Top tips to reduce your energy needs..

There are many ways to use renewable energy to heat, cool and run your home.Why should you? Energy consumption in the home is a massive contributor to the drain of our natural resources on this planet and to the increase in global warming. While people might think that big changes are required to make things better the truth is that little changes are equally effective and more easily adopted.

So don’t just sit back and feel powerless. Follow these easy five tips and see your energy bills shrink and your contribution to helping ease the strain on the environment rise.

1.Use windows to their maximum potential. Overhangs over the window help keep the sun out in summer yet allow the rays of a lower winter sun through; just when you need it. In the summer open windows at opposite ends of the house to allow a flowing and cooling breeze in.
2.Use wood to heat your home in wood-burners or fireplaces – but ensure the wood comes from replenishable supplies and dying, diseased or replaced trees.
3.Think about cooler flooring: wood, slate and stone are much better at keeping a house cool than carpet and reduce the need for air-conditioning. In the winter you can roll out a few rugs to keep make the house feel cosier and reduce the need for heating.
4.Use a free and natural tumble dryer. Dryers are a huge energy absorber – why not hang a clothes line in the breeze and take advantage of the wind and sun? Not only will your clothes smell fresher but the sun will act as a natural bleaching agent.
5.Install solar panels or solar pv (photovoltaic) panels. Solar panels can be used to heat hot water for the house – in which case they are thermal panels – but solar pv panels are used to transform the sun’s energy into electricity.See, it’s easy to make a difference with small changes, and if everyone did the same it would add up to the big change everyone is talking about!