Barn Masters - Beautiful Barns for sale

Some Eco Tips
The term "eco" is a much used term, and a term I do not like to use, but it
is the word of the moment so I will go with it until I can think of
something better. All the tips that I have listed will in the long term save
energy and therefore save you money, and into the bargain it will help to
save the environment. Some of the things you can do your self, some might
have to be carried out by tradesmen, some should be considered when you are
refurbishing parts of the property.

Most older properties will have met the relevant building regulations when
they were built, but most would come no where near the new building
regulations. There are various small jobs that we can do to make our homes
more energy efficient, there are also larger more costly things that we can
consider which can greatly improve our energy efficiency. Energy used in the
home is responsible for 27% of UK carbon dioxide emissions, so
therefore what we do as homeowners does have a direct impact on our
environment.

The simple things
• Change all your light bulbs to either compact fluorescents or LED lamps,
you can buy all shapes and sizes of compact fluorescent, and you can even
purchase dimmable fluorescents now.
• Change your electric supplier to a Ogreen company, but it is best to
investigate who truly is the best environmentally.
• Buy the most efficient appliance in the shop, check how much water they
use, and how much electricity they use.
• Fill you dishwasher and washing machine, there is no point in buying an
energy efficient appliance and running it half empty.
• Throw your tumble dryer in the recycling bin, they are huge energy eaters.
• Buy a washing line and airer.
• Paint your house using natural paints that dont contain nasty chemicals
and solvents, there are several out there but they take a little finding.
• Wash using at the lowest temperature you can for cleaning clothes, and use
green environmentally friendly detergents.
• Recycle. It is so easy, most things can be recycled even old carpets, and
compost old food or get chickens.
• Turn the lights off when you leave a room.
• Dont leave appliances on standby, if the sockets are awkward to get to
there are lots of things on the market that make it a simple task.

Not so simple
• Get all your pipes lagged to stop any heat loss.
• Fit draught strips to all windows and interior doors.
• Where and when possible fit more insulation, sometimes this is not always
possible but if you can get any extra insulation in a loft or wall then do
so.
• Cut down on water use by fitting rain water harvesting, this can take the
form of a simple water butt on a garden shed to a 10,000 litre tank buried
in your garden.
• Change to low water use toilets and low flow taps, they will also cut down
on water use.

Get the professionals in
• Improve your heating controls; this could be as simple as fitting a 7 day
digital thermostat.
• Change your boiler, the options are limitless, you can have a condensing
boiler with 99% efficiency, a carbon neutral wood pellet boiler or even an
oil seed rape boiler. Again do your homework and ask loads of questions
before making a final decision.
• If you have not got double glazing then get it fitted, it will cut down on
heat loss.
• Fit solar hot water, it will soon start saving you money.
• Fit a microgeneration system, this could be a combined heat and power
boiler, photovoltaic solar panels or a wind turbine at the bottom of the
garden.

Don’t forget to ask questions, its the only way you get answers.

Simon Marjoram.