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RED Electrical - Solar PV - Energy saving tips

Energy saving tips

There are three basic principles to reducing your energy bills:

Minimising your demand
Meeting your demand efficiently
Generating your own energy

Minimising your demand

Loft insulation

The most obvious way to minimise your energy demand is to ensure that all your energy consumption is to your benefit and not lost. Look at your property's insulation - having cavity wall and loft insulation installed or upgraded can significantly reduce your heating needs.

Make the building as airtight as possible so losses from ventilation are minimised. A mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery will keep the air fresh without losing too much heat.

You can make subtle changes to your lifestyle, such as allowing food removed from the refrigerator to come to room temperature before cooking, avoiding leaving lights on unnecessarily, and unplugging mobile phone and laptop chargers when they're not in use.

Electricity monitor

Make the most of sunny days and line-dry your laundry.

Many electricity companies are now offering free electricity monitors - get one! They enable you to monitor your real-time usage and display results in monetary terms. If your electricity provider doesn't offer them then buy one (from around £25).

Meeting your demand efficiently

Appliance label

When choosing appliances, look for energy efficiency - all appliances are clearly labelled.

Replace your light bulbs with good quality energy saving bulbs - excellent compact fluorescent lamps are available that do not flicker and produce very good quality light. LED technology is also very good and many halogen lamps can be directly replaced with LED types, typically only 5 watts each.

When choosing a heating system look at underfloor heating or oversized radiators - these both require a lower system temperature.

Generating your own energy

After the above measures have been implemented and you are making the most of the energy you buy, it's time to consider generating your own energy.

The main ways you can do this are solar panels and wind turbines. RED Electrical can design and install a solar photovoltaic array to suit your property and your budget. We can even size the system to offset your energy bills entirely!

Whilst we do not install wind turbines, we can put you in touch with a reputable installer - contact us for more details.