10:10:10 How did you do?

I signed up to the 10:10:10 campaign committing myself to reduce my co2 but 10% by tenth october 2010.
I didn't have much of an idea how I would do it at that stage, but as it happens I think I probably have done it. I have done 5 things to to make a difference in my house.

1, My son's window in his room was very old and draughty it had been replaces as a single sheet of glass with louvres at the top. It was expensive to sort so we got a student over the summer and he slept downstairs raising the money! so now he has a double glazed UPVC (I know yuck!) Window and is warm, so warm he overheats!

2, A minor one but I got a replacement compost bin after mine disappeared a couple of years ago.

3, A free energy meter came through from southern Electric. now we are much more conscious of what is on.

4 Got a new washing line too many in the house to dry it all outside, we end up with piles of damp school uniform. But we had got too used to the tumble dryer

5. Probably this will make the biggest difference, I finally got my heatmiser programmable thermostat brought and installed Before I only had a little mechanical clock dial on the boiler, so if I felt cold one day and put the heating on, it would come on again the next day, and until I remembered to turn it off. I also had only radiator thermostats and no room stat, so it was always too cold or I would come back from being out all day to find it was boiling and had been like it all day - a big waste. This one can also maintain 4 different temperatures for different times of the day so you don't have to mess with it, I also got this as a wireless model so it can go upstairs at night and is measuring the room you are in. So I think I will probably make the money back just over this winter. Yay!

So there it is. Please let me know what you have done
Lisa

We're going to have a windfarm and it's going to be great!

I hadn't quite realised how brilliant the windfarm planned off our coast was going to be! I went along to a presentation today by the company who have won the contract to construct it and was really pleased. The company is called Eneco. Greenpeace say they are the greenest energy company, there is a good start!



There are 9 sites all over the UK, all offshore and the total cost of the whole project is about 100 Billion.


That money will be spent in all sorts of ways but there is a definite benefit for our local economy. there will be a need for engineers at all stages, (there are already people out there surveying etc), then there will be people needed in the construction phase and in the long term jobs in maintainance of the turbines (a life cycle of 50 years).


A very positive outcome of this activity will be that young people will have a very real and inspirational project to attract them into engineering, with good jobs as a reward in a developing and very much growing sector.


Other people working on the construction will be in the area for the next few years (construction is expected to be finished in 2018) This will mean that local hotels and holiday lets will benefit.


The experience of other areas had found that wind farms increase tourism - people like to go to see the turbines on boats and the turbines also help with sealife (living on the turbines under the sea level) and fishing.


Two local ports will need to be refurbished ready for all of this work and the company will be looking from Plymouth to Porstmouth for suitable sites, and local companies will be able to bid for their part of the action.


And that is all before we get to the main point...
The turbines will give enough clean energy for 60,000 homes!


To find out more and to put forward your ideas for a name of our windfarm (It is currently called zone 7 west of Isle of Wight)


http://www.enecowindoffshore.co.uk/

green jobs not green wash

The glass and glasing federation have launched an online petition to introduce a window scrappage scheme n the UK, a bit like the car scrappage scheme. But just like the car scrappage scheme, this is not a good idea. 


We need to invest in boosting green industries, but just like cars, UPVC windows are hardly green. The bit they conveniently forget about is the fact that the UPVC needs a substantial amount of energy to to be manufactured. Plastic, made from oil is not a sustainable product, nor are plastic windows,


They come with a 10 year guarantee, ut soon after that, these maintainance free home improvements start to need maintaining. Rubber seals perish, sealed units blow, and the UPVC becomes pitted. It is estimated that it takes anything from 20 - 100 years to make back the cost of new UPVC windows but you will be lucky if the salesman will stay away that long. "new" develompments in their technology mean they will be back to upgrade your windows as they start to look tired and bits break off.


Wooden windows on the other hand are a great investment - if you have them already they are worth keeping. The great thing about wooden windows if the very fact that they CAN be maintained, They can be refurbished at a much lower price, individual sashes can be replaced, and cords can be fixed. Adding insulation strips makes them less draughty. If you still find them too draughty, secondary glazing is much cheaper, more effective at keeping out the cold and the sound, (because the gap between the two pieces of glass is bigger) and lets you keep the better looking traditional window. If all else fails, you can get wooden windows made with a double glazed unit instead of a single one.


This call for a scrappage scheme is just a greenwash, lets instead give a boost to the wooden window manufacturers - joiners who make window frames that are biodegradable, and last a good 100 years.

Heatmiser

I have found another product, this is slightly more attractive with the blue backlight and does the same 4 temperatures at different times of the day, these have to be hard wired as they are not wireless, however I think this may be worth the extra hassle, and I can have it put in not too far from the boiler. Again this is £50 which I am sure is a bargain compared to what it might save me.  This one is completely touch screen and has a simple option to turn it right down if you go on holiday or out for a long period.

syxth sense thermostat/programmer

For some reason , when the central heating was installed about 6 years ago I didn't have a room thermostat /programmer installed so I have been looking around for one.  I found these great new style, extra programmable ones! These have several good features that can help to save money:

A large display of the room temperature, this makes it really easy to keep an eye , and to make sure it isn't too high.

Easy to programme. The easier these are to programme the more likely it is that you will adjust it as the seasons change

The ability to have different temperatures at different times of the day, see on the diagrram below, you can have a different temperature when you get up to when you come home, then a slow cool down into the night, At the moment I am relying on a very basic clock with pins to programme the boiler, and if you turn it on one day for an hour is is easy to forget so it comes on the next day again. I think one of these will probaby cover most of my 10% reduction in one shot, they cost around £50, not sure yet how much to install, they are available from http://www.syxthsense.com/ecommerce2/search.php?categoryID=5&subcategoryID=188

10:10

I have signed up to the 10:10 campaign , now I need to think of ways to reduce my carbon emissions, The first place I am looking is in my home, the good thing about this is that it will also save me money!