Earth Notes: Saving The Planet @Home

Site updated 2026-03-17 15:08 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

Featured: On Solar DHW, Sunamp, PV Divert (frugal microgen tech)

Solar hot water #solar #PV #DHW

If I were applying for government funding I'd call this a cross-vector hybrid time-shifting storage-based DHW carbon-reduction scheme. Which means that I shift some load from the gas grid to the electricity system to make domestic hot water, while cutting CO2 emissions. Installed 2022-03-09.

New

On Website Technicals (2026-03) (blog site tech)

Octopus Innovation Centre Visit (2026) (microgen research tech)

On the UK SSES 1st Phase ESA Regs (2026) (research)

⭐ Most Read

Screenshot 20220625 gen by year meter 3 column energy series

16WW Energy Series Dataset (dataset microgen research tech)

General Bibliography (dataset research short tech)

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

Updated

On Solar DHW, Sunamp, PV Divert (frugal microgen tech)

Octopus Heat-pump Journey (frugal microgen research tech)

RSS Podcast Feed Inefficiency (dataset frugal research tech)

Random: On Smart Heating For Small Buildings in the UK (2012) (meet research)

What would be 'smart' heating circa 2012 for our homes, schools, community centres and shops?

At 16WW over 14 days from 2026-03-02 to 2026-03-16: electricity import 2.2kWh/d (net 1.4kWh/d).

At 16WW over 371 days from 2025-03-10 to 2026-03-16: electricity import 3.1kWh/d (net -1.2kWh/d).

Net utility (electricity) CO2 emitted this year over first 2 months: 80kg

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 wannabe engineering mindset, but I have made a hobby out of conservation and data watching. I have had fun out of 'tuning' life a little. The rest of my family largely lets me get on with it.

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

2026-03-15: UK: Government to go "further and faster" in becoming energy secure: plug-in solar to become legal, next renewables auction brought forward, renewables permitting to be sped up [govUK2026faster].
2026-03-10: Wales first part of UK to mandate solar panels on new buildings: Updated building regulations will effectively mandate solar for domestic and commercial buildings in Wales from early 2027. The new rules come ahead of England’s Future Homes Standard, which is also expected to effectively mandate rooftop solar for new builds.
2026-03-06: Battery storage awarded 576 MW in UK top-up capacity market auction: Battery energy storage system (BESS) and demand-side response assets both secure roughly 8% of capacity agreements, according to provisional results, but nuclear leads the pack in first UK capacity market auction of 2026.
2026-02-26: United Downs: first UK geothermal power plant of 3MW electrical, 24GWh/y heat, plus lithium extraction.
2026-02-10: Britain secures record amount of solar in renewable power auction (AR7): 6.2 GW of renewable projects secured, 4.9 GW solar. Full AR7 enough electricity to offset 3/4 of UK LNG imports: New UK onshore wind and solar is '50% cheaper' than new gas.
Archived news...

References

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