Energy advice - from Dunbar

Went to Dunbar yesterday to meet someone who works there and on my way back I popped into 'Be Green', the Dunbar Carbon Neutral advice shop, conveniently located just off the High Street. Be Green is a not-for-profit community trust supported by Community Windpower Limited - an independent company with a windfarm in the area. It works in partnership with Sustaining Dunbar, the wider initiative promoting a stronger more sustainable local economy for the Dunbar and East Linton areas, aiming at a smaller carbon footprint and less dependency on oil, following the Transition Town model. The advice shop had plenty useful leaflets and tips and, most importantly, an extremely helpful person. Amongst other things she was able to throw light on my difficulties in getting hold of the Energy Saving Trust - the person I have been trying to get hold of also deals with East Lothian and Fife! Sheila gave me lots of useful background information about grants and loans and even a short list of possible suppliers in case I wanted to get some idea of cost and feasibility while waiting patiently to pin down the EST people.

Much impressed by what I learnt about Sustaining Dunbar who are setting up allotments, planning a community bakery, improving cycling and walking, as well as the energy advice and much longer term plans.

Where are all those watts going?

Late last Sunday when I was alone in the house I went round with the OWL energy monitor to try and track down what was using those 160-190 watts when, in the middle of the night, you think 'nothing is on' in the house. Well in this house, this is what is still using power in the middle of the night -

Alarm system; fridge; fridge/freezer; two house phones on charge; broadband modem (but see below re BT's helpful little app for this); Dustbuster on charge; clock on the cooker; photocopier 'standby' light; heating programmer display; electric oil-filled radiator; dehumidifier on standby; hi-fi on standby downstairs; and then the big batch of tv/audio stuff in our sitting room - TV, DVD, VHS machine, Digibox, TV/FM signal booster, Hi-Fi, pre-amp.

Some of this stuff such as the alarm system and the fridges you can't really turn off; OWL finds it hard to sense switch-offs of equipment less than about 11 watts, and most of these things (like cooker clocks and even dustbusters on charge) are probably using hardly anything, BUT - and you have probably guessed it - OWL burst into action when that whole bank of TV/Hi-Fi stuff was turned off.

Because they were all connected to the mains with an unhealthy assortment of trailing sockets and adaptors, I thought that it would be good to buy a new trailing socket that could be switched off at one go, onto which I could put all the hungry beasts. I bought OWL's own 4-socket Power Saver Strip directly from OWL for special price of £19.19 and re-wired all that kit and stuff that was using about 35-40 watts 24 hours a day is now using nothing. Slightly wondered had I just become the consumer of an unnecessary additional item when I found in my cupboard a 4-socket strip with a switch on it - and why could I just not switch the things off myself at the end of the day, but on reflection I think this thing will make it easier for me (and others in the house) to realise that all this stuff should be properly off unless you are watching/listening.

BT modem Power Save option - if you have a BT broadband Home Hub, there is a Power Save function you can access on-line through your account which allows you to choose a period in the day (or night) when some clever gremlin will switch your modem off.

Hot water hot enough

Strictly following the advice in 'The little book of energy' produced by the Home Heat Helpline (0800 33 66 99) which I had picked up at Sarah Boyack's Energy Event (see blog post of 23 March) I turned down the thermostat on my hot water cylinder that tells my gas boiler whether it needs heat or not down from 62 degrees C to 60 degrees. Still seems hot enough.

18-21C - just right for most people?

Local MSP Sarah Boyack put on an Energy Advice event last week in a community centre in Dalry, in partnership with the 'green support service company' Eaga. The event was aimed at encouraging people to think about how much energy they were consuming, and letting them know about assistance they could get if their bills were too high and if they wanted to reduce their consumption. So there were stalls for the Home Heat Helpline, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Age Concern, the Energy Saving Trust plus a number of others including Eaga themselves. Picked up this handy little room temperature monitor which the EST give away. Compare it to the one that we found somewhere in this house, which like the first layer of insulation in the roof, must date from the late 1970's. It was issued by the Scottish Energy Efficiency Office. The messages haven't changed much, just the way they are delivered.

Sum total of costs so far

Here is a breakdown of what I have spent so far on this work.

New lightbulbs - £59
Bubble wrap for cupola - £44
Loft insulation - £49
Thermometer - £15
Double-glazing window film - £8
Door seal - £14
Energy Monitor - £33

TOTAL £222

More action on the cold windows

Used a spare roll of insulation to fill up the gap between the kitchen window and the back of the cupboards in front of it to ‘kill’ that block of cold air before it comes further into the room. It does feel warmer in there now, but think this window might be the first one to lok at in terms of draught-proofing and double or secondary glazing.

Still chasing the Energy Saving Advice people

Rang the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre again – does their not ringing me back mean that they have already looked down on my roof via satellite and found I’m not worth even visiting. I wish they would tell me.