Good lighting in the home is important for appearance, comfort, security and safety. We now have a bewildering choice of lights for the home and it is important to use the correct ones for each purpose. Our advice is as follows:

Ordinary light bulb – these should only be used in light fittings which are seldomly used, for instance a light in a loft or cupboard.

Energy saving lamp – these use 80% less energy than ordinary light bulbs and should last at least 6 times longer and can often pay for themselves in the first year. Wherever possible use these in place of ordinary light bulbs.

Halogen lights – these use around 20% less energy than ordinary light bulbs, however because they are often used in large numbers they can result in higher electricity bills. Therefore try to avoid using halogen lighting in areas where appearance is less important such as utility rooms. Also look out for low energy halogen replacement lamps which are now available.

LED lighting is a fast developing area which is expected to provide very efficient lighting and long lamp lifetimes in the future. LED lamps are now available which are equal to or slightly less efficient than energy saving lamps. However the current models available are only suitable for uses such as desk lamps and under cupboard lighting.

If you like to leave a light on when you go away then make sure it is a low energy lamp. Also use a timer plug to switch the lamp on and off in the evening. Alternatively there are low energy lamps available with a built in light sensor, these will ensure the lamp is only on when it is dark. A 15W compact flourescent lamp operating for 3 hours per evening for a fortnight will consume 0.6 kWh or 6 pence worth of electricity.

Our advice is to replace it now with an energy efficient one and start saving money today. A 20W low energy lamp replacing a conventional 100W bulb can pay for itself in three months and over its lifetime can save up to £100.

Conventional light bulbs last for around 1,000 hours whereas low energy lamps have a lifetime of up to 15,000 hours. Generally they last 10 times longer. The life of the lamp will depend on the quality of the components used to make it and how it is used. The packaging for the bulb will often indicate the lifetime in years, for example six years is equivalent to a 6000 hour bulb being used for 1000 hours per year. Look out for the “Energy Efficiency Recommended” logo. This shows the model of bulb has been independently tested to confirm its lifetime.

There is a commonly held belief that it is better to leave a striplight on rather than switching it on and off. There is a grain of truth in this for two reasons, firstly switching a striplight on and off reduces its life and secondly because when a striplight is switched on there is a brief moment when it uses more power. These were issues for the first generation of striplights which had shorter lifetimes and a higher starting power. However our advice is to always switch off a striplight if you are leaving a room for more than a few minutes.

A tungsten-halogen lamp is a refinement of incandescent technology - very compact in size, but with better light quality. It has similar light output to a regular incandescent bulb although it uses up to 40 percent less power. Although tungsten-halogen lamps are more expensive to buy, they last two to five times longer than conventional incandescents.

The risk with halogen lamps is that we tend to use many more lamps in place of a single traditional light bulb, and this will obviously increase our overall energy consumption.

Clearly, from an energy efficiency perspective, low energy light bulbs would beat halogen bulbs by far, as they consume between a quarter and a half the energy of halogen. Plus its life is around double that of halogen.

It does – about five times more energy, to give you an idea. But as energy savers last between six to 15 times longer than energy inefficient incandescent bulbs, the amount of energy it takes to produce the energy saver is equivalent therefore to producing between six and 15 incandescents.

Added to that, more than 90 per cent of the energy consumed during the lifecycle of a bulb is in the ‘use’ phase, and as energy savers can be up to 80 per cent more efficient than your average inefficient incandescent bulb – the savings are obvious.

To summarise, therefore, the higher energy requirement to make the energy saver bulb represents only a very small part of the total energy saved over its lifetime.

We’ve done a few calculations and have worked out that replacing a 60W light bulb with a 15W energy efficient light bulb could save as much as 450 kWhs of energy in the lifetime of the bulb.

A small number of cases have been reported by people who have suffered reactions to certain types of bulbs, but largely those in question were used in offices, and restaurants in certain European countries and a few limited domestic situations, such as kitchens and garages. They were almost certainly as a result of old technology. These days the technology is different. Modern energy saving bulbs operate on high frequency drivers which give a constant, flicker-free light.

All these bulbs have to be disposed as special waste under modern regulations. The crossed out wheelie bin logo will confirm that you have to dispose of the bulb separately in the appropriate unit at your local waste depot. If there is no facility for them, you should contact your local authority to ask for guidance.

Energy saving bulbs are safe to use in the home, however remember they are made of glass tubing and can break if dropped or if roughly handled when inserting or removing from its fixing. Never forcefully twist the bulb into its light socket. If you break one, ventilate the room for 20-30 minutes and use gloves to remove all the bits. Dispose of all the items used to clean up the spill as normal household waste, and take the light bulb bits to your local bulb recycling site.

It is a long term aim of both the European Commission and our government to gradually phase out energy guzzling light bulbs. However as with all changes of this kind, it can only happen gradually. An illustrative and purely voluntary timetable has already been set out for major retailers and energy companies, starting with the most inefficient light bulbs first.

Many major retailers have already chosen to phase out 150W incandescent light bulbs. By January of next year, 100W light bulbs will have been phased out, and by 2010, 60W light bulbs will follow. The EU is due to issue more formal legislation next year, spelling out what the long term timetable is and how it will affect households.

The most important factor is the size of a TV. Big TVs consume more energy than smaller ones. The screen area of a large LCD or Plasma TV can be four times the area of an old set, so they will use four times more energy. A cathode-ray tube TV costs about £25 per year to run and accounts for 100kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, whereas a large screen TV costs about £100 per year and accounts for 400kg of CO2. Our suggestion would be to make a habit of turning the television off when you are out of the room for more then a few minutes. Every little counts – and also remember to switch it off at the plug when you are not using it, to save on standby power.

TVs are the first thing we think about when we talk about standby power and because of this efforts have been made to improve them. Modern TVs now have a standby power of less than 1 Watt and if left on for a year they would consume 8kWh costing around 80p. Old TVs and other devices such as DVD players, microwave ovens and VCRs can each use 10 times as much in standby. If you have a home with lots of electronic gadgets you could easily be spending £100 a year on standby power. Any standby power is like a dripping tap, so if you can - switch it off.

TVs are the first thing we think about when we talk about standby power and because of this efforts have been made to improve them. Modern TVs now have a standby power of less than 1 Watt and if left on for a year they would consume 8kWh costing around 80p. Old TVs and other devices such as DVD players, microwave ovens and VCRs can each use 10 times as much in standby. If you have a home with lots of electronic gadgets you could easily be spending £100 a year on standby power. Any standby power is like a dripping tap, so if you can - switch it off.

We don’t always remember to turn off every device attached to our computer or TV when they’re not in use, so modems, speakers, scanners and DVD players can all be left running even when we think we’ve switched them off. Collectively, a stack such as TV, DVD, digital TV set-top box, video recorder and hi-fi will cost about £40 a year if left on standby.*

You can now buy standby reduction devices which will automatically turn these off when you switch off your TV or computer. All you have to do is plug the TV or computer into the socket allocated on the standby reduction device, and when it’s switched to standby – it automatically turns off all the other devices.

If you look at the following website link (click here) you will find a standby reduction device, or you can telephone the better plan team on 0845 076 0523 to ask for details about energy saving plugs.

*Source: Which? report : Use less electricity | 05 October 2006

Leaving an appliance in standby mode does often reduce the start up time, however it doesn’t reduce energy. Our advice is to turn off standby power where possible. Many appliances use a microprocessor which is effectively a computer, when it is switched on the computer takes time to switch on. By leaving an appliance in standby the microprocessor is left running ready to start at anytime, however the time saving is only a matter of seconds. Studies have shown that some appliances that are seldomly used, such as microwave ovens, use more energy in standby than they do cooking food.

We often speak to people who tell us they always leave their broadband modems switched on even when they shut down their computer. This is because they are afraid it might go wrong if it is switched off. Our experience is that some modems can consume £20 to £30 of electricity if left on continuously and it is best to switch them off when the computer is off. When switching back on power up the modem before the PC.

A new specification has been introduced called the Energy Star label. Only the market’s most energy efficient computing products will qualify for it. Products which qualify for Energy Star must now meet energy use guidelines in three distinct operating modes, standby, sleep mode and while being used.

Overall, an Energy Star PC is likely to save up to 50 per cent energy compared with a standard product, and an Energy Star laptop will save 25 per cent, compared with a conventional laptop.

Have a look at www.energystar.gov for more information.

As a general rule buy a laptop if you can, whenever you upgrade, as they use much less energy than desktop computers.

Yes it is true that most plug-in chargers continue to use power even when they are not connected to the mobile phone. A study in Australia found the average power was 1.2 W and each home had on average seven chargers. If they were all left on for a year this would add £7 to your electricity bill.

Modern washing machines and detergents are just as effective at lower temperatures, so select a 30 degrees centigrade cycle for lightly soiled washes, or 40 degrees for more heavily soiled washes. By selecting a 40°C cycle as opposed to a 60°C programme you will use a third less electricity! Washing at 30°C will save you even more!

Also remember to use the economy programme on your washing machine if you are unable to avoid doing a small wash.

Try not to use a tumble dryer unless absolutely necessary. If the weather is fine, dry your washing outside.

But if you use a tumble dryer make sure you spin your clothes first and ensure the filters in your tumble dryer are fluff free. Afterwards, plan your ironing so you don’t have to keep changing the temperature setting on your iron. Iron clothes that need a cooler setting first, and finish with those that need the hottest setting.

When you need to replace your washing machine or tumble dryer, buy an A rated machine, and look for one which accommodates large loads – so you can do less washing overall. On average each washing machine performs 274 cycles a year, so you could save a third of the energy required by investing in an energy saving washing machine.

Defrosting your fridge freezer is definitely worth doing. Fridge freezers are often the unnoticed guzzler of electricity in the home. They operate all day, all of the year and if they are covered in ice your electricity bills could increase by up to £50 per year. What’s more, an iced up freezer could be less effective at keeping your food sufficiently cold, which means it won’t be safe to keep frozen food for a long time.

Pond features are a good example of electrical devices that can really bump up your electricity consumption. This is because they are left running for long periods of time. A 100 Watt pump running for a year will use almost 900 kWh and increase bills by around £90.

Using a gas fired heater to heat up the garden is an expensive waste of energy and results in unnecessary emissions of carbon dioxide. A wood fired chimenea is a better option as wood is a renewable fuel, better still try and use waste wood or logs. Although burning wood does result in carbon dioxide emissions, these would have occurred anyway if the wood had been allowed to decompose naturally.

The short answer is that generally, barbecues are quite an inefficient way of cooking compared with an ‘A’ rated oven/grill, however if you want to go ahead, the best option is charcoal or even solar power. But if you want to be truly green, try to buy British charcoal which hasn’t been imported by the tonne from thousands of miles away. It’s worth checking on the bag before you buy it to see if it has Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) labels. Alternatively, there are some new solar grills coming onto the market which work by reflecting sunlight from mirrors onto a hot plate, which then grills the food. However you won’t produce food with the same smoky flavour as a traditional barbecue, and at around £125 for the Swiss-made variety, they don’t come cheap.

Yes, they can be quite dirty, and this is why EU legislation now dictates that new machines must meet European Commission emission directives – so we are already heading in the right direction. But if you want to be really green the old fashioned push mower is your best option. If you have a bigger garden, a good electric option might be an electric mower on a green tariff, and if you decide to go down the petrol route, try to buy a mower with a catalytic converter – which cuts emissions by half.

Yes: just a few outdoor lights left on each night can double your household lighting bill and therefore your greenhouse gas emissions. Probably the most eco-friendly way to do it would be to buy solar powered garden lights that use no mains electricity and so produce no emissions when used.

Alternatively, you could fit daylight and movement sensors, so outdoor lights switch on only when you walk by. This is also good for home security.

If you must have outdoor lights which stay on for long periods, use energy efficient, compact fluorescent or LED lamps and choose the lowest wattage bulb that gives enough light.

Pond pumps for water purification should ideally be kept running all day but they can make your energy bills go up a lot. They also come in a big range of sizes, so it is important to choose the correct pump. Our advice is as follows:

• Find out from an expert at an aquatic shop or garden centre what size of pump is best for your pond.
• Only buy a pump which has the wattage quoted by the manufacturer. A 10 watt pump will cost £9 per year, whilst a 100 watt pump will cost £90 if run continuously.
• If you want a water feature, such as a fountain, it is probably cheaper to run two pumps. One should be run continuously for water purification, the other intermittently when needed.
• It is possible to get solar powered pond pumps, however, these might not be compatible with the filtration system.

The cost of heating an outdoor pool from May to September is dependant on many factors. The main ones to consider are heating fuel, which could be electricity, gas or solar power, and the levels of insulation on the pool structure. Also, whether a pool cover is used, what temperature you want the water and the amount of use the pool gets. A very well insulated pool, which is heated by a heat pump and seldom used, could cost around £300 per season. A poorly insulated pool, however, with no cover and heated directly by electricity could be as much as £1,500.

These days you can buy hot tubs which are far more energy efficient than they were five or ten years ago. Big improvements have been made in the construction, controls and equipment, such as using preheated air for jets and low wattage pumps and lights.

If you are definitely going to buy one, rather than look for a used model, it’s worth forking out for a newer, energy efficient one. An average sized energy efficient hot tub consumes 5-7 kWh per day, while a poorly insulated, inefficient hot tub may use 12-18 kWh per day.

Further savings can be achieved by using it sensibly. Here are our tips:

• Set the hot tub heater thermostat to maintain 38 degrees centigrade
• Shift the water heating to off-peak times
• Turn down the thermostat when you’re away
• Reduce the number of pumping cycles
• Use a hard (foam) cover with good insulation qualities
• Add a floating blanket
• Avoid wasting water
• Drain the hot tub only when necessary
• Create windbreaks around the hot tub

The amount of electricity used by an automatic watering system won’t be large, however the timer will need to be continuously powered which will increase your standby power. We guess this could be around £10 per year. A better option might be one of the battery operated timers which are available.

Our advice is to cool your drinks in the fridge in your kitchen and then store them in a large cold box when you have a barbecue. A fridge in the summer house is likely to be left on for long periods when it is not being used and will use more energy when the summer house is hot.

If you must have a fridge in the summer house, then avoid using an old inefficent one and try to find the most energy-efficient refrigerator you can, and this will alleviate the situation a little. Newer models use 1/3 of the energy of 15- to 20-year-old models and pay for themselves quickly. Look for the best energy rating you can afford and the smallest size that you require.

In the meantime, make sure your summer house is well ventilated, and if you think you’re not going to use it as much as you thought, empty the fridge and turn it off – making sure to leave the door open. You can always fill it again when you know you are going to use it.

There are a whole range of useful lights you can buy now to light up any outdoor space, including sheds, gazebos, garages, greenhouses and so on. Solar lights are now much cheaper to buy than they used to be and largely maintenance free, with no wiring required, and they recharge in natural light. You can also buy security halogen lights which only use electricity when required, solar oxygenators for garden ponds, underwater solar spotlights, and so on. If you key ‘solar products’ into Google you will find unlimited choice. There are some good ones on www.thesolarcentre.co.uk. If you want to be more ambitious and are thinking of more large scale energy saving products around the house and garden, the Energy Saving Trust could be your first port of call.

Immersion heaters should be used when there is no other means of heating water or in the summer if you have an old central heating system which can be very inefficient at generating just hot water.

Leaving an immersion heater on all the time will increase your bills, it is much better to turn it on twice a day in the morning and evening when you need hot water. This can be done automatically by fitting a programmer. Alternatively ask a qualified electrician to fit a runback timer which is a special switch that turns off after a predetermined time – say 30 minutes, so you won’t forget to turn it off.

If your household needs lots of hot water everyday consider either installing a modern efficient boiler or an off peak immersion heater running on low rate electricity at night with hot water stored in a high capacity insulated hot water cylinder.

It is essential to get your boiler serviced once a year to ensure the efficiency of the boiler is maintained and to provide an opportunity to discover potential problems. Servicing on heating systems should be carried out by qualified engineers. Call us on 0845 0786771.

Radiator inhibitor or water treatment reduces scale build-up inside your boiler and reduces sludge or rust accumulating in radiators. It helps both work more efficiently.

As long as you have no leaks and don’t drain down your system the water treatment should last for many years. If you are unsure you should try either of the following:

1. Purchase a test kit from a plumber’s merchant. This will cost around £20 and will last for many tests. To do the test you will need to drain a small amount of water from your system.

or

2. Take a shiny steel nail and a small piece of copper (i.e. an offcut from a pipe), place in a clean jar with some water from your central heating system and leave somewhere warm for a few days. The nail copper should still be shiny.

or

3. Ask your service engineer if he carries a test kit for water treatment – and if so ask him to check and, if necessary, top up the water treatment in your system. They will make sure the treatment added to your system is suitable for your boiler.

If you just want to warm up one room, then it is better to use an electric plug in heater for a short period of time. A 1 kW fan heater will cost around 10p to run for 1 hour. A central heating system is an effective means of heating the whole house. However, if it is used just for an hour on a summer evening the cost could be as much as 20p.

Household plumbing is often located in unheated areas of your home which are vulnerable to freezing even if the thermostat is turned up high. If you have exposed pipes in areas such as your garage, loft, crawl spaces and outside walls, they need to be protected with snap-on insulation. In theory the temperature alert threshold is 20F - about minus six degrees centigrade, however as long as it goes below freezing, your pipes can still be vulnerable when exposed to draughts.

Setting the thermostat no lower than 12 degree celsius is the guideline, but remember it will not completely eliminate the risk of pipes bursting if no suitable insulation has been applied. If you are planning to go away for a long period of time, the best safeguard is to drain the water system completely. With no heating required it will also save a lot of energy – but ask your plumber for advice on how to do this first.

If you choose to turn off radiators in individual rooms, you must close the doors and prevent draughts, otherwise warm air will escape into these rooms and reduce any savings you make. Remember not to turn off the radiator which is in the same room as the central heating thermostat, otherwise it will be feeding wrong information to the boiler and will affect the heating in the rest of the house. On balance it may be better simply to fit thermostatic radiator valves in rooms you don’t use so often, which will enable you to set lower temperatures, make some savings, but not allow the room to become so cold that it is at risk of developing condensation or dampness.

About eight per cent of the annual electricity consumption of the household is required to operate the boiler for a heating system.

The pump accounts for about 50 per cent of this, and the boiler fan 30 per cent. The rest will be consumed by other electrical components. Annual electricity consumptions can range from 400kWh to 1305kWh depending on the type of boiler. Switching off completely the central heating system when not required in summer time will help. Savings can be made by adding heating controls that ensure the pump only runs when it is required. If your pump needs replacing you can also ask your plumber for an energy efficienct model with an A or B energy rating.

Modern offices need air conditioning because of all the heat generated by computers, printers and lighting. You can save energy and reduce the need for air conditioning by making sure all your office equipment is energy efficient. This will save money twice over. You should also make sure that heat gains from outside are minimised by installing insulation. Films can also be applied to windows to reduce gains from sunlight. Our advice is to avoid air conditioning if possible. The Carbon Trust has lots of information on making offices efficient at www.carbontrust.co.uk.

Some standalone units are very inefficient and just don’t do a good job of cooling down the office, however a good one can be a cost effective way of making an office bearable on the very hottest days. If your office needs cooling for most of the summer you will need to invest in an integrated system.

In the UK we don’t yet have energy ratings for fans so it is difficult to give advice on particular models. However smaller fans will generally use less energy and also quiet fans will be more efficient. Some of the combined ceiling fan/lights are more energy efficient as they can be operated at slow speeds. In the USA some of these have earned an ENERGY STAR rating, meaning they are about 50% more efficient than conventional fan/light units, and are much quieter than standard models.

In the meantime, do all you can to cool your office down by keeping heat out in the first place. Thick insulation in the loft and cavity wall insulation will all help. Window awnings, blinds, roof overhangs and any other window coverings will do a good job. Turn off all appliances you don’t need as they can generate heat, and turn off lights if possible.

We all know plenty of obvious ways to reduce water consumption by now, but here are a few of the less obvious ones.

• Fit aerator nozzles to taps, these reduce flow without compromising use.
• If your toilet is older than 2001 try fitting a "hippo" or other displacement device - often available free from your water company. However if it becomes necessary to flush twice you should remove the device.
• Fix dripping taps – especially the hot ones!
• A shower can use less water than a bath but only up to a point. Ideally you should use a normal shower rather than a power shower and only spend about five minutes in there.
• Always run the washing machine with a full load so that you do fewer cycles per week. Also be aware that most half load functions are relatively inefficient as they use more than half the water of a full load.
• If you are buying new appliances, try to go for those with the best water efficiency rating. White goods are marked on a sliding scale with "A" being the most efficient and "G" being the least.
• Instead of using a sprinkler, leave your lawn to grow a little longer in summer as that helps it conserve its own moisture.
• Water the garden in the evening to minimise evaporation.

Hard water affects about 65% of UK households. Scale deposits on heat exchangers, such as hot water tanks, reduce the efficiency of heat transfer. A 1.6mm cover of limescale will reduce heat transfer efficiency by as much as 12%, so more fuel will be required to heat the water up to the desired temperature.

Conventional water softeners tend to be an expensive option as they must be plumbed into the mains water supply, and they require large quantities of salt to make them function, which is not ideal.

Electrolytic, magnetic or electronic water conditioners are probably a better idea. They help control scale build-up by altering the scale forming particles and keeping them suspended in the water rather than adhering to taps, baths and kettles. They make limescale easier to manage and they don’t add chemicals to the water. The Eddy electronic descaling device is probably one of the better ones, however we would advise getting advice from your plumber first. A plumber will be able to advise you on the best device for your house – and your water. Or for further information you can contact British Water on telephone number 0207 957 4554 or by visiting their website at www.britishwater.co.uk.

More heat is lost through walls than by any other route. By installing cavity wall insulation, a typical house will save 15 per cent on its heating bill, equivalent to around £90 per year. What’s more your home will feel noticeably warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

Cavity wall insulation is a job that needs to be done by a professional installer who can also advise whether your home is suitable for insulation. It is a straightforward job which can be done in a day, usually with little disruption. Cavity wall insulation also comes with a 25 year guarantee from CIGA – the cavity wall insulation guarantee agency.

It is surprisingly inexpensive. Energy saving grants are widely available for home insulation which means you should recover your costs in less than 3 years. For further information on grants for home insulation either contact your energy supplier or visit www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.

Lofts come in all shapes and sizes and to accommodate this variety, different products are required. In many ways, it’s also down to individual preference which one you choose. But the real point is that they are all effective.

Which ever type of product is used, the purpose of insulating your loft is to keep the heat in where it is needed the most - in the property. Keeping the heat in will help maintain comfort levels and help save on your energy bills. Where a property has had no insulation previously, savings can be approximately £110 per year and if topping up the insulation (50 -270mm) a saving of approximately £30 per year is possible on an average home.

• Draw curtains over the windows at night, but avoid covering radiators with curtains – tuck them in behind to enable the radiator heat to come into the room.
• Reduce heat loss by putting cling film over each window pane – it works well, will reduce noise and will last all winter
• Invest in a pair of thick lined curtains
• Open the curtains during the day if the sun is shining on your windows – let the sun heat your room
• Fit draught excluders to your windows – foam strips are cheap but you can also get better quality rubber or plastic systems.

NB make sure you still have good ventilation in your rooms – don’t block up air vents or grilles in walls, especially if you have fires or a boiler in the room.

We are aware of at least one such paint, however, in the absence of independent research we are unable to confirm whether these work and if so to what extent. If you are considering insulating your home, our advice is to look at traditional insulation methods, such as cavity wall insulation and or loft insulation. If these are not possible then there are insulating products available which can be applied like wall paper. One such product is Sempatap Thermal insulation on a roll. It is as easy as wallpaper to apply, it reduces heat loss and makes homes warmer. Sempatap Thermal is approved by the Energy Saving Trust as an energy saving product and is also an EST "Recommended" product for the insulation of solid wall homes. More information is available from www.mgcltd.co.uk or call 020 8337 0731.

Our advice is that before thinking of installing any kind of photovoltaic (PV) system (PV systems use daylight to power ordinary electrical equipment) onto a building you should ensure you’ve first done everything else you possibly can to make your home energy efficient. Insulation, low-energy light bulbs, low energy rated appliances… all of these are much more cost-effective than microgeneration installation.

Prices for PV systems vary, depending on the size of the system to be installed, type of PV cell used and the building on which the PV system is mounted.

For the average domestic system, costs can be around £4,000-£9,000 per kw installed A 2 kW system will provide around 1500 kWh of electricity per year, assuming the cells face due south. This is about 40% of a household’s needs, assuming heating/hot water is NOT by electricity. Using these figures it could take up to 40 years for the system to pay for itself.

It is posible you could get a grant from the Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

Basically, you will need to show that you have already

• Insulated the whole of your loft to current building regulation standards
• Installed cavity wall insulation
• Fitted low energy light bulbs
• Installed basic controls for your heating system, including a room thermostat and a programmer or timer.

Your best bet in the first instance is to call our Energyline on 0800 072 7201 for guidance on energy efficiency measures and energy efficiency grants available in your area.

There are two types of residential solar system, generating either electricity or hot water. They will take between two and five days to install. Systems mounted on the ground and systems with batteries are more complex, and may take longer. Some time will need to be spent draining your hot water system. However most of the time is spent outside your house, so there is little disturbance to you. In any case it would not involve any structural disturbance to the house. Providing you have competent and approved installers, it should not cause problems.

It would be very unusual if all your electricity demand is met by solar power alone. Typically, a solar system will provide between 30 and 50% of what you need. This is generally due to roof space or budget restrictions. You would have to set this against the cost of installing the system in the first place – and that will obviously depend on what system you choose, and the scale of the installation.

There are a whole range of useful lights you can buy now to light up any outdoor space, including sheds, gazebos, garages, greenhouses and so on. Solar lights are now much cheaper to buy than they used to be and largely maintenance free, with no wiring required, and they recharge in natural light. You can also buy security halogen lights which only use electricity when required, solar oxygenators for garden ponds, underwater solar spotlights, and so on. If you key ‘solar products’ into Google you will find unlimited choice. There are some good ones on www.thesolarcentre.co.uk. If you want to be more ambitious and are thinking of more large scale energy saving products around the house and garden, the Energy Saving Trust could be your first port of call.

This is a concept very much in its infancy as far as domestic households are concerned. The most important message to get across is that you need to be living in an area where you would benefit from enough wind! Town locations are generally less suitable. It’s more likely to be possible if you live out in the countryside in exposed situations, or perhaps on a coastline.

Small wind systems are generally not cost effective at the moment, however new products are coming out all the time. We are undertaking field trials as we write to develop the concept. It clearly has long term potential, and the industry believes that mass commercialisation could happen by around 2015.

You will be able to find more information on the following website www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk

From June 30 2007, it became a legal requirement for house owners in England and Wales selling their property to make available to a prospective buyer - at the earliest possible opportunity - an Energy Performance Certificate. It will be your responsibility to do this. In England and Wales, the requirement for an EPC forms part of the Home Information Packs which every home owner has to provide when they sell their house, so your solicitor will be able to guide you through this nearer the time. Until then we suggest you have a look at www.dfpni.gov.uk where the ins and outs of Energy Performance Certificates are explained in full.

The directive has been introduced because the government is trying to encourage householders to think about – and take positive measures – to minimise energy consumption in the home.

Yes. You can still qualify for the tariff for the fuel you receive from us. We would however, need to know what your fuel costs were with the other supplier, so this could be included in the calculator. If you qualify, the energyplus Care (epc) social tariff would only be applied to your fuel with SSE. You would have to apply to your other supplier for any social tariff they operated, on your other fuel

Yes. There are no restrictions on accessing epc on key customers.

You can qualify for epc even if you have a debt on your account.

Epc is initially awarded for two years. It is then reviewed.

Over the phone on our freephone number, approx 15 mins.

There has been much debate about this one. Basically HB covers housing costs. It is usually paid direct to the rental authority so the customer never sees the money .It is this fact that causes some to argue that it is not income, but if they did not receive it they would still have to cover their rent. A working customer who pays their mortgage out of their earned income could argue that their mortgage costs should be subtracted from their income for the purposes of qualifying for epc. We do not permit this either.

Yes. The basic criterion is that an applicant is paying 10% of their income on fuel costs. There is no stipulation as to the source of the income i.e. benefits, work or investments.

No. General energy price increases will apply to you. But your tariff will always remain 20% lower.

We need to know about all occupants. It is the household income as a whole that is taken into account.

No. We only ask about your income. What outgoings you have do not come into the calculation for epc.