Earth Notes: Saving The Planet @Home
Site updated 2025-05-11 09:33 GMT.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.
On Earth Notes
Featured: On the IKEA SMAKLIG Built-in Induction Hob: Review (easyread frugal review)
Is an induction hob better than cooking with gas? How about health and carbon? #induction #cutCarbon #airQuality
We bought the SMAKLIG in April 2013 for our kitchen insulation and redecoration refit. We are happy with our choice. We're no longer burning fossil fuel to cook. We may be protecting our lungs too, as an unintended bonus.
Why Do Start-ups? (2025) (meet podcast)
Diarycast - Year In Review (2024)
On Website Technicals (2025-05) (blog site tech)
OpenTRV Archive Material and Sources (research tech)
Kingston's Efficient Homes Show (2025) (frugal meet short)
RSS Podcast Feed Inefficiency (dataset frugal research tech)
16WW Heat-pump Control (frugal microgen research tech)
On Website Technicals (2025-05) (blog site tech)
Kingston's Efficient Homes Show (2025) (frugal meet short)
Random: Heat Battery Experience So Far - EcoHome Lab (2022-06-09) (meet short)
Some brief notes on my Thermino/Eddi experience for a Manchester Carbon Co-op virtual meeting. #cutCarbon #heat #storage
Net utility (electricity) CO2 emitted this year over first 4 months: 103kg
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.)
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
- : Spain hits first weekday of 100% renewable power on national grid:
... on , with wind, solar, and hydro meeting all peninsular electricity demand during a weekday. Five days later, solar set a new record, generating 20,120 MW of instantaneous power — covering 78.6% of demand and 61.5% of the grid mix.
But on : 'Everything went off': How Spain and Portugal's massive power cut unfolded. - : 'Spiral of silence': climate action is very popular, so why don't people realise it?:
Researchers find 89% of people around the world want more to be done, but mistakenly assume their peers do not
. - : Global solar module shipments hit 703 GW in 2024 with crystalline silicon ~98% of the market, and average prices 33% down on the end of 2023.
- : North of Scotland electricity network to have £450m upgrade ...
by the end of the decade
...The whole system at distribution level, which is what goes into homes and businesses, will be refurbished and refreshed.
- : Largest ever UK pumped hydro scheme granted consent:
1.8 GW / 40 GWh pumped hydro project [at Loch Earba] in the Scottish Highlands.
- : according to GB NESO,
On 1 April between 12:30 – 1pm, solar generated 12.569GW, the highest amount since records began.
And:On 6 April at 12pm, solar generation reached a record high of 12.68GW, just five days after the previous high of 12.57GW.
- Archived news...
References
- [baldwin2016past] Past-focused environmental comparisons promote proenvironmental outcomes for conservatives
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