DIY Energy Audit

Easily Find Out How Much Energy You Are Using

Energy costs continue to rise, placing ever-greater pressure on households. And the energy you use to heat your home is a large part of your carbon footprint.
By knowing what to look for you can conduct your own home energy audit. Here's how to get started.

1. Get to Know Your Energy Bills

Bills are never fun, but don't forget that they contain valuable information along with the pain. Compare your heating costs by month for as many years past as you can, and look for trends in usage or obvious changes. Do you see any spikes? Can you remember why? Your utility can make older bills available to you by calling customer service.

Note both the kilowatt hours you are typically using as well as the amount your utility is charging per KWH for electricity and gas. Get to know what it is that you are paying for every month.

Choose a Green energy provider like Ecotricity or good-energy.co.uk

that provide you with electricity from 100% renewable sources, such as wind and hydro power.

2. Locate Air Leaks

Simple leaks can sap home energy efficiency by 5 to 30% a year, according to the goverment. So take a close look at places where two different building materials meet, such as corners, around chimneys, where pipes or wires exit and along the foundation. Make sure good seals form around doors and windows, and that no mortar is cracked. Any gaps or holes should be plugged and/or caulked.

Use the incense test: carefully (avoiding drapes and other flammables) move a lit stick along walls; where the smoke wavers, you have air sneaking in and heating sneaking out.

Make sure the floor of your attic, including the hatch, is insulated, and that the material isn't crumbling or compacted, which means it has lost its effectiveness. Similarly, check your cellar ceiling, as well as cellar walls. Hot water pipes and furnace ducts should be insulated. So should exterior walls (determine this by carefully removing the cover from a power plug, or drill a small hole in the back of a closet).

If you find any problems, call in a professional, or go DIY and buy some fresh insulation yourself. Learn more about insulation here.

3. Examine Heating Equipment

Not surprisingly, heating usually accounts for the biggest home energy loads. Inspect heating and cooling equipment annually, or as recommended by the manufacturer.

4. Lighting

Energy for lighting accounts for about 10% of your electric bill. Examine the wattage size of the light bulbs in your house. You may have 100-watt (or larger) bulbs where 60 or 75 watts would do. You should also consider compact fluorescent lamps for areas where lights are on for hours at a time. Your electric utility may offer rebates or other incentives for purchasing energy-efficient lamps.

5. Turn it down

Heating: make sure your equipment is efficient, and, if it doesn't harm your health, turn it down a couple of notches. Gas is better than coal and electricity, which you should avoid. If installing a new gas central heating boiler, fit a condensing model - much more efficient.

For more help:

To get audits in the UK go to www.est.org.uk/check
The EST (Energy Saving Trust) can also be contacted on 0800 512 012 and have a responsibility to give free and impartial advice on renewables as well as other energy saving measures to householders.
If you are looking for help and are a business please contact the Carbon Trust http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/ 0800 085 2005.
These organisations are funded by the taxpayer and are good ports of call for anyone wanting to save energy or reduce their carbon emissions.

10 small steps, 10 great strides to being green!

Everyone's fussing about global warming and environmental degradation, but what can the average resident do to help the South West - and the planet?
Today, i would like to launch the 10 small steps, 10 big strides campaign! From unplugging phone chargers when not in use to buying environmentally friendly compact fluorescent light bulbs, we can make the South West greener!
The 10 steps are simple but actionable measures that collectively can make a very, very big difference - they are things that everyone can do!
Here's the list:

Change conventional light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones

Buy appliances with the environmentally friendly ENERGY STAR label

Don't air-condition an empty room

Unplug chargers and appliances when not in use

Switch to green power through your energy provider

Walk or take public transportation or join a car share scheme

Recycle your glass, metal, paper and plastic

Bring your own cloth bag to the supermarket

Use green cleaning products

Switch to paperless bank statements and online bill paying.

Wildlife Sites in the South West

You don't need to go far to see some great wildlife and nature in the South West. There is some near you. There are very well known sites across the UK, National Parks, National nature reserves, RSPB reserves and WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) reserves, but there are many other great wildlife spots all over the place. Every county in the South West has a wildlife trust that will run a series of local reserves and county councils have their own nature reserves and there are plenty of other places where there is ample wildlife.
Click here for all the best sites in the South West, though we have no doubt that there are plenty we don't know about (please let us know by emailing us about anywhere that you can recommend).

Saving the Bumblebees!

Bumblebees are beautiful little creatures They are also important pollinators of wildflowers and crops. 3 species are now extinct and 9 more are threatened - they need our help...

It isn't difficult to make your yard, garden or even patio space a haven for beneficial bees. You'll be helping these important insects, as well as bringing more nature to your backdoor. I have bought a Bumblebee Nester.This nester is ideal to attract bees to your garden. Bumblebees also love plants of course!

The greater the plant diversity, the more bees you will attract and support. Always try to choose as many native plants as possible, and consult with nursery staff or other experts to find vegetation that will thrive in your specific conditions.

Here is a partial list of bee attractors:

Annuals

Asters
Calliopsis
Clover
Marigolds
Poppies
Sunflowers
Zinnias

Perennials

Buttercups
Clematis
Cosmos
Crocuses
Dahlias
Echinacea

English

Ivy
Foxglove
Geraniums
Germander Globe
Thistle
Hollyhocks
Hyacinth
Rock
Cress
Roses
Sedum
Snowdrops
Squills
Tansy
Yellow Hyssop

Garden Plants

Blackberries
Cucumbers
Raspberries
Squash
Strawberries
Watermelons
Wild Garlic

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust need your help! In order to conserve our bumblebees, it's crucial that we understand them. Here's where you can help.....

Beewatch 2008

They urgently need your help to map the distributions of our bumblebees (even the common species). Please record what species you see in your garden, or when out for a walk. Try to identify them yourself, but if you're uncertain then take a digital photograph and email it to the trust - they will identify it and let you know what species you have. Please include a post-code (or grid-ref) and date in your email to beewatch@bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk

Nest Box Trial

These days most good wildlife gardens contain several bird nesting boxes. The birds use them, and we love watching them building their nests and raising chicks. Not surprisingly, bumblebees need homes too! They probably struggle to find natural nesting sites, so the trust are keen to encourage people to start providing artificial sites in their gardens.....

Hypnorum Survey

The Trust are keen to record the spread of our new arrival, the Tree Bumblebee (B. hypnorum). This species arrived about 6 years ago from France, and is gradually spreading north. It's a very distinctive looking bee - take a photo if you can and let them know where you see it!

Can trees help cure Asthma?

No, they can't but a new study by the British Medical Journal has shown that trees can really have a positive effect on children's health!

Children who live on tree-lined streets have lower rates of asthma, suggesting that those leafy green areas may be as important to public health as they are to quality of life.

Researchers with the British Medical Journal published their findings in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health after conducting a study on rates of asthma among four and five year olds in New York.

With asthma rates climbing – up 50% nationwide between 1980 and 2000, with the greatest increase in urban areas – a solution as simple as tree planting would be a welcome. The benefit of trees was felt regardless of proximity to pollution sources, family income or population density.

Unfortunately, the study found no benefit to older children.

Trees shade buildings and sidewalks, helping to lower temperatures and keep energy costs down, and they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to limit the growth of greenhouse gases that fuel to global warming.