Earth Notes: Saving The Planet @Home
Site updated 2026-08-17 12:17 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: 16WW Eddi PV DHW Diverter Export Margin Analysis (2022-08) (microgen research)
Chosing a more grid-friendly value for the Export Margin based on 3 years' export data. #simulation #gridFriendly #diversion
As more microgeneration is added to the grid, whether behind the meter or elsewhere, optimising the nuanced interactions between generation, storage and the wider grid becomes increasingly important. For example, sometimes the Eddi solar PV diverter at 16WW diverts energy to the Sunamp Thermino heat battery even at times of peak grid demand (eg early evening), because that is when the Thermino has autonomously decided that it is no longer full and can accept more energy. It would be better to be more grid-friendly and spill more generation to grid especially at these times, without losing too much 'free' hot water (DHW). It would probably be best to dynamically vary the Eddi "Export Margin" based on time of day or grid state, but this is not possible as of . Therefore, simple modelling was performed to pick a new fixed value for the Export Margin, and the results were somewhat unexpected! Raising the margin from the current 100W to around 400W has proved possible without significant loss of diversion-heated DHW, providing much higher support to the grid when excess generation beyond in-home electrical needs is available. This slightly less 'greedy' approach may be widely applicable in similar systems, while being easy and free to implement.
On Website Technicals (2026-08) (blog site tech)
Pint, Poster, Paper: Slice-and-Dice Heating Decarb (2026) (frugal research short tech)
On GB/UK Solar PV FiTs and Plug-in Solar (2026) (frugal microgen tech)
On Website Technicals (site tech)
On Setting Up a Raspberry Pi Off-grid PV-Powered Server (2014) (frugal tech)
Octopus Heat-pump Journey (frugal microgen research tech)
16WW Energy Systems Diagrams (microgen tech)
Pint, Poster, Paper: Slice-and-Dice Heating Decarb (2026) (frugal research short tech)
A Workshop on Energy Data Best Practice (2019) (blog meet research tech)
Random: On the Futurebuild Exhibition (2019) (blog meet review)
Read about exhibiting at Futurebuild 2019: showcasing Vestemi and its climate-saving Radbot!
Net electricity utility energy kgCO2e over the last 12 full calendar months: -64
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 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...
- Install some combination of heat pump, solar PV and batteries.
- Saving electricity (and gas) in all sorts of ways, as below...
- Lighting: low-energy light bulbs (eg LED preferably at 100 lumens per Watt (100lm/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.
- 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
- : Europe's power grids braced for eclipse with extensive backup plans
... expected to decrease solar power generation by up to 9.7 gigawatts across Europe, of which around 5GW will affect Spain and Portugal ...
and Octopus Energy urges millions of households to use less electricity during solar eclipse. - : Solar powers record share of Britain's electricity mix in July: 14.4%; almost the highest 16WW generation month too.
- : GB: NESO by email:
July ... embedded solar ... supplied 14.4% of our electricity ... Wind energy led the month at 22.9%, while gas came second at 22.3%.
- : Analysis: Wind and solar power overtake fossil fuels in Germany for first time ever (as for the whole EU).
- : A quarter of EU power came from solar for the first time in June.
- : GB: Sizewell B nuclear power plant granted a 20-year life extension and
will continue generating electricity until 2055...
- Archived news...