With news that the UK shale gas projects may not actually lower energy prices, it is time to start working out just what we can do to make our homes more efficient this summer in preparation for the winter of 2013.
Despite the fact that US gas prices are currently at the lowest in the world after their investment in shale gas, UK projects are currently struggling to find both funding and resources.
But what can homeowners do to make their home more comfortable while keeping their bills low?
Invest in technology
Though the idea of investing in technology may seem a little silly, the truth is that bringing new technologies into your home can help you save money in the long run.
LED lights, available from LED lighting retailers for example, though more expensive than incandescent light bulbs, offer homeowners far more life (lasting up to 10,000 hours) at a much lower price throughout. Check out LED lighting calculators to see exactly what you can save.
Other than LED lights of course, you can even save money on energy efficient televisions. A big screen television for example can really rack up an electricity bill, which can cost you anything from £4 right up to £83 per year.
If you’re planning on buying a television this summer, check out sust-it.net for a comparison of the best energy efficient televisions on the market.
See what you can recycle
Though over the past thirty years, recycling has been at the heart of everything green, there are a few new techniques to recycling that you might not be aware of.
Websites such as freecycle offer people great opportunities for giving away and receiving goods totally free of charge instead of throwing unwanted items away. Simply go on the website and find a group near you to see just what is out there.
Even outside the house and in the garden, you are able to walk into a whole field of opportunity.
These days, with a modified lawnmower, you are able to turn your grass cuttings into mulch; therein returning all the nutrients back into the soil and the remaining grass.
Grey water is also a uniquely brilliant and almost free (bearing in mind the purchase of a water drum), way of preserving water for the use of your garden. In fact, in countries such as Germany, it is actually a widely used technique to use grey water to clean things such as cars.
Check out the Green Deal
One of the greatest government schemes to have been enacted over the past year, the Green Deal is a great way of helping people afford energy efficient technologies for their homes.
Whether they need insulation for the loft, or even solar panels, people can now lend through the green deal, an amount of money to cover the costs of buying and installing these technologies.
The great thing about it is the fact that the money is paid back through the electricity bills, and if the technology won’t lower those bills, the house will not qualify for the deal; so the loan will always benefit the person investing.
To add to this, the loan stays with the home and not the person, meaning that if you were to move away, the debt stays with the house as the next people to move in shall also benefit from the improvements that you have made.
