As we all know, post-pandemic life is becoming more and more expensive with gas and electricity bills hitting an all-time high. In September 2022 Ofgem’s data shows “The average UK energy bill is £2,500 per year across all UK homes for gas and electricity.” (Ofgem, 2022). There are many advisements on how we can make changes within our homes and businesses to help us save on these rising costs. For example, turning off standby electronics and avoiding overfilling the kettle (Woodward, 2022) but what about the long-term investments? This article will explore technology and materials that could help save hundreds per year on those evergrowing bills. It may be that this article is directed more at homeowners, landlords and business owners however, these are tips that people who rent can look for when renting a new home or place of work also.
“The average UK energy bill is £2,500 per year across all UK homes for gas and electricity.”
LED Lighting and Energy Saving
Light Bulbs Did you know that on average, lighting adds ups to 11% of the electricity consumption in UK homes? (Ingrams, 2022) Updating your lighting to energy-efficient light bulbs would not only save you money but also reduce your carbon footprint. LED light bulbs are the most energy efficient and use around 80% less energy than traditional incandescents. By simply removing Halogen light bulbs from being sold in September 2021 and shifting to LED bulbs, Gov.uk stated “This will cut 1.26 million tonnes of CO2 – the equivalent of removing over half a million cars from UK roads”’. In addition to being eco-friendly, LEDs have an increased lifespan compared to traditional light bulbs. They may cost more initially, however, they pay for themselves within the first two-three months.
Currently, the UK Government has a scheme running for schools and colleges where grants are being
allocated to help cover the costs of updating lighting systems and other areas. This is to help with the rising costs of electricity and gas bills as well as push towards a greener Britain. The National Education Union stated in September 2022, “schools will have little option but to increase class sizes, cut subject choice and reduce additional support” to cover these rising costs. By updating your own lighting at home you too can have a positive impact on both your finances and the environment. BHM Electrical Services are equipped for these instalments and changes in both homes, businesses and schools.
On average, if you replace all the bulbs in your home with LED lights, you could reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by up to 40kg a year. In simpler terms, this is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted by driving your car around 145 miles. The only cons to having LED lights is that they can differ in colour outputs if you have different brands of LEDs. This, however, is a small price for all the good converting to LED light bulbs will do and is something you can quite easily get around: buy the same brand of LEDs. The lights that they emit are bright and instant rather than a gradual increase of light emitting. They create a very modern feel to a room and are a small investment for a long-term win.
Presence and Absence Detection
The need to control lighting in a commercial or domestic space is becoming more and more imperative due to the cost of living. A Presence Detector is when you enter a room, the system detects movement and turns the lights on automatically and switches the lights off automatically when no movement is detected over a period of time. An Absence Detector is a system that is fitted with your lighting where you manually switch on a light in a room and if the sensors do not detect any movement after an allotted amount of time they will automatically turn the lights off however if you leave a room you have the option to manually switch off the light. This makes the Absence Detector more eco-friendly and cost-saving.
This technology is most useful for rooms that have a high footfall as we are less likely to turn off a light knowing other people use the space. Another factor to consider is rooms and areas that do not have much natural light as these are rooms we are in a habit of using the lights during the day. For example, we have Absence Detectors fitted in our WCs, hallways and the kitchen area here at BHM Electrical as our employees are in and out of the areas often however, unlike the main office space they do not spend hours in these areas at one time.
Due to technological advances, these devices are much more affordable now than ever before. (Home, 2022) As well as becoming cost efficient, technological advances have also improved sensors to affect the heating or cooling of a room due to detection of movement resulting in another area of saving you money. In this post pandemic world, where many people are still working remotely, this is now the time to make these investments.
Solar Panels
A Solar Panel captures the sun’s energy and converts it to the power you need for heating and electricity. This is also known as renewable energy. The science behind Solar Panels is incredibly interesting and in its simplest form when light hits the surface of the panels a flow of electricity is created. Out of all the products and technologies to invest in, solar panels are the largest investment to make but as you can imagine, the largest savings in the long term. There are many variants that would decipher how much purchasing and fitting solar panels to your home or workplace would cost including, the size and number of panels, the type of solar panel and the complexity of installing them etc. It is also very dependent on the area of the country you live in as to how much you save. For example, in the South, we have longer daylight hours compared to Aberdeen. With this in mind, Solar Panels will pay for themselves within 8 – 10 years (Solar Service Solutions, 2023). On one hand, the initial costs are around £5,500, on the other hand, you can save £400-£600 a year on your electricity and gas bills. We understand this option isn’t the most affordable but the results really do show. Since 2020 the UK Government has created a system where if you generate more power than you need, you can sell it back to the National Grid. This is called Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) and definitely something to investigate further if you are serious about fitting solar panels. This means that on top of saving you money and being a renewable source of energy, you can also get paid for having excess energy that your solar panels generated. As they generate energy during the day, it becomes cheaper to run machines like a washing machines during this time. (Energy Saving,2023) If you’re not usually home during the day then timers can be set to these appliances so that they coincide with the Solar Panels’ most efficient timings. Last year BHM made the next step to becoming a carbon-neutral company by having Solar Panels fitted to the roof of our office in Romsey. We have already noticed the difference in a few months and it is something we would definitely recommend to other companies and homeowners.
Smart Thermostats
This is an upgrade to your typical thermostat; a device that is connected to your boiler to control your central heating. The Smart aspects result in user friendly changes and smarter ways to monitor your home’s energy usage. Thermostats are typically attached to a wall inside your home however Smart Thermostats can now be remote via an app downloaded to your phone or other smart device. This means you are able to control your heating from anywhere. From your bed, once you’ve left the house or even from the bathroom on the toilet! Having this element of control and the flexibility of having it on you at all times gives you the power to control your energy output therefore saving you money and reducing your carbon footprint. “Smart thermostats typically cost between £140 and £200. Costs vary between suppliers, models, current offers and whether you are a customer of the company already” (Lunn.E, 2023) This is much more affordable then installing Solar Panels however the more updated the Smart Thermostat, the more features they include hence the more expensive ones will most likely save you more money in the long term. After a short period of time the Smart Thermostat can give you readings of your energy usage, giving you a visual of the peaks and dips of when you have the heating on. This is something you can review and make changes as a result to further decrease your energy bills. Another feature is a ‘Zoned Heating’ technology which heats a room separately therefore if you know you will be in the living room all evening you can heat this room without having to heat the entire downstairs of the house. Majority of the newest models can also attach to your hot water, giving you a view on how much is used and how you can control the output remotely. The EcoExperts say “If all UK homes had one, we could cut up to 18.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year”m(J.Jackman, 2023) Can you even imagine the sort of positive impact that would have on our planet? And that is just in the UK alone. It is estimated that you would save around £154 per year if you are to install a Smart Thermostat. BHM advises you to research into the different brands available and to make sure they would work with your current boiler’s brand. A Smart Thermostat shouldn’t need much maintenance after purchasing either and has longevity. This truly is a smart purchase to save you money, time and reduce your carbon footprint.
To summarise, this list of investments ranges in price from affordable to something you may have to save up for. However, they all reduce carbon emissions, they all have increased longevity compared to products you may currently have and finally, they all will save you large amounts of money in the long term. These rising costs are affecting us all and so now is the time to make these clever investments. With these changes, you can set yourself and your homes or businesses in a better financial and economical position.
If you live in the South of the UK or the Isle of Wight and are interested in getting LED Lights fitted or Presence and Absence Detectors fitted, BHM Electrical Services Ltd can be of service. You can check out our website www.bhmelectrical.co.uk or contact our friendly office team via email at office@bhmelectical.co.uk for further information or questions.