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GGRREEEENNto the core

Eco44444Make a differenceto climate change

HANNAH HOPE

O FTEN people want to re-duce their energy billsand carbon footprint butdon’t know how.

My house in Topsham is only11 years old, but there is stillplenty I can do to save energy.

This is according to AnthonyRobinson, founder of APS whichoffers tailor-made energy healthchecks for homes.

The 46-year-old fromCombeinteignhead, near New-ton Abbot, spent 16 years work-ing as mechanical engineer,building tobacco factories allover the world.

He wanted to return to familylife in the UK and spend moretime with his wife, Sandra, 43,and their three children, Emily,six, Lucy, five, and James, four.

Anthony said: “I now use myanalytical skills and knowledgeof construction and energy tofind integrated solutions for dif-ferent properties.”

The packages Anthony offersare targeted at people who wantto save energy and money butdon’t know how to do it.

He conducts personal energyhealth checks for an introduc-tory offer of £20. He said: “I bothpick out money-saving ideas andhelp people to be greener.”

I invited Anthony to performan energy health check on myhouse. The consultation lastsabout one hour and starts with adiscussion about the existingcosts of the house.

“I need to see a person’s utilitybills so I can get an idea of whatthey are already spending andthe systems and energy tariffs inplace,” said Anthony.

A quick look at my gas billreveals that my central heatingis costing more than it shouldfor a modern house. This couldbe due, in part, to the woodenfloorboards throughout.

But how do you balance taste-ful interior design with concernfor the environment?

“Carpets would be a quickfix,” explained Anthony.

“But you could also look atinsulation underneath the floor-boards in the cellar.

“The cheapest option wouldbe polystyrene bats, which cost£12 a square metre and can beeasily installed. You would soonmake this money back in whatyou save on bills.”

Anthony also suggests loft in-sulation and cavity wall insu-lation as ways of saving energy.

He said: “An un-insulatedhouse typically loses 25 per centof heat through the roof and 35per cent through the walls.

“There are a lot of grants forloft insulation at the moment

and it’s something that all home-owners should look into.”

In order go down this routeAnthony points outs that my loftwould need a good clear out, asthere is currently a lot of ‘stuff’being stored up there.

Switching energy supplierscan also make a huge differenceto bills. Anthony keeps up todate with the best deals and canhelp you select a utility providerto suit your needs.

He said: “Rates are constantlychanging so it can be difficult tocompare, but there are plenty ofenergy comparison websitesavailable online.”

Next Anthony inspects the ba-sic draught proofing around thehouse. This includes checking

windows and doors. All of mywindows are double-glazed andhave adequate weather seals,which is good as it reduces heatloss and overcomes any coldspots.

When it is time for Antony tocheck the light bulbs around thehouse it seems that I have thewhole spectrum — from thosethat burn lots of energy to thosewhich frugally save it. I put thisdown to me buying whatever ison offer at the time.

“There is a huge range ofenergy-saving light bulbs thesedays,” said Anthony. “Theycome in all shapes and sizes; youcan get mini golf balls, halogensand dimmer lights.

“Some efficient light bulbs

use only 20 per cent of the elec-tricity that normal ones use.They may cost a bit more, butthey pay for themselves indays.”

Other gadgets that Anthonyrecommends include energy rat-ed appliances and Sava plugs,which monitor how much en-ergy you are using. These handygadgets can help save you mon-ey without changing yourlifestyle, simply by showingwhere energy is being wasted.

Anthony is also something ofa boiler expert. He immediatelyrecognised my ancient modeland told me that by replacingjust the controls big cost savingscould still be made.

He said: “Boilers are typically15 to 20 per cent more efficientthan they were 15 years ago. Butit can be costly to replace com-pletely. Instead there are plentyof advanced controls availablethat cost a fraction of the price ofa new boiler.”

Anthony then looked at myhot water tank and explainedthat the temperature was hotterthan it needed to be.

He also checked all the ra-diators to see that they were noton unnecessarily high.

After taking Anthony’s tipsfirmly on board, I am lookingforward to much lower gas andelectricity bills next month!

Reveal ways to savemoney with an easyenergy health check

Hannah Hope discusses her energy bills with Anthony Robinson, who provides tailor-made energy health checks for homes. With abackground in engineering, Anthony can point out ways of saving energy and money MATT MINSHULL EE040209_MM06_05

Factfile: How APS can help you● After an initial assessment,Anthony can draw up a detailedfive-year energy health plan, whichcosts £200.● APS can aid customers with anyhouse projects that are under way,such as building an extension orconservatory. Anthony said: “I havea good knowledge of renewabletechnologies, such as solarpanels, and can help guide youthrough them.”

● Anthony can also manage theproject for customers, drawing outdetailed specifications forplumbers and builders.● Anthony recommends theRenewable Energy 4 Devonwebsite, which details freeindependent advice.● To get in touch with APS, callAnthony on 01626 894205 or07963 628891, or email him onenergyhealthcheck@btinternet.com.

WEB LINK: www.re4d.org

Cottage owners areencouraging visitorsto think sustainably

Ruud Jansen Venneboer and Jacqueline Parker have received a gold level rating by theGreen Tourism Business Scheme for their complex of environmentally friendly holidaycottages in Ottery St Mary MARTIN WHITHAM EE060109_MW05_09/11

A FTER working in Lon-don for 15 years, RuudJansen Venneboer andJacqueline Parker were

fed up with the corporatelifestyle.

So, the husband and wifemoved to Devon with their twodaughters and set up an en-vironmentally friendly holidaybusiness.

After three years looking forthe right location, they decidedMazzard Farm in Ottery StMary was the ideal spot.

When the family arrived atthe site, which had not beenfarmed for 25 years, there wasjust one cottage.

The couple received planningpermission to convert the prop-erty’s two 19th-century barns in-to five self-catering holiday cot-tages.

Where possible, all materialsused in the conversion, whichtook just four and a half months,were recycled.

Ruud, 41, said: “We tried to

make sure that, from the firstperiod of construction work, wewould have as little rubbish andwaste as possible.”

It did not take the couple longto decide the venture should beenvironmentally friendly.

“I don’t think there is anotheroption,” said Ruud. “Moving for-ward, we have seen there aren’tgoing to be fossil fuels foreverand there is clearly global warm-ing.

“We have young children andwe want them to enjoy life in theway we are.”

Despite only opening in Julylast year, the cottages were fullybooked for the summer. Ruudsaid: “We never thought it couldhappen, but it did. We’re verypleased.”

Within months, the develop-ment had received a gold levelrating by the Green Tourism

Business Scheme. “It’s great,”said Ruud. “The Green TourismBusiness Scheme told us it wasfairly unusual to achieve thatwithin the first few months.

“We put a lot of effort in, andspent a lot of money makingsure we were as green as pos-sible.”

The cottages are heated bylocal wood pellets in a biomassboiler, insulated with sheep’swool, decorated with organicpaints and furnished with lo-cally sourced and built furni-ture.

Guests are encouraged to re-cycle, shop locally and come tothe farm by train. Those leavingtheir cars at home receive adiscount when booking theirholiday and are picked up free ofcharge from stations in Exeterand Honiton.

Ruud said: “Sometimes the

connotation is made that youare compromising on enjoy-ment as you are worrying aboutthe environment. But people cantotally enjoy themselves; we domost of the worrying forthem.”

The couple hope to inspirepeople to live greener lives. Ru-ud said: “If we can help them tounderstand a bit and improvetheir green lifestyle a bit more,all the better for it. But we wouldnever ram it down anyone’sthroat.”

And the couple hope to helppeople become aware of the localenvironment. “Being green isnot just about making a positiveimpact,” said Ruud.

“It’s also about making peopleaware of why we’re doing whatwe are, and what they can dothemselves.

“They can have a holidaywhile having a minimal impacton the land we live on.”

KATY MANNING

Your monthly guide to saving the planet

Is it time to changeyour choice of fuel?SOARING energy prices areseeing more and morepeople resort to burningold-fashioned firewood.

An unprecedentedincrease in demand last yearfor logs and woodburnershas taken stovemanufacturers and logsuppliers by surprise.

Exeter-based Stovax, oneof the UK’s largestwoodburning stove makers,says demand increased by50 per cent in the last threemonths of 2008 comparedto the same period in 2007.

Wood is regarded as anenvironmentally friendly fuelas the amount of carbondioxide released into theatmosphere when it is burntis the same as thatabsorbed by the tree duringits growth.

It is also a renewableresource, particularly whenderived from plantations andcultivated woodland.

David Knox, publicrelations officer at Stovax,said: “It has been a verycold winter and volatileenergy prices have been onpeople’s minds. I think thathas been a key driver in theincrease we’ve seen.

“Wood is as close to acarbon neutral material asyou can get, and it is thecheapest fuel.

“We have done a casestudy on a couple in Farway,near Honiton, who havethree woodburning stoves —in the conservatory,bedroom and lounge —which they use fairly regularlythrough the winter. They alsohave central heating whichthey use for a little bit ofbackground heating.

“Throughout the year theyspend £300 on centralheating and the cost ofcooking and hot water, and£350 on wood.

“It otherwise would havecost £1,400, so they aresaving around 50 per cent infuel costs.

“You can use awoodburner and centralheating in conjunction witheach other rather thanhaving one or the other.”

Buying a woodburnermeans learning about howthey are installed and work,including the type of woodsyou can burn.

Stovax recommend logsshould be seasoned for twoyears or more to achieve amoisture content below 20

per cent, giving up to twicethe output of freshly felledtimber and helping to avoid abuild up of tar in the flue.

Hardwood logs areregarded as even better asthey will have around twicethe calorific value ofsoftwoods.

However, it is worthbearing in mind where thewood comes from and howmuch of a carbon footprinthas been created bytransporting it.

An alternative to thetraditional woodburningstove is a wood pellet stove,which offers many of theadvantages of fossil fuelheating systems but with thebenefits of wood.

But while it might seem anattractive alternative to highenergy prices, the downsideis supply is not keeping upwith demand.

The rapidly rising numberof households now turningback to the forest for fuel arefinding getting hold of logscan be complex.

Britain grows up to onemillion tonnes of domesticfirewood per year, accordingto the Forestry Commission,and also imports up to180,000 tonnes of woodand wood products.

The 25 per cent to 30 percent increase in demand forlogs year on year is provinghard to satisfy. The shortageof good-quality, seasonedhardwood logs such as ash,beech and oak has led, insome cases, prices to go upby a third.

Mr Knox said: “There isnowhere near a shortage inthe UK at the moment and alot of companies will deliverbags of kiln-treated logs.There is a lot of eco fuel outthere as well.

“The Forestry Commissionis aiming to release an extratwo million tonnes of woodinto the fuel supply chain by2020, enough to heataround 250,000 homes, andit is trying to better managethe wood we have.

“We are also seeing morecompanies cropping upmaking eco fuels, providingmore heat and longerburning time than logs.

“We live in quite a ruralfarming community in theSouth West, which probablymeans we’ve got a greaterlevel of supply.”

A woodburning stove can be used in conjunction with central heating to savemoney on your heating costs, says David Knox, pictured

with eco engineer Peter Hanson

Dr JonathanO’Keeffe is GPRegistrar atMount Pleasant

Dr JonathanO’Keeffe is GPRegistrar atMount Pleasant

Eco engineer PeterHanson says

A FTER the recentcold spell andheavy snowfalls,you could be forgiv-

en for thinking that theproblem of global warminghad gone away.

Unfortunately it hasn’tand only the other dayAmerica’s EnergySecretary said he “didn’tthink Americans had reallygripped in the gut what couldhappen”.

He said they were lookingat a scenario where therewas no agriculture inCalifornia because ofreduced rainfall and lesssnow in the mountains(already down by 40 percent) which keeps the riversflowing in summer.

We hear a lot of talk aboutglobal warming and what todo about it. It must bedifficult sometimes to knowwhat’s best.

For what it’s worth, here’smy list:● Cut down on meat anddairy products, especiallybeef and, to a lesser extent,lamb. If you can’t, at leastbuy local meat raised ongrass for most of the year.

The NHS is going this wayand the GermanEnvironment Agency is urgingpeople to only eat meaton special occasions.

Why is thisimportant?Because meatand dairyproduction isresponsible for asmuch greenhousegas production asall the cars, buses,trains, ships andplanes in the world.● For the samereason, stop wastingfood (if you do).We throw awaya third of allthe food webuy, mostof itperfectlyedible.

Growas muchas youcanyourself.Plant

things in tubs or bags if youhaven’t got much space.● Plan your journeys so youtravel less. Walk, bike, usethe bus or train and carshare. If you have to use thecar, put journeys off if youcan and do as many thingsas possible on the sametrip.● Insulate your house aswell as you possibly can andget a wood-burning stove.Put those energy-saving lightbulbs anywhere where they’llbe on for any length of time.Change to a “green”electricity supplier. Turnthings off at the plug.● Stop buying things youdon’t really need. Joinwww.uk.freecycle.org — getstuff for free and give awaythings you’ve finished with ornever really needed anyway.Recycle.● Pressure cookers andmicrowaves use much less

energy so use themwhen you can.

● Showerinstead of

bathing andkeep itshort.● Talk toyourneighbours,

do thingstogether, helpeach other.

NEXT MONDAY IN ECHO 4 EDUCATION: Tiverton High School pupils’ six-part radio comedyANITA MERRITT

Make the most of microwaveovens as they use less energy