People power makes a difference
Mar 16 2009 by Patrice John, Birmingham Mail
From using energy efficient light bulbs to driving smarter, teams from Birmingham, Newcastle and Portsmouth will be representing their cities by collectively trying to reduce the energy they use in all aspects of their lives.
Patrice John caught up with the Birmingham contestants to find out how they’ve been getting on in the Act on CO2 People Power Challenge.
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CASE STUDY ONE - Zenon
Birmingham-based counsellor Zenon Kyle has benefitted from the People Power Challenge and says he’s already adopted some of the techniques from his eco driving course.
The 53-year-old married father of one says: “Doing the driving course was a real eye opener for me and taking part in the challenge has also helped me to learn about how to save energy when I’m at home.
“I’ve had some great energy saving advice and simple things like checking how much loft insulation we have was very important.
“We had not realised that building regulations had changed and we needed to put more insulation into our loft.
“B&Q had a sale and so we bought and installed the materials and that has made a real difference.
“It’s meant we can turn our thermostat from 18oC to 16oC and we are still getting the same levels of heat, even though the temperature is lower.”
Zenon, who works for Birmingham City Council, has also adopted other energy saving techniques which include switching to low energy light bulbs, turning appliances off of standby and switching off lights when they’re not needed.
Zenon, who lives in Bromsgrove, says he has benefitted the most from the eco driving course as he noticed an instant difference in his fuel consumption.
When drivers use less fuel they generate less carbon dioxide emissions, which makes eco driving good for the environment and good for the drivers’ budget.
He says: “Doing this course made me a safer and more economical driver.
“I learned how to use the gears of the car properly, to stop revving as much, as well as how to read the road ahead to cut down on the amount of braking I did.
“I noticed a difference when I took the course but I wanted to make sure it still worked in my own car when I was driving around.
“When I had to do the school run I noticed that using the right techniques increased my miles per gallon.
“If this is implemented across the board it could have a significant impact on how we save fuel when driving our cars.
“The techniques can also make us safer drivers.
“There is a lot of lunacy on the roads and reforming the way we drive helps us to be safer.”
Zenon says the greatest challenge has been making sure his family can get on board with the changes he is making.
He says: “When I’m at home I try to make sure the lights are switched off, which is a real change, but unless everyone adopts the principles you will have differences in the way you run the house.
“My wife likes taping tv programmes at night so I have to make sure that if she plans to do that, I don’t turn the recorder off at night.
“But I’ve noticed that even though my family are not involved in the People Power Challenge, they are still doing some of the things I’ve been taught like switching off lights when they need to be.
“The challenge has made me much more conscious of the energy we use at home.”
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CASE STUDY TWO - Dave
Change is afoot in the home of Dave Harte.
The 40-year-old Digital Birmingham employee has used the People Power Challenge as a springboard to increase his eco-friendly behaviour.
He and his wife Sara have taken the challenge to heart and are determined to live more sustainably at home.
“There have been a lot of changes in our house,” he says.
“We have made some simple changes including adjusting our timer so our heating comes on for a shorter amount of time in the morning.
“We now switch off devices that we’d normally leave on standby and we often turn lights off.
“Most of the lights in our home had already been changed to low-energy bulbs but the main difference now is that we can monitor our electricity usage through an energy metre.
“The device shows us how much electricity we are using and translates it into the amount of money we are spending and this makes us much more cautious.
“If there was an equivalent for gas consumption that would be amazing as well.”
Dave says he can’t implement as many of the eco-friendly initiatives at home as he’d like, because of the age of his home in Bournville.
“We live in draughty/drafty Edwardian house, where we don’t have double glazed windows and it’s unsuitable for cavity wall insulation so it can be difficult to implement some of the common energy saving measures.
“But we have insulated our loft and we have started to notice the house is warmer.
“We have always tried to be cautious about energy use as our bills were very high but taking part in the challenge has reminded us of some of the things we can do.”
Dave, who lives in Bournville, also took part in an eco driving course which he says has been very helpful.
“Before I did the course I really thought I was a good driver,” Dave says “but looking back I don’t think I was cautious enough and doing this has really made a difference.
“I’ve learned how to drive in a way that increases my miles per gallon and I really hope I can carry on with it.”
Dave hopes Birmingham will be able to beat the other UK cities who are taking part in the People Power Challenge and believes the competitive nature of people in the city will help them stand out from the rest.
“People in Birmingham has a strong competitive streak so I’m sure the participants will give this a go,” he says.
“But one of the main issues is that we are a city that is in love with the car and that might be our downfall.
“In terms of being competitive, I really do love a challenge and so I’ll be doing my best with this.”
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What is People Power?
People Power is an energy saving challenge running in the city as part of the Government’s ACT ON CO2 campaign.
The challenge follows ten people in three UK cities as they try to reduce their energy use.
Residents in Birmingham, Newcastle and Portsmouth are taking part in the 15-week challenge that will finish at the end of February.
See www.direct.gov.uk/ActOnCo2 for details.
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Energy Saving Tips
Ten ways to save energy, money, and help prevent climate change
1 - Put a jacket on your hot water tank
Fitting your hot water tank with an insulating jacket will help to trap the heat it produces. Fit one that is at least 75mm (3 inches) thick and you could save around £30 a year.
2 - Insulate your loft
Around half the heat lost in a typical home escapes through the walls and the roof. Insulating your loft is simple to do and if you already have loft insulation it is still worth check its thickness as the recommended amount is 270mm.
3 - Fill your wall cavities
Around a third of the heat lost in a house without insulation is through the walls and you could save up to £120 on your energy bills each year by insulating your wall cavities. Installation can take just a couple of hours for a typical three-bedroom house and can be done from the outside. If everyone in the UK filled their wall cavities, it would save around £670 million of energy a year.
4 - Dodge the draughts
Eliminate draughts and wasted heat by installing a cheap, easy-to-fix brush or PVC seal on your exterior doors, letterboxes and keyholes. Draughts also get in through gaps in floorboards and skirting boards which allow heat to escape in winter.
5 - Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones
An energy efficient bulb produces less CO2 and can save up to £60 in electricity over its lifetime. Energy saving bulbs work in standard fittings and lamps, and are widely available.
6 - Don’t leave it on standby
If everyone in the UK switched off unused appliances it would save £800 million a year. Leaving appliances plugged in and switched on at the socket means they’re still using energy so turn TVs, games consoles and mobile phone chargers off at the mains to save yourself money.
7 - Turn off the lights
£140 million a year is wasted through leaving lights on in unused rooms, so always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
8 - Take control of your heating
You can avoid heating an empty house by using the timer so your central heating is switched off when nobody’s home. If you have radiator valves, you can also turn off radiators in rooms that aren’t being used. And if you’d like to cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent, just turn your central heating down by one degree.
9 - Save water
Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you’re using an electric kettle) and turn off those taps as a dripping tap wastes energy.
10 - Cool your water
If you have a programmer, set your heating and hot water to come on only when required rather than all the time. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C/140°F.
