IceAdvice

Figures published by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) state that in 2007 the energy used to heat, light, and power homes was responsible for 26% (142m tonnes) of total UK CO₂ emissions.

By increasing the energy efficiency of your home and thinking about the way you use energy, you can substantially reduce your household carbon emissions.

By insulating the walls and loft of your home, you can considerably reduce the amount of wasted heat. Less heat will escape in winter (and less will invade in the summer). Insulating your home and blocking drafts can considerably reduce your domestic carbon emissions and your bills. The type of insulation suitable for your home depends upon a number of factors including the age and build style of your home.

Heating controls allow you to choose when your heating is on, how warm your house should be and where you want the heat. By installing heating controls you can reduce wasted heat and ensure that you are not heating your house when you don’t need to. You may also want to consider how warm you need your home. Could you turn down your thermostat and wear a jumper in the winter? You could reduce both your heating bill and your CO₂ emissions.

Most homes generate heat from an oil or gas boiler and import their electricity from the national grid. If your boiler is more than 10 years old, it’s probably quite inefficient. Upgrading your boiler to a new, more efficient model could considerably reduce your home heating emissions, not to mention your bills.

To decrease your energy bills and emissions further, you could consider installing a micro-generation system in your home. There are a number to choose from including ground-source heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar thermal or photovoltaic systems and wind turbines.

The best system for you will depend upon a number of factors including your home type and location. In some regions of the UK, grants are available towards the cost of home-generation systems. In 2009 the Government’s low-carbon transition plan outlined the benefits of so-called micro-generation and introduced a new Feed-In Tariff to pay home owners a premium rate for all the renewable electricity they generate and feed back to the grid.

To learn more about renewable generation technology and the grant options available to you, visit the home energy section of Shop with Ice.

A number of utilities companies offer domestic customers the option to take a green energy tariff. These are designed to enable customers to buy electricity sourced from renewable or clean-energy generators. The exact details of green tariffs vary considerably between different utility companies and as a result of this OFGEM the government’s energy regulator is currently developing a framework to ensure that tariffs that are marketed as green do offer real environmental benefits.

By choosing to take a green electricity tariff you can show your support for emissions reductions and also reduce your own carbon emissions.

Electricity and gas meters are changing. By 2020, every UK home will have a new smart meter, which will monitor electricity and gas consumption in real-time. It will show you when you are using the most electricity and gas, and how much energy and money you can save by turning off appliances. These monitors will also reduce the frequency of meter checks, saving petrol and reducing transport emissions.

The exact details of how these meters will be rolled out and who will be responsible for their installation is yet to be confirmed. In the meantime, to learn more about smart meters please visit the Energy Saving Trust.