tweedgreen challenge - energy

8/3/2019 Tweedgreen Challenge - Energy

1/18

WELCOME TO THE TWEEDGREENENERGY CHALLENGE

Firstly, thank you for getting involved in the Tweedgreen Energy Challenge.

We hope that the challenges below will both inspire and engage you in ways you

can save energy and money in your home. It is as simple as adopting a number of

the tasks in your daily life in and around your home.

By agreeing to take on the challenge you are showing that you are interested in

joining a widening community that understands and appreciates the value of your

environment, and is aware of the real cost of wasting energy.

With rising energy prices it is useful to know how much you are spending on heating

and lighting your home. The Challenge will help you save on energy consumption,

reduce you carbon footprint and, as importantly, save you some money.

Keeping track of your energy use can seem like a laborious task but understanding

the money spent, and saved, makes the exercise a whole lot more worthwhile and

relevant. Once you have established a routine that works for you, managing your

energy bills will become second nature.

GOOD LUCK!

Save money, feel good

& reduce your impact!


2/18

12 ENERGY TWEEDGREEN CHALLENGE

Using Energy Saving Light Bulbs can save you as much as 60 per year /

cost of purchase can be recovered in less than a year

Hot Water Tank Insulation Spend 10 on an insulation jacket and save

30-40 per year / purchase cost can be recovered in less than six months

Draught Proofing Invest some money in heavy curtains and draught

excluders and you could save up to 80 per year / purchase costs can be

recovered in 1 to 3 years

Taking Shorter Showers If you have a power shower and teenage children

you could save up to 50 a year by everyone spending less time in the shower!

Loft Insulation Invest some funds in extra loft insulation and you could

save 80-100 per year / cost recovered in 2-5 years

Cavity Wall Insulation There are different options for materials to fill the

cavity and offers available, you could save 130 per year / cost recovered in

3 years

Replace Your Old Boiler Replacing your old boiler with a modern energy

efficient one could save you 120-200 per year / cost recovered in 4-7 years

Putting on a jersey Instead of turning up the heating put on a cosy

pullover and save up to 115 per year / you could buy a really nice woolly

for that money!

DID YOU KNOW?

Some eaSy wayS to Saveenergy and money.


3/18

TWEEDGREEN CHALLENGE ENERGY 13

WELCOME TO YOUR ENERGYCHALLENGE

How tHe tweedgreen energycHallenge workS

Tweedgreen has calculated the CO2 savings based on the above three challenge

categories. The impact of a change in behaviour is matched by the number of

points. Each point represents the carbon emissions for each task.

b EASY = 1 Carbon Point: Saves 0-1.5kg CO2bbMODERATE = 2 Carbon Points: saves 1.5-50kg CO2

bbb CHALLENGING = 3 Carbon Points: 50-5000kg CO2

You will see that the savings are HIGHER for CHALLENGING tasks than for EASY

ones, but by starting with small steps we hope you will feel able to achieve more

ambitious targets as you progress. As you mark up your points you will qualify for

prizes vouchers for local shops supplying items to help you reach your goals!

We have divided the categories of tasks into three levels:

EASY

MODERATE

CHALLENGING

FOR EXAMPLE

EASY: Turn the lights out!MODERATE: Turn the heating off in rooms not used

CHALLENGING: Investigate the potential for installing a biomass boiler


4/18


Read the instructions for the monitor and become familiar with how it works. Work

with the challenge cards and try some of them out. Read your electricity meter and

record the figures in the boxes provided on your recording sheet.

Have the display unit for the monitor in a prominent place and be aware of the

readings that it is showing. Start to use the challenge cards to make small changes

in your daily life. Start to build up your coloured bars on the recording sheet. Work

out your first week's electricity use from your meter readings.

Read through the challenges on the cards and think about how you will tackle some

of them. Take a "start" reading from your electricity meter. Try to read your meter

on the same day each week.

INSTALL THEELECTRICITY MONITOR

week1


5/18


Go round your home and turn appliances on and off to record the usage of each

one on the cards in the pack. Take your weekly reading from your electricity

meter and record the numbers. Try more of the challenges from the cards.

Take the display unit around your home and surprise yourself at how much - and

sometimes how little - energy your different appliances use! Remember you are

allowed to record the same task more than once - this lets us know that you are

adopting these simple changes into your daily life - it also allows you to build up

extra points!

Become more knowledgeable about your energy consumption; start to take

control of appliance use with more understanding of the costs.

Keep filling in the bars on the recording sheet and see if you can reach the first

20 points score; when you do you will qualify for a gift voucher.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR HOMEENERGY USE

week 2


6/18


Take the third reading from your electricity meter record the numbers in the boxes

on the recording sheet. By now some of the challenges you chose from weeks one

and two will be daily habits! Try any of the challenges and see how you get on.

Remember: points mean prizes!

Decide how much water you need to put in the kettle. Decide that you will take a

shorter shower.

See if you can achieve a zero base-load on the monitor read-out. This is more

difficult than your might think! Involve the whole household in this one!

You will find that you are cutting down the amount of electricity you use without

pain! By now you should have filled in enough bars on your recording sheet to

qualify for your first, or perhaps even your second, gift voucher!

START TO USE THE MONITORTO MAKE CHOICES

week 3


7/18


Do some investigating into renewable alternatives for your home heating. Try air

drying your hair or your washing! Take a lighted candle around your home and

check for draughts at doors and windows.

Hang your winter weight curtains at the windows or consider putting a curtain

preferably of thermally lined material behind your front door. Or perhaps you

could make a draught excluder "sausage" for your sitting room door. Make your

habitual electricity meter reading and recording on the form.

Become more aware of alternatives to the norm. Instead of turning up theheating, look at ways of keeping the heat you already have in the places you

need it. Your recording sheet should be looking quite full and colourful by now!

You might even have bought yourself a pair of cosy socks with your first voucher.

CONSIDER SOME OF THE MOREDIFFICULT CHALLENGES

week 4


8/18


Have a look at your fridge and freezer. Make sure that they are working

to their optimum efficiency. Try some of the challenges that relate to

them. Check that the door seals are clean and working properly.

Clean the back of your fridge and remove the dust (and the children's

plastic toys!) De-frost the fridge or freezer and re-pack carefully.

Would you consider buying a more energy efficient fridge or freezer

when your old one needs replaced even if the initial cost is higher?

Make small changes to how you look after and utilise your white

goods. Once you clean them you might just find that they are using

less energy to keep cool than they did before. Keep recording the

data on the sheet.

AROUND THE HOUSE

week 5


9/18


By now you should have tried all of the Easy tasks and quite a few of the

moderate ones. It might be time for you to look at the possibility of changing

from oil or electric central heating to a more efficient biomass solution.

Maybe you could add some more insulation to your loft. Take the "end"

reading from your electricity meter.

Think about what you might be able to do to make your home more energy

efficient do some research about costs and grants that might be available.

Tweedgreen can help you with contacts and websites that will have more

information to help you.

Greater awareness of what might be available as an alternative to your

existing heating system. Being more pro-active in retaining the heat in your

home. You should have a full six weeks figure of your electricity use. You

should have a very full and colourful recording sheet and you should have

"won" some gift vouchers.

GETTING THE HANGOF IT BY NOW

week 6


10/18


11/18


1. Turn the lights off when you leave the room - it is

something we all forget to do and the amount of money

and energy we waste in a year is staggering!

2. Air dry your hair (easier for some than others!) better for

your hair too!

3. Wash your clothes at 30C modern machines and washing

liquids make this possible with great results!

4. Use a hot water bottle rather than an electric blanket. Cosy

toes!

5. Wear slippers instead of outdoor shoes around the house.Keeps your feet warm and your carpets cleaner so you

dont need to vacuum so often!

6. Switch your computer and monitor off - switch your

computer and monitor off when you leave the room and

especially overnight. This small habit can save you s

your energy cHallengeStartS Here...

ONECARBONPOINT

EACH

//EASY

b


12/18

7. De-frost your fridge and freezer regularly and keep it

organised ice build up in your freezer does not allow it to

work efficiently

8. Shut the doors into and between rooms don't let heat

escape into rooms and hallways

9. Iron less - only iron the clothes that really need it

10. Make sure that the radiators are not being shielded by

furniture! you could be losing your heat into the back of

the sofa!

11. Investigate the cost of changing to a green energy supplier

it might not cost you less but at least you know that your

electricity is coming from a renewable source

12. Talk to your neighbour about your challenge sharing ideas

is always good


ONECARBONPOINT

EACH

//EASY

b


13/18


13. Turn off appliances when not in use. Look out for those little

red lights!

14. Make sure that there is sufficient air space behind the fridge

and that the condenser coils are free of dust if your fridge is

too close to the wall it will use more energy to keep cool. If the

back is covered in dust it will have to work harder to keep cool!

15. Turn your water cylinder thermostat to 60C turning yourwater cylinder down to 60C will still give you hot water but

with less possibility of scalding

16. Put extra insulation around your hot tank and pipes a cuddly

jacket for your tank!

17. Re-site the fridge away from beside a radiator or the cooker!

having your fridge too close to a radiator or beside the cooker

can mean that it uses more energy to keep cool

18. Try to fill the washing machine each time rather than doing

more half loads an easy way of saving energy and detergent

19. Air dry clothes rather than using your tumble dryer, tumble

dryers are heavy energy users invest in an old fashioned pulley!

20. Put reflective material behind your radiators don't let the

heat disappear through the walls

21. Turn off the heating in rooms that are not being used youcould save up to one fifth of your energy costs and reduce your

carbon footprint!

22. Cut your TV watching time down by 40% read a book yes

that one you have always meant to!

23. Make a draught excluder sausage for your sitting room door!

keeps your room warmer by stopping the draughts from

outside doors

24. Hang a heavy curtain (preferably thermally insulated) behind

your main door dont let the heat out or the cold in

TWOCARBONPOINTSEACH

//M

ODERATEbb


14/18

THREECARBONPOINTSEACH

//CHALL

ENGING

bbb


25. Put a jersey on instead of turning up the heating 500,000

sheep cannot be wrong!

26. Take shorter showers: electric power showers use a huge

amount of energy. Put a cooking timer in the bathroom it

could save you s!

27. Change to low energy light bulbs they are not as dim as they

used to be!

28. Install individual radiator thermostats this could save you up

to 17% off your gas or oil bills

29. Increase your loft insulation to the current minimum of 27cm

(10 and a half inches!) loft insulation should be 27cm deep

your can buy rolls of loft insulation in different materials from

rockwool to sheeps wool!

30. Hang thermally insulated curtains in your windows

or use your shutters a cheaper option than double glazing -

and acceptable in listed buildings


15/18


31. Investigate the cost of replacing your old draughty

windows with double glazed units if double glazing is not

possible there are other solutions!

32. Investigate the cost of having cavity wall insulation or

investigate other options for old stone houses there are

solutions that can make a real difference to the amount of

heat that stays in your home!

33. Investigate the cost of replacing an old inefficient boiler

with a modern cost effective one some financial help may

be available

34. Investigate the potential for installing PV panels on your

roof you can sell your energy back to the grid and save on

your bills

35. Investigate the potential for installing a biomass boiler inyour home the new renewable heat incentive is a great

way of making your new biomass boiler pay for itself

36. Investigate the cost of replacing your old fridge or freezer

with a low energy model when you replace any appliance

look for a low energy rating

These last six tasks are your pledges tothe Tweedgreen Challenge. Try to takethe time to consider some of them, getestimates and make some investigationsinto how they could be incorporated intoyour home.

THREECARBONPOINTSEACH

//CHALL

ENGING

bbb


16/18

Congratulations oncompleting the

Tweedgreen EnergyChallenge.

Thank you for workingtogether with us to help

reduce our carbonfootprint. We hope that

you have found this

challenge useful andhave found new ways tohealthier, greener, and

cheaper eating!


17/18


RECORDING SHEET


LIGHTS AND HARD-WIRED ITEMS

wHole-HouSe energy monitor

again, just tocheck

LIGHTS SWITCHED SWITCHED SWITCHED DIFFERENCE ENERGYOFF ON OFF = SAVING?

POWERUSED

e.g.kitchen 15 45 15 30 No - spotlights

Hall

Landing

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Utility Room

Bedroom 1

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3

Bathroom

Toilet

Security Light

Garage Light

Hard-Wired

Oven

El Rings

El Shower

El Heater

Keep the monitor set on 15p per Kw hour

Using the whole house energy monitor switch things on and off to see how muchenergy they use.

Record readings with the item off, thenwith the item switched on, then just to

check, with the item off again. The first andlast results should be the same, but if the

fridge kicked in theyll be different, so tryagain.

The difference between the off and onresults will tell you how much that itemcosts to run.


18/18


RECORDING SHEETwHole-HouSe energy monitor

PLUGGED IN ITEMSDEVICE SWITCHED SWITCHED SWITCHED DIFFERENCE STANDBY

OFF ON OFF = POWERPOWERUSED

e.g. microwave 15 40 15 25 2

Kettle

Toaster

Microwave*

Radio

Television

Sky/

Freeview Box

Video

Standing/

Reading Lights

Hair Dryer

Straighteners

Phone Chargers

Vacuum Cleaner

Washing Machine

Tumble Dryer

Dehumidifier

Keep the monitor set on per Month(green button)

Using the whole house energy monitor switch things on and off to see how much

energy they use.

The difference between the off and onresults will tell you how much that itemcosts to run.

Remember:If you turn some things off, like

the microwave or free-view box you may haveto re-set the clock etc, like after a power cut.


again, just tocheck

* put a cup of water or something in the microwave dont run it with nothing in it!

tweedgreen challenge - energy

Documents