearing in mind, that even if we have renewble energy devices in our homes, DIY or otherwise, it’s still sound practice, to practice energy conservation.

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Energy Efficiency

This section is provided to give people easy quick ways to help the environment and sometimes to save money. Very often this is a critical part of preparation for investing in renewable energy, we need to understand and reduce our energy consumption before we can size our system to fit.

We know not everyone who considers renewables is ready to invest straight away, so here are a few things people can do while they think about it.

1a. Contact the Energy Saving Trust
They are lovely people who can help you on all of the energy efficiency things you need to know. They can also help you gain access to grants and discounts to help pay for part or all of it. freephone 0800 512012

2a. Get Cavity Wall Insulation
One of the most effective and best value measures you can take
Costs only £200-£300 and payback is 3 to 5 years. If you have a cavity, you will need it filled before you can apply for a renewable energy grant scheme.
If your house was built after the 1920s you should have a cavity.
The Energy saving Trust can help you access grants
You lose 35-50% heat through your walls (due to the size of surface area).

3a. Improve Your Loft Insulation
This only costs a couple of hundred quid and pays back in a few years as well.
You lose up to 25% of your heat through your roof if uninsulated
You need 10″ before you can apply for renewable energy grant schemes so top up if you haven’t.

4a. Get energy efficient light bulbs
Contrary to popular belief, they do work as good as normal bulbs nowadays. A 20 watt energy efficient bulb (same light as a 100w normal bulb) lasts 8 times longer, uses five times less electricity and pays for itself within a year. If you want a renewable energy grant you need to use these in your property.

5a. Switch off your Red Standby lights
Your PC costs you £50 per year if it is left on overnight
Your other devices cost you £35+ if you leave them on overnight
If people turned these things off at home and in the office this country could switch off several power stations. A lot of devices have a digital clock, but is worth the expense?

6a. Turn your thermostat down by 1 degree
This can cut your heating bill by up to 10%. Homes should be set at between 18 and 21 degrees, if you have to set it higher then check your insulation measures as you may be losing money.

7a. Contact Sust-It for advice on energy usage for different appliances in the home.
Sust-It is a great resource if you are considering any new electrical purchases. They provide up-to-date information on the energy usage of consumer products available today, so that you can compare the running costs of your new purchase. It does this by taking the manufacturers published energy consumption rates then multiplying this by and average electricity unit tariff.
Visit Website http://www.sust-it.net/

Carbon Conscious Ideas
1b. Buy Local food
Buying locally grown food helps the environment and local business.
If you buy wine from Australia or vegetables from Mexico remember they have to travel here using fossil fuel.
Look at the labels for their country of origin and buy British or European if you can.

2b. Buy or plant a tree
There are sites online where you can buy trees as gifts, if not, pop down the garden centre and invest in one for the garden. They are the best value presents as they last hundreds of years. The International Tree Foundation offer a tree purchase scheme where you can plant 5 trees of your own for around £35.

3b. Try Carbon Offsetting
There are websites available in our links page where this can be done. It is a very good idea when you take a long train or plane journey to consider contacting these people. They can arrange for trees to be planted to offset the carbon produced.
Other Conservation Ideas

1c. Try to Buy Wooden Products Where Possible.
Wood is a sustainable resource, whereas plastic, especially UPVC, is very bad for the world.
Did you know UPVC creates 9 of the worst 15 chemicals known to man in the manufacturing process?

2c. Use Environmentally Friendly Paint and Preservers
This is for your health as much as it is for the environment.
Some studies have shown normal paint slowly poisons people in their homes and almost certainly exacerbates allergies. There are environmental alternatives for most things.

3c. Avoid Plastics and UPVC
Plastics are created from fossil fuels and materials, often the processes cause enormous lasting damage to the environment.
Manufacture of UPVC is alleged to produce 9 of the top 15 worst chemicals known to man.

http://www.freesource.co.uk/pages/more_ideas.html