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Urban micro-wind doesn't work say new trials
Posted by Matthew Rhodes on 19th January 2009 at 2:14 pm
Urban micro-wind doesn’t work in almost all urban contexts and has, on the whole, been poorly deployed and sold for the best part of the last three years. These are two of the objective facts set out in the report of the Encraft Warwick Wind Trials. On publishing the final report into urban m…
Posted in: Wind turbines
Low-carbon living = improved quality of life
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 2nd January 2009 at 4:21 pm
Part of the difficulty of encouraging people to invest in low-carbon living is the difficulty of imagining what it will be like. Too much of the media coverage paints a picture of deprivation and hair shirts, leaving us shivering at the thought, and tempted to stick our heads in the sand. Now a…
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Selling the electricity you generate
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 1st June 2009 at 10:12 am
If you think that choosing your utility supplier is complex and painful, then just wait until you start exploring the tariffs for exporting the electricity you generate back to the grid. There are two main ways of selling your electricity. Some suppliers pay for all the electricity you gen…
Posted in: General, Combined heat & power, Hydro electricity, Solar electricity, Wind turbines
Measure the wind before you install a turbine
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 5th August 2009 at 9:08 am
Product and installation standards for domestic wind turbines are needed, as are improved wind speed prediction and better site assessments. These are some of the key conclusions of the Energy Saving Trust's microwind research published in July. On measuring the wind speed, EST recommends that, …
Posted in: Wind turbines
Wind turbines: is vertical or horizontal best?
Posted by Graham Eastwick on 24th August 2009 at 12:05 pm
There are two main categories of small wind turbines you will see as you travel around the UK today. Horizontal axis turbines look like traditional wind turbines and typically have two or three blades. Vertical axis turbines come in a number of designs, a spiral or some paddles blowing around in the…
Posted in: Wind turbines
Scots pilot loan scheme for energy efficiency
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 16th October 2009 at 9:43 am
Homeowners in Scotland can apply for interest free loans to improve their insulation, replace inefficient boilers or install small scale renewables thanks to a new government pilot scheme. The £2m Energy Saving Scotland home loans scheme is being administered by the Energy Saving Trust in Scotla…
Posted in: Energy efficiency
Six steps to claiming £400 for a new boiler
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 6th January 2010 at 12:10 pm
Households with inefficient, old boilers (G-rated) can get £400 off the price of a new A-rated boiler thanks to the new boiler scrappage scheme launched yesterday by Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband. You can also put the money towards a renewable heating system such as a biomass boiler or heat pump. …
Posted in: Energy efficiency
500 households to try Pay As You Save schemes
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 1st February 2010 at 8:53 am
Talk on how to finance making your house more energy efficient has turned to action - that's the good news. The bad news is that it's a small scheme that will only reach about 500 households in five areas of England between December 2009 and April 2011. Households in Birmingham, Sunderland, Londo…
Posted in: General, Energy efficiency
Wind power trial results published
Posted by Graham Eastwick on 15th July 2009 at 9:41 am
The results of the Energy Savings Trust wind trial were published this week. This trial monitored both the performance of building-mounted turbines and turbines mounted on free-standing poles. In line with the previously published Warwick Wind Trials the study concluded that location is the most im…
Posted in: Wind turbines
Heat pumps: field trials reveal good and bad installations
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 13th September 2010 at 9:17 am
The good news is that heat pumps can operate well in the UK, as long as they are well-designed and installed, and the customer understands how to use the controls. The bad news is that the Energy Saving Trust’s (EST) field trial of 83 heat pumps found that isn’t always the case. System effici…
Posted in: Heat pumps
Heat pump field trial: good or bad?
Posted by John Barker-Brown on 21st September 2010 at 12:02 pm
Heat pumps don't work, so scrap the RHI, or Heat pump technology works well and we must pursue it. These are the two completely opposite views generated by the Energy Savings Trust's (EST) Heat Pump field trial. The report, Getting Warmer; a field trail of heat pumps has finally been relea…
Posted in: Heat pumps
Heat pumps: 7 top tips for installers
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 22nd September 2010 at 9:08 am
"Many heat pumps appeared to be installed incorrectly." reports the Energy Saving Trust in its recent report on field trials into 83 installations of air source and ground source heat pumps. This is disheartening news, and we thoroughly endorse its recommendation that guidance to, and training of, i…
Posted in: Heat pumps
Ground source heat pumps don't need immersion heaters
Posted by John Barker-Brown on 6th December 2010 at 11:52 am
Would you install an 11kW boiler into a building with a 20kW load? No. The same should be true of ground source heat pumps. Due to the constraints of the UK National Grid there are a number of large properties with single phase electricity, where the upgrade cost to three phase sup…
Posted in: Heat pumps
User control is vital for best performing solar water heating
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 18th October 2011 at 3:23 am
The way householders use their solar thermal system is critical to getting the best results from solar water heating systems, according to new research. The Energy Saving Trust (EST) is calling on installers to give better advice to users on how to control their solar water heating: in terms of volu…
Posted in: Solar heat & hot water
Keep warm; spend less
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 24th October 2011 at 5:28 am
Being cold is miserable. Yet, as energy prices rocket, lots of people will be cold this winter. The dominant narrative about how to get round this focuses on knocking the big six energy companies, and urges us to swap supplier to find a lower price. While I don't argue with this, it's also a grea…
Posted in: Energy efficiency
Products are more energy efficient, yet household electricity use is going up
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 21st November 2011 at 10:20 am
Despite buying more energy-efficient products than ever before, energy use in the home is on the rise. This is because we are using more gadgets than we used to, and we are using them differently. In a new report, The Elephant in the Living Room, the Energy Saving Trust (EST) points out that: "w…
Posted in: Energy efficiency
Reducing your energy bills: how to find efficient appliances
Posted by Cathy Debenham on 23rd November 2011 at 9:20 am
How we buy and use electrical appliances in the home has a significant impact on how much electricity we consume - and thus, how high our bills are. So how do we make sure that we buy the most efficient appliance for our needs? With difficulty, it seems, according to The Elephant in the Living Ro…
Posted in: Energy efficiency
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