I always try to be conservative when it comes to the energy in our home, but my children and husband aren't so concerned about the energy we use. So when I was asked to be part of a campaign with Brit Mums and British Gas, to help make children aware of how to save on the energy consumption around the house, I thought this was a great idea.
I do have the luxuries of the dishwasher and the tumble dryer, two items I don't think I could live without, especially with being at work all day and unable to get the clothes out to dry during the day. I know this use up a lot of energy so I try to save energy when I can. I spoke to my five year old and we came up with some ways of saving energy and reducing our carbon footprint.
Here are our ideas of saving energy in your home:-
- I always make sure lights are switched off when we are not in the room.
- Leave the curtains and blinds open as long as possible using natural light instead of artificial.
- Switch the tv off when we are not watching it. We don't need it on, when we are drawing or playing games.
- Keep doors closed when playing outside. This lets the cold air in and the hot air out.
- When it's cold put on a jumper and run around for a bit rather than putting the heating on or turning it up.
- Only put dirty clothes into the washing basket don't just put them in because you have worn them for a few hours.
- Share a bath, uses less water and less energy to heat the water. Also you don't need a deep bath.
- When switching on taps, only use what you need. Switch the water off in between brushing your teeth and rinsing and make sure the taps aren't dripping.
- Shutting the curtains at night as well as blinds keep in the extra heat.
- Don't leave electrical items on standby, switch them off.
We have one of the Smart Meters in the house and since it's been installed my husband has become obsessed with how much energy we have been using. The meter is great, it tells you how much energy you are currently using, both gas and electricity and how much it is costing you. When you switch something off you can instantly see it go down, it also monitors the amount you have used and what temperature the room is. It works both on battery and off of the mains. It is a fun way of monitoring and the boys are always checking the facial expressions on the wee house guy on the meter, smiley for the correct temperature, sad if it's brrr chilly and sad if it's hot hot hot. I can safely say this has changed the way the rest of the family think about our energy consumption and are definitely being more careful to switch off unused appliances and lights.
The government have said that they will have a smart meter in all homes by 2019, which I think is a great idea. The accuracy that smart meters provide lets us forecast energy use throughout the day, across the country. This means we can become more efficient in how we generate the nation's power, producing cleaner, greener electricity.
"I'm participating in the British Gas Smart Meter campaign. Smart meters work with an in-home display to show how much energy you're using in pounds and pence. You can see how much you're spending by leaving your phone charger plugged in all the time, or the heating on at night. And when you can really see how much you're using, you can start to make small changes to become more efficient. Smart Meters automatically send British Gas readings so they represent the end of estimated bills! British Gas is committed to install 1.5 million smart meters by the end of 2012. (link to programme)."