1.    Switch Off!   Lights can guzzle a surprising amount of energy so don’t leave a room empty without switching all lights off, even if you have installed low energy lamps.   When reading alone, use only a low energy table or standard lamp which directs the light onto the page from the side or behind you.   When working at a computer or watching TV only use low energy low level background lighting.

2.    Kill the phantoms!   If we would all remember to switch off, at the wall socket, all the many devices we tend to leave on ‘standby’ we could close down at least one, and probably two polluting UK coal-fired power stations.   Any device which displays an indicator when ‘switched’ on is consuming ‘standby’ energy, but so also is any device which uses a transformer, such as an older mobile ‘phone charger or a lighting system with low voltage bulbs.   Most phantom-like of all is the way electronic equipment continues to consume electricity even when in ‘switched-off’ mode.   For example, a typical home computer will continue consume between 4W and 15W when apparently switched off so the only way to avoid this waste is to switch off at the wall socket.

3.   Close internal doors!   Only heat the rooms you are using and keep doors closed to stop energy leaking out.   It is particularly wasteful to leave upstairs bedroom doors open all day during the heating season.   If you need to take the chill off a bedroom before going to bed switch the bedroom radiator on half an hour before or, if there is no radiator, open the door only an hour before to allow warm air to convect upwards from the heated ground floor room(s).

4.    Only boil enough water in the kettle to match exactly the task in hand.   If any hot water is left over, save it in a thermos flask and use it up next time you need hot water.

5.    If your home has a hot water cylinder with an immersion heater and circumstances arise which require its use, switch the immersion heater on half an hour before needed and switch it off after the task has been completed.   NEVER leave an immersion heater on all day.   If the domestic routine requiring its use is regularly repeated at similar times it can make economic sense to run the immersion heater via a timer if there is no cheaper and less polluting alternative fuel to electricity available to heat the water.   Remember, no matter how well insulated your cylinder is, hot water will eventually cool down to room temperature so it makes sense to only heat up water just before using it, and only enough to match the heat demands of the task.   For many households it makes economic and ecological sense to heat water only as, and in the amounts required using a ‘combi’ boiler (i.e. an instantaneous water heater) or even a jug kettle for jobs such as washing up.   Hot water cylinders can more than double the energy use for hot water through standing losses from the cylinder and further standing losses in the pipes connecting it output points.

6.      Always keep the lid on pans when using them to prepare food.   To keep 1.5 litres of water boiling in an open pan requires 720 W compared with 190 W with the lid on!  In half an hour 0.36 units (kWh) and 0.095 kWh will be consumed respectively.

7.    If you have a shower which derives its hot water from a boiler driven system it will usually use between a fifth and a quarter less energy, water and carbon dioxide pollution than a bath unless the bath water is shared by two or more persons!   This will also be true if the shower is powered by mains electricity, but less so.   Power showers tend to use more energy and water than a bath – often much more!

8.    Do not leave computers and peripheral equipment switched on when not in use.   A typical desk top computer with a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor operates at between 110 and 170W with the display visible, reducing to between 10W and 60W with the computer in ‘sleep’ mode.   Flat screen LCD monitors consume much less energy than CRT ones, sometimes as low as 15W.   Lap top computers will consume between 15W to 35W whilst in use, falling to 4W-15W in standby mode.

9.   Purchase low energy domestic appliances such as A+ or A++ rated fridges and freezers and LCD TVs rather than CRT or plasma ones.   The development and promotion of plasma TVs has negated all the energy and carbon dioxide savings delivered by efficiency improvements in CRT TVs over the last 20 years and it seems they will negate all future efficiency savings arising from the increased sale of LCD TVs.   The smallest plasma TV (37”) consumes 350W in the on-mode, compared with 75W for the average CRT TV and 66W for a 19” LCD TV .

10.   If you have central heating, experiment with setting the thermostat at different positions below 20 0 Celsius, depending on the mildness of the weather.   Any home with even basic insulation will be comfortable during many autumn and spring days with the thermostat set at 17-18 0 and a well insulated home will feel fine at a 16 0 C setting.   It is worth remembering that each one degree set back of the thermostat will result in a saving of between 6% and 10% of energy consumption and associated carbon dioxide pollution.   Even in the coldest weather it should never be necessary to set the thermostat above 20 0 C, especially if you remember to wear your sweater!   Further savings can be made by setting the timer to match your life style – do not leave the heating on during periods when the home is empty for more than an hour.

David Finney