Energy saving tips

Heating and insulation

Investigate insulation

Cavity walls

saving: 40% heat loss and 1,000kg CO2 per year. Sources 1, 2

Loft insulation (of more than 250mm thick)

saving: 25% heat loss and 460kg CO2 per year. Sources 1, 2

Cold appliance insulation (by inserting vacuum-insulated panels)

saving: 75% of the heat loss of your hot water tank. Source

Reduce the heating by just 1°C

saving: 10% of your heating bill and 300kg CO2 per year. Sources 1, 2

Switch to a condensing boiler

saving: 15% energy use and 300kg CO2 per year. Sources 1, 2

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Electrical appliances

Replace regular light bulbs with energy saving equivalents

saving: 66% energy use and lasts up to twelve times as long.
If you replace three light bulbs in your house you could save 40kg CO2 per year. Sources 1, 2

Follow the green flower

Buy 'Energy Saving' appliances and look for the European Ecolabel. This signifies that it has been judged as among the best in its class.
saving: 200kg CO2 per year. Source

Reduce to a 30°C wash

saving: 40% energy and and up to 36kg CO2 per year.
Considering that our washing habits make up almost 25% of all domestic energy emissions, this is an easy way to reduce your footprint.
Sources 1, 2

When using the kettle only boil the water you need

saving: 20kg CO2 per year. Source

Switch off when not in use. NB: Standby is NOT off

e.g. Mobile phone chargers

saving: £60 million electricity and 250,000 tonnes of CO2 per year (UK-wide). Source

e.g. Turning off televisions at night

saving: enough energy to power a 150,000 person town. Source

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Travel

Slow down from 70mph to 50mph

saving: 25 per cent CO 2 emissions. Source

Reduce car journeys under 5 miles by a third

saving: 1.5 million tonnes CO2 which accounts for 0.3% of our total UK carbon emissions. Source

Use more public transport

On average traveling by bus is almost twice as efficient than traveling by car. Traveling by rail is about five times as efficient. See Carbon Footprint - Transport for more details.

Avoid flying

Flying contributes about four times more emissions than traveling by train (see Carbon Footprint - Transport ). When you are traveling thousands of miles this makes a dramatic difference.

Buy "green"

Next time you buy a car, aim for one that emits less than 120 grammes of CO2 per litre. Avoid sports cars, 4x4s, SUVs and people carriers.
The bonus for you - the greener the car, the cheaper the tax. Source

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And finally...

If everyone took energy efficiency seriously, the average householder could reduce their CO2 emissions by 2 tonnes every year and their energy bills by £300. Source

However, we must remember that energy efficiency alone cannot reduce emissions by the amounts needed. We must also aim for an absolute reduction in emissions.

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