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If you’ve seen any of the scare stories, we’d like to reassure you…
Yes – some of the changes involve ‘big ticket’ items like boilers and cars, but others will cost little or nothing.
Big ticket items
No-one is suggesting you get rid of things like cars and boilers before they wear out or you have another reason to move on.
When that time arrives, take a careful look at both sides of the coin.
The costs may be a lot lower than you expect. Energy supplier Octopus is offering heat pumps for less than the price of new gas boilers, after the Government grant is taken into account. That’s far lower than figures often quoted in the media.
The savings can quickly add up. Even when electricity prices were at their peak, the cost of charging an electric car at home was equivalent to spending just £1 a litre to fill up a petrol or diesel car. Tax and maintenance costs are about half those of petrol and diesel models.
And some changes will add value to your home. A 2022 survey of over 2,300 UK-based homebuyers, owners, estate agents and mortgage brokers by the bank Santander found that buyers place an average 9.4% premium on homes that have been retrofitted to make them energy efficient.
Freebies
Other changes cost little or nothing, or even save you money, especially now energy prices are so high. From that point of view, they’re no brainers. Just change the way you do things, feel better about your emissions and watch the money roll in!
Here are some examples:
- At December 2022’s prices, it costs about £1.80 every time you dry a load of washing in a tumble dryer. Drying on an airer or washing line is free and doesn’t cause any emissions.
- If you have a combi boiler, adjusting it so the temperature of your radiators is 55 rather than 80 degrees can reduce the amount of gas used by nine percent. As well as reducing emissions, it would save an average household £112 a year.
- Tempted to drive at 80mph instead of 70mph? According to Which?, that uses 25 percent more fuel. Or 70mph instead of 60mph? That uses nine percent more. It might add a few minutes to your journey, but slowing down and keeping to a steady speed cut consumption, reduce emissions and save you money.
- According to WRAP – the Waste and Resources Action Programme – British households throw away edible food worth around £14 billion each year, costing the average household about £490. The emissions associated with the wasted food total some 14 million tonnes – about 0.5 tonnes a household.
- It’s easy to find suppliers that promise 100 percent green electricity. Some supply it at no extra cost if you have a smart meter installed, and they’ll fit one of those for free. According to the Government’s Committee on Climate Change, getting your energy from low-carbon sources could reduce your emissions by 79%, cutting the average home’s footprint by 1.25 tonnes a year.
- Also according to the Committee on Climate Change, the average home can cut its footprint by 0.25 tonnes a year by reducing waste and sorting it correctly for recycling.
To probe further…
- No cost actions [advice sheet - PDF]
- Green energy tariffs [advice sheet – PDF]