Improve the energy performance of your home Finally, after much procrastination, the government has launched its much anticipated Green Deal to help tackle the problem of Britain’s chronically energy inefficient housing stock. The idea behind it is simple enough at first glance: homeowners can borrow money to install energy saving products and the repayments are collected through electricity bills, with the crucial proviso that did you know? the repayments will not exceed the cost of the energy saved. It’s a great idea in principle, The annual ‘La but it remains to be seen whether the scheme Tomatina’ festival can actually work in practice. Either way, it should not deter homeowners from seeking in Spain sees to improve the energy performance of their participants hurl properties, which will save money and potentially add value. So, apart from obvious over 150,000 measures such as insulation and draughttomatoes! proofing, what other technologies are available?
growing your own tomatoes
HEaT PumPS
In the same way that refrigerators extract heat from food placed inside them, heat pumps extract heat from the air and ground. Some of the heat comes from running the compressor pump, the rest has been extracted from inside. The beauty of heat pumps is that they can extract up to four times more energy than they consume to run. True, the temperature produced is not as high as that produced by an oil or gas boiler, but a heat pump produces water at a comfortable temperature to use directly in the domestic hot water system and heating system, especially for underfloor heating.
Solar
Growing tomatoes at home is a a fun and easy way to try growing your own fruit, and is something that you can involve children with. Just follow these simple steps and by this autumn you could be in the red! Planting the SeedS Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow from seeds and can be planted from late March to early April. Sow your seeds thinly into small pots of compost. Start the plants off indoors, as young plants need to be kept at about room temperature. Just pop the pots onto a warm windowsill. Young plants are also available from garden centres in the spring. growing your PlantS Once the plants are large enough to handle, pot them up individually and leave them to grow in a warm place for three to four weeks. Letting them get used to the cold will help tomato plants to survive – just keep them outside during the day, then bring them in at night. Then plant them into growing bags, three plants to a bag, and water and feed regularly, and nip off any ‘armpit’ growths so you get more fruit. Your tomatoes will be ready for harvesting between July and October! Delicious.
Solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels harness the free energy of the sun to produce hot water and generate electricity. as part of an integrated heating system, solar thermal can make a significant contribution towards domestic hot water requirements. It is a tried and tested technology, though the plethora of manufacturers and installers can give rise to confusion and the risk of falling prey to some sharp practices. It is imperative that homeowners use reputable installers who are accredited by the microgeneration Certification Scheme (mCS) and adhere to industry codes of standards.
ExPErT aDVICE
Not all properties are suitable for some of these technologies, so it is vital that homeowners consult an expert at an early stage. a properly designed and installed system should reap benefits for years to come. The domestic renewable Heat Incentive (rHI) is due to commence in summer 2013. This will pay homeowners a tariff, similar to the solar PV tariff, for each kWh of heat produced from renewable energy sources. as long as an eligible system has been installed by an accredited supplier, systems installed now will still qualify for payments, so homeowners have nothing to lose by acting immediately.
Ecoliving offer free, no obligation surveys and expert advice. To find out more, contact Peter Hardy on 01785 280721 or visit www.ecolivinguk.com.
March/April 2013 yattaryattar magazine 69