THE furore surrounding all things green needs a calm eye cast over it to assess what changes to make — if any — to your home. Before deciding, reach for the calculator. The Government’s addition of an extra £6 million to its £12 million fund for individual grants under the Low Carbon Building Programme is a clear sign that household carbon-saving systems are expensive to introduce.

However, carbon-saving systems can cut your household energy bill by up to 70 per cent. Prospective sellers should note that new rules come into force in June: an energy performance certificate will accompany all property for sale. The issue at the heart of this is heat: how to generate it and how to conserve it. The second main concern is how best to use waste water. Short of investing in a community wind farm (a baby turbine by the chimneypot has minimum impact), the options for heat generation sources are the air, the ground and the sun.

Heat pumps work by drawing in air and changing its temperature through the compression of gas, as a fridge does, but in reverse. It is then dispersed throughout the house via underfloor heating. An Activair pump costs £750 from Trianco, and installation costs from £450 to £750.

Geothermal heating uses metal coils to conduct heat from the ground. You don’t need planning permission but it costs £40,000 to install, although it generates the highest saving in energy bills.

Solar panels work in one of two ways: they either heat the water directly as it passes through the panel (solar-thermal) or they generate electricity to power the boiler (photovoltaic). You need planning permission for both. Costs start at £3,500 for a fully installed solar-thermal panel from Ferroli.

To really grasp the importance of insulation, envisage one third of the money you spend on heating being thrown away. This is effectively what is happening because 33 per cent of heat produced in UK homes is lost through the walls. Basic cavity insulation costs about £250. Various types include Loose-Fill, Rigid, Blanket and Reflective; you can install the last two yourself. The best renewable option is Thermafleece sheep’s wool insulation, from £5 per square metre.

A creative insulation solution is to have a “green roof” fitted. Blackdown Horticultural Consultants fits tailor-made waterproofing before planting an array of appropriately adaptable plants on top of your house. It costs from £40 per square metre.

Having padded your house on all sides you can reduce your carbon emissions by a further 15 to 30 per cent by saving heat before it even leaves your boiler. Condensing boilers reuse two thirds of the heat normally expelled in hot flue gases. If everyone in the UK had one, our total carbon emissions would shrink by 17.5 million tonnes — a collective saving of £1.3 billion in energy bills. A new condensing boiler may cost more than £1,000 but it will save you hundreds of pounds in the long run. It is most efficient with a flexible thermostat.

Finally, water. Grey-water recycling systems filter water from the bath and washing machines, clean it, and reuse it in the loo and garden. They cost £2,000 plus £50 in annual maintenance. A Thames Water trial indicated an average saving of 20 per cent of a household’s water consumption.

ECOLINKS

Energy saving in your home:

www.howstuffworks.com
www.cat.org.uk
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
www.nef.org.uk
www.architectureweek.org.uk
www.wwf.org.uk/sustainablehomes

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