Turbines Tree

What is Dual Fuel Energy Tariff?

What is dual fuel? Briefly put, it refers to a utility company that provides both electricity and gas for home heating, cooling, bathing and cooking. If you want to find the best dual fuel tariff then look for a company that provides smart meters with their service as these devices will allow you to monitor your energy usage online, half hourly for electricity and daily for gas.

Read more »

Massive expansion in Display Energy Certificates

We could soon see the next step in a process which could lead to a massive expansion in the use of Display Energy Certificates.

September should hopefully see the second reading of an amendment which could add a clause to the Energy Bill currently going through Parliament, requiring commercial premises to have Display Energy Certificates for the first time, and the legislation could take effect by 2013 or earlier.

Read more »

The Weirdest Eco Friendly Green Ideas

It started one day when I had a phone call from my wife. She was at a garden centre and enthusiastically told me that there was a water butt there, on sale, for £10. After a few minutes of discussion we decided to acquire this bastion of water storage.

Read more »

Energy Efficiency in Hard to Treat Homes

So what do a flat, a building without a loft, and a property constructed with solid walls have in common? Well, they are all regarded as ‘Hard to Treat Homes’ or HTTH for energy efficiency measures. This can mean extra costs or labour intensive measures to help permanently reduce the amount of energy a property users.

Read more »

Study shows solar PV adds value to home

A recent study in the USA has shown that solar PV panels increase the sale value of a home. Research suggests that homeowners who have installed solar panels on their home will recoup the cost of the investment upon the sale of their home.

Read more »

Beware of the online EPC cowboys

Energy Performance Certificates, reporting on the energy efficiency of your home, have been a legal fact of life for home sellers and landlords since August 2007, and you would hope that the market would have settled down by now.

Read more »

Sweetening the Green Deal Scheme

The Green Deal is the coalition Government’s flagship environmental project. It is aimed at making up to 14 million homes more efficient by 2020, through insulation, draught proofing, double glazing and other measures designed to reduce energy usage. The improvements are paid for by home owners through special loans which attach to the property rather than the individual but the attraction is the “golden rule”, whereby for a measure to be considered under a Green Deal plan the anticipated savings on the fuel bill must be greater than the cost of the repayments.

Read more »

Premium Payment Scheme Grants for Renewable Heating

Greg Barker, minister for climate change, has revealed a new scheme, the “Premium Payment Scheme”, to provide grants to home owners to install renewable heat technologies. The grants will be available in respect of four technologies, biomass boilers, ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps and solar thermal hot water panels. The scheme has a fund of £15m and is intended to support as many as 25,000 installations.

Read more »

A Window to Energy Efficient Glazing

You might be thinking of spending money on home improvements. Perhaps Double Glazing is on your list of priorities. Perhaps you are looking to improve your energy efficiency that bit more. What can energy efficient glazing do for you? This article will aim to give you an overview on the type of energy efficient glazing available in the market today.

Read more »

Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) – the Basics

You may have heard about Heat Pumps as the up and coming form of renewable heating technology. In theory the systems should be able to provide the whole heating for a building at little or no cost to the owner, with the added bonus of not using fuels to create the heat energy. Does it sound too good to be true? Or is it the future of heating?

Read more »

Using Foam Board Insulation

When it comes to thinking of types of insulation probably the first thing that comes to mind is the typical mineral wool style insulation that you normally find in the loft. This insulation type is now the most common standard when it comes to fitting insulation into the home, in fact so common that it is not only installed professionally under the various grant schemes that are available but is also available in most DIY shops in large rolls.

Read more »

Considering Carbon Offsetting ?

These days we all know we need to try and reduce the size of our carbon footprint. The best way to do this is to look at each of our activities which produce emissions (driving, heating cooking etc) and either avoid or reduce them.

Read more »

Grants and Funding Options for Commercial and Residential Geothermal Heat Pumps

All offices and homes need to have a heating and cooling system in place. Whether it is for a residential or a commercial setup, buying and installing heat pumps can be an expensive affair. The size of the system that is needed, the kind of technology it operates on as well as the complexity of the entire system are some of the various factors their price depends on. A general rule of thumb is that each kWth will cost around £1000. In the long run such systems can save a household as well as a commercial organization up to £840.

Read more »

Consent of a Lender for Solar PV Rent a Roof Schemes

Since the introduction of the feed in tariff scheme in April 2010 a number of installers have begun to offer free solar panels to home owners who cannot afford, or do not wish to pay for, solar panels. The companies install the panels in exchange for the home owner entering into a lease of the airspace immediately above their roof which allows the installer to claim the feed in tariff payments for the term of the lease (which will usually be for the term of the tariff payments, i.e. 25 years.

Read more »

Download Our Free E-book

Ebook - 50 Energy Efficiency Measures

Categories

Archives