We’re becoming increasingly aware of the need to protect the environment, and of the options available to help us be more “green” at home, including energy saving, making our homes more energy efficient and using renewable energy technologies.
Our growing environmental awareness has fuelled demand for energy efficient products and renewable energy technology, driving down their cost significantly.
The government have also played a critical part in making these technologies affordable with a host of substantial grants and subsidies for homeowners which continue to improve in their scope.
This along with ever evolving technical advances in the field means that more UK homes than ever before can benefit from green home improvement measures, saving significant quantities of money and carbon, without costing an arm and a leg!
The 5 Step Guide to Eco DIY and Green Living
To make you home (and life) more eco friendly or ‘green’ there are four main areas that you need to tackle. We have projects that explain all about them above:
- Renewable Energy: All forms of green energy generation are renewable energy projects. Broadly they are either solutions that generate electricity like solar PV panels or solutions that generate heat, such as biomass boilers or heat pumps. We cover most of these in detail, from a DIY perspective where it is possible and appropriate. It is important to understand these different energy generation technologies, as some will be appropriate for your home while others will not be, or not be cost effective
- Insulation: Since the largest use of domestic energy in the UK is for heating, it is very important to ensure that the as little of the heat created is wasted. Insulation stops this. Insulation is found in all types of walls, floors, rooves and lofts. It is also important not to forget the draught proofing projects which are the first step and cheapest of all eco friendly projects. All the types of Insulation project are covered in more detail in the Draughtproofing and Insulation section
- Energy Efficiency Measures: These are measures that are designed to be more efficient than your existing solution, whatever that might be! This is a bit of a “catch all” grouping of ideas and concepts. Energy efficiency measure include:
- solutions up grading your boiler to a newer more efficient version
- installing smart home technology to control thermostats and heating controls
- changing light bulbs to low energy versions
- fitting energy efficient windows
- water saving measures
- improving the efficiency of your heating systems
- Green Energy Information and Schemes: There are lots of schemes and government backed policies that are designed to encourage the use of “green” technology in our homes. They have been, in the most part, very successful in encouraging the uptake of technologies which would otherwise have been too expensive to be cost effective for domestic use. If there are grants and schemes providing incentives, it is worth knowing about them; find out more here
- Green and Eco-Friendly Projects: Often it is possible to choose products that are kinder to the environment (and you) which are generally called “green” or ”Eco-Friendly”. Find out more about the types of “green” products that are available, and how effective they are. Most of us immediately think that because they are “green” that means “less effective”, but that is not always the case; find out more here
For more information about renewable technologies and how to reduce your ecological impact (and bills) have a look at Be Energy Smart. It is a great website where you will find guidance on different areas of this subject including information on the new Green Deal initiative and other schemes that you might be able to take advantage of.
