Leigh Parks growing solar farm

Quite impressive, I reckon that I managed to photograph about a third of the panels that I could see. These are a sample of the total. Based on my own (unscientific) observations, the area probably has more panels than any other area in Havant Borough.

Reducing That Electricity Bill - Victory!

Good news came by snail mail today in the form of the electricity bill. Having carried out all the changes outlined in my previous posts, i have found that my electricity consumption has reduced by some 20% when compared with the same time last year.

The improvement is despite the fact that the weather is colder than last year, so it is harder to keep warm, dry clothes etc.

Really, my quality of life hasn't changed a lot. I still use the computer a lot and watch TV just as much, but focusing on the energy intensive issues, such as laundry, cooking, heating water etc. I managed to make a significant change.

Considering that about 34% of our electricity is currently produced from coal, it shows that many power stations could be shut done with out many changes to our lives (a 20% reduction in coal use for electricity, equates roughly to a 35% reduction in electricity CO2 emissions).

Summary of energy saving tips I used:

1. Never use a tumble dryer
2. Invest in a stand alone spin dryer (for occasional use after the washing machine)
3. Turn down thermostat on heater a few degrees and wear thermal underwear
4. Always use lids on the saucepans
5. Dry clothes naturally outdoors or indoors (making sure of adequate ventilation indoors and use appropriate room)
6. When using kettle, tip excess boiling water in vacuum flask for use again in kettle later.

Reducing That Electricity Bill - More tips

Lids on saucepans
This may not seem like a big deal, but putting the lids on your saucepans reduces the amount of heat/energy required to, say boil potatoes, to about 1/4 or 1/3 of that needed to do the same without lids. Once the water is boiling you can turn the heat right down. Saucepans with glass lids also allow you to see what is going on without having to remove them.

Use a vacuum flask
If you put to much water in the kettle and end up with some boiling water left over, you can put the remainder into a vacuum flask. Then when you need more boiled water later in the day, you can pour it back into the kettle and possibly add some cold water from the tap. This may at first seem like a waste of time, but the warm water will require a lot less energy to boil than fresh cold water from the tap. Of course ideally it is best to only boil as much as needed, but this isn't always possible since many kettles have a minimum amount of water that should be used with them.

Reducing That Electricity Bill - The Laundry

With a lot of electricity generated using fossil fuels, there is a direct link between reducing the electricity bill and cutting Green House Gas emissions. Here I will describe some of the ways I have used to try and reduce my electricity bill.

1. Stop using a tumble dryer.
I have to admit that over the last decade or so, access to a tumble dryer has made me 'addicted' to this previously unrequired technology. We are all to easily enticed into believing we need these conveniences, just so we can sit and vegetate on the couch watching TV.

But there are other ways of drying clothes without using a massive 3 kilowatts of energy for half an hour or an hour. My solution is to stick a clothes horse in the kitchen in the evening after I have done some cooking. The heat from the cooker cooling off warms the kitchen and dries the clothes. Note it is very important to have some ventilation so that condensation does not cause problems. A lack of ventilation means the moisture in the warm air from the drying clothes will lead to condensation on cold surfaces, this may then cause mould to grow, which is very unhealthy. However the advantage of drying clothes like this is that you are using waste heat instead of using new generated heat in a tumble dryer.

2. Use a washing line.
A simple, effective and traditional way of drying clothes. Note that I also have a small line that is outside AND undercover. The washing line undercover means that I can dry stuff even if the weather is unpredictable. This is a massive advantage and increases the drying options, negating the need for a tumble dryer. I have to say this is also a new thing and i haven't yet tried the undercover line in cold winter conditions!

3. Use a separate spin dryer?
This is a new idea for me and i have yet to try it out in the winter. The idea is to supplement the spin dry of the washing machine with an extra spin dry of a dedicated spin drying machine. The reason for this is that dedicated spin dryers attain a much higher speed than a washing machine, thus extracting more water. This should in turn reduce the drying time, using much less energy than would be used by a tumble dryer (You would need to check the spin drying speed of the washing machine and the speeds of dedicated spin dryers, the idea certainly holds true for our washing machine!).
Anyway that is my theory, I will see during the coming winter if it works.

Combining these ideas, my intention is to kick the tumble drying habit and to make a dent in the now growing electricity bill. Despite recent price increases i hope to at least have electricity bills in the future that are similar to previous years, with some luck i should even be able to reduce it!