Energy and the home – how to stay warm and cosy without costing the earth

Energy is precious.  That’s because we are almost totally dependent on coal, oil and gas for our energy needs and supplies of these materials are limited.  We will run out of supplies of these fossil fuels altogether some day.  Hence we should conserve these precious resources, to make them last as long as we can, by avoiding waste wherever possible. At the same time we should begin to move away from these fuels towards renewable energy sources.

In order to reduce waste we need to understand where we use energy in our everyday lives.  Different types of fuels can be compared directly by first converting their energy potential to that of oil.  This is known as ‘Oil Equivalent’ and is measured in tonnes (Toe) or millions of tonnes (Mtoe). 

In 2008 Ireland’s total energy needs amounted to 16,356,000 tonnes of oil equivalent or over 16Mtoe.  We imported 89% of this energy, most of it as oil and gas.  About 3 million tonnes of this were lost in generating and distributing electricity  and oil refining so the final amount of energy used was 13,400,000 tonnes of oil equivalent.

The breakdown of how that energy was used in 2008 is as follows;

The table shows that over 65% of the energy is used to move people and goods around the country and to power and heat our homes.  Some 3,185,000 tonnes of oil equivalent is used by electrical appliances, lighting and heating in our homes.  This is an enormous amount of energy and much of it is wasted because of inadequate home insulation or because of poor practices in the use of electrical appliances. 

In many homes there is inadequate wall and ceiling insulation and much of the heat flows through the walls and roof and is wasted.  All homes offered for sale or rent must now hold a Building Energy Rating (BER). The rating runs from category A1 (best) through 15 different categories to category G (worst). 

Similarly many electrical appliances are old and have poor energy ratings or are left in stand-by mode for long periods.  All electrical appliances now carry an energy label similar to the BER mentioned above.  A television set or a VCR in stand-by mode continues to use a large percentage of the power it needs when it is switched on and a washing machine or dishwasher at the end of the wash cycle continues to use electricity until it is switched off.  Even when they are turned off many electrical appliances continue to use energy to power digital clocks or to charge internal batteries.   The only way to be sure that energy is not being wasted is to unplug the appliance or to switch it off at the electrical socket when not in use.

So here are a few simple things that you can do in the home to start the move towards more sustainable living and to save you money at the same time;

1. Have your home assessed for a Building Energy Rating and, if the rating is not good, carry out the recommendations of the assessor to improve it.
2. If you are planning to buy or rent a house ask for the BER and avoid those with poor ratings.
3. Purchase your electricity from a renewable supplier.
4. If your windows are single glazed replace them with double or triple glazing.
5. Turn your central heating thermostat down a little – you may need to wear some extra clothing in the home in winter time.
6. Replace all incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient ones – don’t wait until the old incandescent bulb is blown.
7. Turn off electrical appliances when not in use – ideally at the wall socket.
8. Switch off the lights if you are the last person to leave a room.
9. Dry clothes on a clothes line outdoors or clothes horse indoors instead of using a tumble dryer.
10. Turn on your electric immersion heater when you need hot water and turn it off when you do not.
11. Keep internal doors closed and adjust radiators to only heat the rooms that are in use.
12. When making tea or coffee only boil as much water as you need – no need to fill the kettle if you only need 1 or 2 cups.