Earth Notes: Saving The Planet @Home

Site updated 2026-01-24 10:58 GMT.

Be a defossilisation hero, starting at home!

Want to do your bit at home to improve your quality of life, save money, cut down on waste and carbon pollution, and get the planet back how it used to be?

Did you know that the majority of your neighbours are undertaking energy saving actions every day? That is also one of the most powerful messages to encourage people to save.

This site is mainly about the practical steps that I have taken to make my own life (and that of my family) a little better and lower-carbon. Many of them are actions that you could take too...

On Earth Notes

202511 electricity monthly cons 2004 to 2025 PG

Featured: Saving Electricity and Gas (easyread frugal microgen)

Avoiding 6 tonnes of CO2 per year at home! #electricity #fossilGas #cutCarbon

Cut waste and use energy more wisely. Save money on your bills. Be more comfortable. Save the planet to boot! It may not always be fashionable to be frugal. But energy thrift is always good!

New

16WW High Resolution Temperature/RH Dataset (2025) (dataset microgen research short tech)

On Website Technicals (2026-01) (blog site tech)

Diarycast - Year In Review (2025)

⭐ Most Read

Screenshot 20220625 gen by year meter 3 column energy series

16WW Energy Series Dataset (dataset microgen research tech)

On Website Technicals (site tech)

Eddi Solar PV Diverter Top-up Dataset (dataset microgen research short tech)

Updated

2025 possible SSES aligned space heat flow and return temperatures

16WW Heat-pump Load Profile (frugal microgen research tech)

16WW Heat-pump Control (frugal microgen research tech)

On Thermo-Electric Generator (TEG) For Ground-Source Heat (2015) (microgen tech)

Random: On 16WW Data Collections and Graphs (dataset research tech)

Open for research home #dataset

At 16WW over 14 days from 2026-01-05 to 2026-01-19: electricity import 10.1kWh/d.

At 16WW over 371 days from 2025-01-13 to 2026-01-19: electricity import 3.6kWh/d (net -0.8kWh/d).

Net utility (electricity) CO2 emitted this year over first 0 months: 0kg

LIVE LIVE GB Grid Carbon Intensity (mobile), live grid-tie PV generation and off-grid PV electrical system stats, heat battery top-up control.

Main FEEDS site, podcast, data.

SECTIONS dataset, frugal, microgeneration, podcast, research, review.

OFFLINE Download to your computer before a long journey with poor connectivity. Unpack and read offline. (Also see Zenodo.)

Reader testimonial...

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this detailed writeup. Fascinating and informative as ever! PF, UK.
This a really good resource - thank you for making it.
...site looks just great..., SJ, US.
It's a tour de force with all the thought processes and step by step explanations! Enjoyed the MVHR which often seems a badly explained topic..., NSM, UK.
Keep up the great work, thanks, PK, UK.
Thanks for all you've shared! RT, UK.
I've really enjoyed reading your blog. MJF, UK.
Liked the podcast - well presented - thank you! TW, UK.
Just listened to the podcast - very well put! Excellent! SD, UK.
Thanks for your amazing information and grid intensity website. PH, UK.
I've been following your site for years now. GT, UK.
I've been looking through your website, I'm amazed at how much information there is on it! And great achievements with your Zero Low Carbon home. RS, UK.
Good on ya for your efforts and interesting website. RP, US.
What [a] great resource!!! TE, UK.
I've found the info and articles at earth.org.uk really useful - thanks. TK, UK.
Love what you are doing and the fantastic data sets you have made available. Well done! RF, US.
... You have inspired me to get Solar panels. PF, UK.
I recently stumbled across your quite fantastic website... AE, UK.
I've been reading your site for the last couple of years and think it is excellent. PF, UK.
Thanks for your wonderful website - I look at it a lot. A, UK.
... thanks again for your great site, I look forward to reading the rest of it and learning even more. JM, UK.
It's very refreshing to see something that outlines the benefits, drawback[s] and the options in such a non-judgemental way... JS, US.
... some very useful & interesting info... GR, UK.
... a great resource when it comes to cutting your power consumption. MS, UK, via Twitter.
This is a fantastic comprehensive site. I have found a whole load of interesting stuff from it. JC, Wales.

Yearly Electricity and Gas (ie heat and light) Carbon Footprint

Things That We've Done

We've crunched our carbon footprint. We've become a SuperHome. We've pondered other changes that we might make. But most of all there's been quite a lot of fun learning. Maybe it is my engineering mindset, but I have made a hobby out of conservation and meter watching. I have had fun out of 'tuning' life a little. The rest of my family humours me!

See a full list of articles under search at the top of the page, and here's some actions to start with that we took...

made my home study/office carbon-neutral including reducing energy consumption from my Internet-facing servers at home from over 600W to about 2W
switched our electricity supply to a "100% green" tariff with Ecotricity so that what we do consume is as green as possible
cut our electricity consumption and added grid-tied solar PV microgeneration to the point where we are net exporters to the grid
weatherproofed/weatherised our home amongst our other conservation measures such as using (OpenTRV) thermostatic radiator values and aerogel insulation and upgrading to energy-efficient appliances
built a little off-grid solar system that provides lighting and mobile phone charging and power for my Internet servers consolidated onto a single Raspberry Pi that postpones work until the sun shines
toyed with wind power (turbines) and found that wind does not really work for most of us urbanites
built a compost heap or three and we grow a tiny amount of veg in our postage-stamp garden...

Things That You Can Do

Effective changes that can be made at home are based on lowering energy/resource demand...

Saving electricity (and gas) in all sorts of ways, including,
Lighting: low-energy light bulbs (eg CFL / compact fluorescent and LED preferably at 60 lumens per Watt (60lm/W) efficiency or better). If rewiring, then look at 12V light circuits connecting to PV/battery systems.
High-efficiency white goods (eg fridges) and other electrical goods at home and at work. Look at energy consumption in use, eg per wash or while on, and in 'standby' mode if you won't be turning them off at the wall. Choose an energy supplier that provides 'green' energy and supports renewables.
For cooking: investigate CO₂ savings with induction cookers and microwave ovens.
Clothes washing: alternate ideas with drying (eg on a line), and low-temperature (cold/30°C/40°C) washing and do full loads. Also, simple changes in habits and textiles (wool is brilliant compared to cotton for whole-life costing as well as washing/drying/ironing). Re-use fashions!
Low water-use toilets, showers.
Insulation and thermal capacity (over-cladding buildings).
Close curtains at dusk to retain heat (and on hot sunny days to keep the sun/heat out).
Turn down your heating thermostat 1°C for up to 10% saving. 18°C to 21°C is about right during the day (and hypothermia is only really a risk when temperatures at home are as low as 5°C, but spending more than two hours at 12°C raises blood pressure), and nearer 14°C at night when sleeping. Only heat rooms that you are using. Use a timer (or something smarter) to avoid heating when no one is home! Wearing the right clothing helps keep you comfortable at lower temperatures.
Don't have your hot water thermostat set higher than 60°C/140°F, and 'instant' water heaters avoid losses from a tank for new systems.
Don't leave gadgets and appliances on standby/charging, turn them off (maybe with a smart power-strip or trailing adapter) or unplug them. You might trim as much as 30% off your electricity bill.
Check your mains electricity use at home with tools such as the Kill-a-Watt meter, or just read your supply meter daily or weekly. Gas too.
Minimise the electricity you use at times of peak grid load (eg 4pm to 9pm in the autumn/winter in the UK) since more carbon-intensive and expensive fuels may be burnt in 'peaking' plants, and the grid is under most strain too. Intensity at peak time circa 2009 was ~0.6kgCO2/kWh, as much as 50% over typical levels.
On the flip-side, make good use of energy when it's abundant such as saving up computing work until the sun is shining for low-carbon results.
Reduce, re-use, recycle (including electricals).
See some thoughtful tips at MoneySavingExpert.com.

News

2026-01-20: UK homes to get £15bn for solar and green tech to cut energy bills in Warm Homes Plan [govUK2026WHP].
2026-01-14: UK German heating transition gathers pace as heat pump sales overtake gas boilers
2026-01-14: UK Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round 7: results: record 8.4GW of offshore wind. Also: BBC UK secures record supply of offshore wind projects.
2026-01-13: Analysis: Coal power drops in China and India for first time in 52 years after clean-energy records: by ~57TWh each for 2025 ... as non-fossil energy sources grew quickly enough in both countries to cover electricity consumption growth.
2026-01-06: GB National Grid Delivers 2.4 GW of New Transmission Connections in 2025: On the demand side, approximately 0.5 GW of new demand connections... ...brings the total generation capacity connected in England and Wales over the past five years to 12.6 GW.
Archived news...

References

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