Eco-Tips For Homeowners That Don’t Cost The World

Michael Holmes, National Home Improvement Show spokesperson says: “New research conducted by the Energy Saving Trust reveals that making UK homes energy efficient would cost less than £3000 per house.

“There are a number of ways in which a house can be bought up to average green standards for under £3000 including insulation (whether attic or cavity wall) and installing a new boiler, specifically, a condensing boiler.”

Michael gives five ways budget friendly to make your home greener on a budget:

1. Insulation
Effective roof insulation could make savings of up to 15-20 per cent on your heating bill each year and so pay-back can be achieved in as little as two to three years. Additional savings can also be made quite easily by using left over insulation materials to wrap around piping and water tanks to prevent further heat loss.

2. Boilers
Installing a new boiler will also make significant savings; The Energy Savings Trust estimates this to be up to £200 per year for the equivalent of 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Prices start from around £400 for a condensing boiler (not including installation) and home-owners can choose from gas, electric or oil fired.

3. Secondary glazing
The installation of a secondary glazing system can be fitted easily to the window frame. A whole house can be done for as little as £700 with savings of around 40 per cent to your energy bill each year. These are easily installed and perfect for older or listed properties where you can’t change the windows.

4. Water consumption
30 per cent of our water consumption comes from the toilet. Either flush less or install a displacement device which will reduce the amount of water used per flush, saving as much as 40 per cent of water annually.

Fix any dripping tap – it will save as much as 5000 litres of water a year! If you are looking for an excuse not do the dishes then use your dishwasher – it uses less water and saves approximately £15 per year.

5. Keeping it simple
Install under-door insulation by stuffing an old woolen stocking with unwanted clothes. The old fashioned ‘snake’ can cut down on a huge amount of wasted heat.

Don’t forget that the energy saving light bulbs cost as little as £3 and can save you up to £40 per year.

The National Home Improvement Show will be held at London’s Earls Court from the 1-3 October 2010.  For more information about exhibitors, seminar schedules and tickets visit www.improveyourhomeshow.co.uk or call the ticket hotline on 0844 581 0802. Tickets are £8 if booked before 3pm on Friday 30 September and £12 on door.

Eco-Friendly Ideas For Your Kitchen

If you are in search of new ideas on tips on how to redesign your kitchen
, an excellent suggestion is to align your effort with eco-pleasant ideas. You may not notice it, but there are certainly quite a lot of nice ideas that may leave you amazed. To your info, listed here are some concepts on how you can adorn and plan your kitchen in green.

Painting plays a fundamental function in any redesigning efforts you can think of. In bid to align with the go green effort, you can select a paint which has extremely low or absolutely no Volatile Organic Compound (VOC). Moreover of being more environmental friendly by doing so, it will be undoubtedly good for your family members as well in the long run.

The second thing that you must have a look at during your kitchen redesigning is your cabinets
within the kitchen. It is strongly recommended to go for wooden cupboards as an alternative of pressed board. This is because the latter is made with adhesives that aren’t environmental pleasant and can also be negative to your health. In the case of wood cabinets, you’ll be able to choose from wheat board, straw board and even actual wood. If you’re running tight on finances, another alternative is to repaint your cupboards using eco-friendly paint as talked about before. This may give them a new look as well.

Another manner to try this especially if you are engaged on the lighting facet of the kitchen is to put in some windows at acceptable places, to get as much sunlight as possible into the kitchen. By doing this, you can indeed save lots on electricity during day time and stop unnecessary power wastage. Apart from that, it is going to additionally transform your kitchen into a sunny place.

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Time to start using the greener Eco bulb

There are a few reasons to choose an Eco bulb, for one, they are a better way to save energy over the standard bulb with a filament. They also emit the same amount of light and burn longer. Whether you want to participate in a greener earth or just want a bulb that is designed to meet the new energy standards, check out the Eco bulbs of this generation and see how they compare to what you’re used to.

Eco bulbs began showing up on shelves a few years ago because energy standards increased but didn’t sacrifice wattage. It doesn’t matter what kind of bulb you are looking to replace, tube lighting, track lighting or speciality illumination. Eco bulbs are made to fit your current settings without compromising quality.

On the front end they are a bit more expensive, most people don’t want to invest in a light bulb, they just want it to work and brighten their area. Because CFL (Compact Florescent Light bulb) have been rated by the Energy Star they have a requirement to last a certain number of hours, 6,000 to be exact. Some last longer but the minimum must be met to receive the Energy Star rating. If you don’t see it on the box when shopping for bulbs just pass that brand on by.

Because the Energy Star rating is the gold standard for bulbs sold today many people look for this symbol when shopping for energy related products. There is generally a yearly savings listed if you buy a certain bulb with the Energy Star rating so you can understand the upfront cost versus the energy savings. You can find the logo on many appliances such as refrigerators, dish washers and laundry machines.

If you look at the bulbs on the market today they might seem alien in their design. They don’t look like a light bulb; they look more like a curly pig’s tail. Some bulbs also resemble really big Christmas bulbs, either way, the design is supposed to give you more light for longer because the CFL is distributed from all areas of the bulb, not just from the filament on top as standard bulbs were designed to do.

Many Eco friendly companies are choosing bulbs that save them energy since costs are rising. Kilowatts are how energy is recorded, the less you use, the more money you save. It’s not as though you are being forced to buy energy efficient light bulbs but if you want to save money your choices are becoming a bit more limited.

Even if you don’t agree with the political statements about energy independence you cannot argue with a product that gives you more light and saves you money at the same time. The reduced mercury content is an attractive aspect for those who have younger children. Many of the bulbs are sold in 5 packs to help you replace more than one at a time.