Perhaps one day, when we hear the phrase ‘renewable energy island’ it will refer to the UK mainland. For the time being, though, it refers instead to the Danish island of Samsø, which has a small population of 4300 people but a big reputation for renewables.

Once relying entirely on fossil fuels shipped across from the mainland, Samsø’s energy profile would have been fairly typical for a place of its population and geographical location -  but over time the islanders have adapted according to the renewables model and can now boast an impressive percentage of its energy coming from wind farms, solar panels and so on, cutting the island’s carbon footprint massively. In fact, according to the island’s official site (follow the above link) not only are the island’s electricity needs provided for by the wind turbines – there’s enough left over for the islanders to export clean energy to other parts of the country.

So, how did one small island near the Jutland peninsula become so self-reliant in energy terms – could it be coincidence, or simply sheer hard work?

Well, it all started back in the 90s when the island won a government competition to take part in becoming a model renewable energy community. An engineer from Aarhus had studied the island’s wind speed and sunshine hours and put forward the island for the programme. And the rest is history – there’s a good detailed post on Samsø’s history here.

More info is available at this link - http://samsoe.wordpress.com/

And this video is also well worth checking out

It goes without saying that boilers are crucial to home heating and hot water generation, and play a large part in the energy efficiency of our homes. As such, making sure that that you have a decent  boiler installed and it is working as efficiently as it can is very important. Of course, boilers can be unreliable and require regular maintenance to ensure after to ensure they are operating effectively.

What type of boiler is best for your home?

There are three principal options for which boiler to install in your home:

1)      Combination (or Combi) Boiler

1. This is the most popular type of boiler in the UK – estimates suggest around 70% of homes have combi boilers installed
2. Combi boilers are great when space it at a premium and – they provide heat and hot water direct from the mains supply, which is at once the main advantage and disadvantage of this system – water pressure from the mains is limited

How a combi boiler looks in the home

2)      Open vent boilers

1. Suitable for larger homes, open vent boilers provide heat and water through a storage cylinder seated in (for example) a cupboard, and water tanks in the loft. The main downside is that although a higher pressure than combi can be maintained – the water only  lasts as long as the heating cylinder has capacity

Open vent boiler setup

3)      Sealed system boiler

1. This type provides heat and water through a cylinder, with no need for water tanks. Most suited to larger houses with multiple bathroom types and en suites. Again, limited by cylinder capacity.

Sealed system image via NWGas

Who should install your boiler?

Boiler installation to a high standard, should be a high priority for our domestic energy efficiency. Of course, most of the big energy companies offer a wide range of install options. If we take the Scottish and Southern Home Services example, they are currently offering interest free credit, £400 off A-Grade boilers and two years of free cover. See the links below for information on boiler installation, including what type of boiler is best for your home.

• Which – boiler features explained  http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/heating-water-and-electricity/reviews/boilers/page/features-explained/
• Hubpages – a look at types of boiler – http://mcdroid.hubpages.com/hub/boilertypes
• Boilers explained – Boiler Choices (Consumer Focus) -http://www.boilerchoices.co.uk/boilers.html

Whilst your current energy supplier may be able to offer you the best deal possible, if you find that you must switch supplier there are a few questions that you should ask yourself before choosing your new tariff.

Switching on to another supplier?

What is my actual energy usage pattern?
Have a through look at your bills or energy meter if you have one – what is your energy usage? are you paying too much for what you use? Learning this is will help you to negotiate a new deal that will work more effectively for you.

Is there an energy tariff that is best for my needs?
Each gas and electricity company has a range of tariffs that can vary in price and type of service. For example,  it is almost always cheaper to choose an online tariff, paying by direct debit. However, as a result of government intervention there is a degree of tariff simplification occurring within the industry.

What is my bill payment method?
Most suppliers offer a range of payment options, the most common are; direct debit and quarterly but you can also get a pre-payment meter or pay weekly.

How is the company perceived by consumers?
There are many groups out there that regularly review the customer service of the big energy suppliers and interview customers. This means that they can supply accurate information regarding the level of service you can expect from each company. Which?, Consumer Focus and uSwitch are all excellent sources of information and help.

Hopefully these questions have given you an indication as how you can switch electricity and gas supplier and hopefully save yourself some money.

Most offices in today’s working environment have made at least some kind of effort to go green and make their workplace a bit more energy efficient. But energy efficiency doesn’t just come from being frugal with your gas and electricity, it requires a larger commitment regarding a change in the daily working practice.

In order to help you on the way with your green crusade we have handily created a list of 5 simple things that any office can do to help lessen their impact on the environment.

1. The big switch off!
It is believed that these days around 60% of the energy used by office equipment could be wasted. This is due to little used items being left on standby and things generally just being left on during periods of no use.

2. Replace personal bins with a central bank of recycling bins.
Yeah, this idea as good as it is, isn’t going to help your popularity any. However once people get over the initial annoyance after a week or so it tends to just become part of the routine. Another positive is the regular short breaks it can provide which in some cases have been shown to increase productivity.

3. Get rid of the plastic cups.
If your office uses the plastic disposable cups, you guys are putting a serious amount of plastic in the landfills every month.
Here is some quick maths for you – 100 employees x 3 cups of tea/ coffee a day.
= 6000 plastic cups a month.
So switch your cups to recycled paper ones, buy mugs or even have people bring in their own mug. Mugs are obviously the best option as they will work out cheapest in the long run.

4. Reduce the use of paper.
With the integration of the internet and e-mail into just about every work place you really only need to print out the essentials and the sooner you encourage that kind of policy within your workplace the better it is for environment.
Another figure for you to consider is that your average worker uses 1,584 sheets of paper/month x 12 = 19,008 per employee, per year. That’s a lot of paper!

5. Take advantage of new communication methods.
Working from home has been shown to have a positive effect for both the employee and the business. Without having to commute there is less pollution and there is no time wasted in getting from A to B. Also Work Wise UK has carried out some research that shows working from home can help to greatly improve productivity.

Now that the Government has lost their appeal regarding changes to the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) appeal it has been confirmed that they are seeking permission to take their appeal to the Supreme Court. Now this is a time consuming and drawn out process where current and potential customers will be facing uncertainty. So in order to help out we have had a wee look at the potential time scales involved and what could be a likely future for the FIT.

The DECC (Department for Energy and Climate Change) has a full 28 days to apply for an appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court then has 8 weeks to decide whether to accept or reject the application. If the appeal is accepted it could take anything up to 8 months before it is heard.

So to be honest we are still pretty much in the dark about what tariff rates will be in play for installations between the 12th and 3rd March and things are more than likely to stay this way until we get a final decision on the ruling.

On a separate note to the legal issues of the 12th December, there are other almost equally important questions that still need answers which arguably could have a considerably greater impact on the immediate future of micro-generation.

There should be some movement on this towards the latter part of next week, with the DECC stating that they are still fully intent on publishing the phase 2 consultation no later than the 9th February. The phase 2 consultation will include proposed tariffs for post April 1st installations as well as rates for other technologies such as wind and hydro power. The DECC is also intending to publish a response to some of the more controversial aspects of the consultation, this is including the proposals around energy efficiency which will essentially prevent a large number of households from taking up FIT.

So setting aside matters concerning the legality of the 12th December date, there should be a lot more information about the Government’s plans for FIT by 9th February. However the key question is, will the scheme fall victim to its own success, or could things emerge from this confusion even better for the

Feed-in Tariff?

Big Energy Week kicked off yesterday with events in Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. The event has gathered a great deal of support from some big companies and consumer groups; Consumer Focus, Which? Energy UK, energy companies, charities, Ofgem and the Government.

The event has been created in response to the massive increase of people visiting Citizens Advice for help with their fuel bills. In November 2011 8 times as many people went to the Citizens Advice website for advice on cutting their fuel bills down.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said: “We know that a lot of households are struggling to cope with rising energy costs. Many people could cut their gas and electricity bills by moving to a better deal with their existing supplier, switching to another supplier altogether, or by taking up home insulation offers. But we need to make sure consumers are aware of this and make it easier for them to take action to save money. That is why I am backing Big Energy Week. We want to get the advice and information out to as many consumers across the country as possible.”

The Big Energy Week is running from 16-21 of January and will feature industry advisers from all over the UK helping people to spend less on the heating and powering of their home.

At www.bigenergyweek.org.uk you can find loads of help and advice on how to cut your fuel bill, helpful phone numbers and links as well as find out what’s taking place in your area. You can also contact your local Citizens Advice Bureaux for energy saving advice – the number will be in the phone book.

Ok, so the winter party season is upon us and we all know there’s not going to be much partying if all your money has been spent on heating your home. So to help out our faithful readership we’ve combined our favourite energy saving tips to try and keep your energy costs down as low as possible.

• You need to layer up.
Rather than whack the heating up high why not try putting on more layers. You’re actually better with more thin layers on than one thick layer. I would also invest in either some blankets for sitting around watching TV or better yet a Snuggie.
• Hot water bottles – They’re great.
They hold heat for ages and are cheap to buy. What I like to do is put a hot water bottle into my bed about 15 minutes before I intend to go and it’s always fantastically cosy for me by the time I get in.
• Timing is everything.
Timers are a great money saver – rather than leave the heating on all day so its warm for you coming home just set the timer to turn it on 1 hour before you get home. The house will be the same temperature and you’ll have spent 6 hours less on energy. You can also set it to come on an hour before you get up in the morning and again you’ll be lovely and cosy.
• It’s all about the thermostats.
It’s a well known fact that dropping the temperature on your thermostat by even 1°C is enough to save you 10% on your energy bills. However as a general rule you should always try and keep your thermostat between 18°C and 21°C for maximum efficiency.
• Sometimes a change is as good as a rest.
Finally…. switch gas and electricity supplier. Make sure you have done your research and chances are you’ll find a new supplier willing to offer you a better deal than the one your on now. The best bit is all you have to do is tell the company you want to switch to and they will take care of all the details you really won,t know its happened until your bills get cheaper.

Now whilst we know these tips aren’t going to save you a fortune we do hope that they will help your part fund last that little bit longer.

The UK’s green energy juggernaut may be grinding to a halt, with reports that the big six are now involved in a gas race and are not focusing so much on the construction of green energy facilities. Fears are growing that this change in policy could put the current climate change targets beyond the UK’s capabilities.

This new direction also means that British households will continue paying a higher rate for their bills. For an indication as to how much the UK industry has slowed, only half of the amount of wind turbines built last year have been built this year. Throughout last year there was 1,192MW of wind power added to the grid yet this year it has only reached around 540MW. This is a stark contrast to the 30GW of new gas fired power stations that are going through the planning stages just now. The problem is people know the gas powered plants cost in the tens of billions of £’s most of which will be coming from the big six – now as you can imagine that certainly doesn’t leave a lot for investment in green technology.

At the moment gas is still cheaper than renewable energy and the fact that we rely so heavily upon gas is proving expensive – hence the rise in energy bills.

However is there any other choice? Should Britain go for the quick win with gas or continue to spend on green energy?

Drop us a comment and let us know what you think

Source: Guardian Energy

Read the full article.

This year’s Energy Customer Satisfaction Awards held no real surprises with all of the ‘big six’ experiencing an overall drop in their customer satisfaction ratings. However this is almost certainly to be expected given that the year has been punctuated by rising energy costs and a number of fines for various incidents.

That being said out of all the companies SSE should still be extremely happy after coming top in no less than 8 out of 11 categories. Not to mention winning the coveted Overall Satisfaction Award for the 8^th time in a row.

Eon managed to walk away with two of the awards: Reward schemes and Energy efficiency.

Whilst British gas managed to top the Online services survey.

To read the full article uSwitch Customer Satisfaction Awards 2011

Polar EV is a new home charging solution whereby you become a member and for a monthly fee they will set you up with everything you need to keep your vehicle charged. It’s started to receive a bit more publicity since SSE launched POWERFUEL their new electric car friendly tariff.

In light of that I thought we could have a look at this home charge solution and see how it measures up.

A standard membership includes:

-          A wall charger for your home. It has a lifetime guarantee and is future proofed with 32A capability.

-          Full unlimited access to over 4000 public charging bays throughout the country.

-          A free iphone/ipad app giving you the location and availability.

The interesting part is it’s only £29.50 a month which for the sake of convenience and ensuring you don’t get caught short, seems like a great deal.

Just remember you still have to pay your electricity bill.

Are any of you members of the Polar EV membership? Share your thoughts and comments.