Elephants in living rooms, the rising of machines - Phew!

"Hasta-la-vista Baby"

The 'Rise of the Machines' report - you might be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled across a remake of a Schwarzenegger blockbuster and not a report by the Energy Saving Trust, and yet, 5 years ago, that's exactly the title they gave their report into increasing power usage in the home due to the infiltration of technology and other electrical devices.

Five years later, they've published their follow up report. No not Judgement Day but 'Elephants in the Living Rooms'.

It's a silly title with a huge message - energy consumption in homes around Britain is barely in check as the number of electrical devices requiring charging or a suitable mains plug continues to grow. Computers alone have grown from 30 to 65 million between 2000 and 2009.

We may have energy efficiency ratings for most household appliances, and these have had a very positive effect on overall energy use - the worst culprit - fridges - have dropped from being the number one power guzzler to number 3, and by 2010, are expected to be even more efficient and further down the listings.

And with some devices taking on dual roles - printers that double as scanners etc - it would seem we're well on top of energy use.

Not so - Despite more energy efficient goods, the sheer numbers and the fact that so many are being left on standby rather than being switched off completely, means at todays rates - we could miss our 2020 CO2 emission targets.

As one blogger put it: "the number of everyday devices that seem to need a charger when we go on holiday means a whole bag dedicated to chargers".

Of course there are positives - Laptops, which use only 15% of the energy consumed by a desktop PC, are set to treble in numbers in the next 8 years. And it's very hard to buy a fridge with anything less than a 'B' energy rating (in fact 85% of fridges now sold are 'A' rated).

And of course, we're starting to get the message about not leaving lights on when not in the room - 91% say they are in the habit of turning off lights when not in a room but only two thirds are doing it all the time - sometimes, a little bit more than just the thought is required.

What's the answer? Change our beloved gadget habits? Choose manual operation instead of a remote controlled method? Or just sit in the dark with a candle? The Elephant in the Living Room points out that there is still so much we can do and whilst the electrical devices around our home might be spawning, if we're sensible about not leaving chargers permanently plugged in or TV's, their surround sound and numbers game consoles on standby, then we might just have a chance.

Rather than 'No Problemo' - If we don't re-evaluate our energy usage habits, then it's surely 'Hasta-la-vista Baby'?

photo credit: pasukaru76

Plug and save

Trials have been conducted on a new type of mains plug which can cut energy consumption by an average of 41%.

For equipment often left on standby like printers, the energy saved increased to 93%.

The Energy Saving Trust revealed the tests carried out by researchers at Imperial College who have trialled the new green plug in 68 homes in West Yorkshire.

Read more about the savings their smart plug made by clicking here.

photo credit: fabrizio monti

UK renewable energy supply up 23%

"contribution"

Thanks to Renewable Energy Focus for reporting the figures on renewable energy generation as released by the Dept of Energy and Climate Change.

Renewables now contribute 8.6% of the UK's electricity supply as the figure rose by 23.1% in the third quarter of 2010, when compared with the same period last year.

Wind power rose by 37%.

Coal and solid fuel consumption rose by 13.4%, oil by 0.5% while gas consumption fell by 3.6% and primary electricity consumption fell by 18.5%.

Total energy consumption rose 0.3% to 44.2 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

The figures boost belief that the UK can "deliver on its 2020 targets".

Read the full report here.

You can contribute to the figures yourself. Enquire about having your own solar panel installation and you too could be making use of the feed-in tariff, lowering your energy bills and getting paid for the electricity you generate.

Click here to visit Solar Panel Quoter now and get your instant online quote in minutes, without obligation.

photo credit: johnny boy a

British Gas jump the gun with smart meters

A story that started circulating last week and The Times reported on the 29th March - apparently, British Gas are to start installing Smart Meters into a million homes during 2010.

The programme will create 2,500 jobs and claims that household energy bills could be cut by £1 billion over the next ten years.

The Times reports:

"The meters monitor energy consumption as it is used and send the information directly to suppliers over wireless networks. At the same time, a monitor placed prominently in the home shows customers exactly what they are using, encouraging them to switch off power-hungry appliances."

You can read the full article by visiting The Times website - click here.

Do drop us a line (comment below) if you're one of the first lucky few to get your smart meter and share with us how you find they make a difference.

photo credit: damo1977

Energy Saving at Home? There's an 'App' for that.

Energy Saving at Home? There's an 'App' for that.

With the Government promising a smart meter for every home in the UK by 2020, monitoring and therefore, being able to reduce our energy consumption, is going to become a key area in the fight against climate change.

Now whilst I think that monitoring the energy I use at home is a great idea, like you - I'm sure we're already doing everything possible? We don't leave lights on or TV's when no-one's in the room etc.

Just because my energy monitor tells me I'm using too much electricity, am I really going to turn the fridge off one hour in five etc?

The key to such initiatives is knowing what power you already consume - How much does leaving a computer on standby cost you in electricity over a year?

With Christmas literally around the corner, If you've already got (or are lucky enough to get) an iPhone or iTouch, there's a range of smart applications that will help you work out just that and more. Here's a short rundown of 3 we came across recently:

Kill-o-watts - Choose your electrical appliance from a list of over 120 everyday appliances or create your own appliance. Then enter the amount of hours that appliance is regularly used and this 'app' calculates how much energy that uses. You can even use it when buying new appliances as it will calculate which products consume less energy.

Greenmeter - This clever 'app' helps you reduce your fuel consumption as well as the impact your driving has on the environment. Using the iPhone's / iTouch's accelerator, data is analysed to calculate your car's fuel usage and consumption etc. It doesn't need GPS to function.

MeterRead - Monitor your energy consumption in the home by tracking your meter readings, this clever 'app' predicts the amount of energy you're likely to consume in the coming month, helping you cut your energy bills.

Remember to check compatibility with your device before purchase. All the above 'apps' can be purchased directly from the iTunes App Store.

photo credit: ollie crafoord

Clear requirements for real-time energy displays or smart meters

The Centre for Sustainable Energy has been asking people in the UK what they want from a Smart Meter and what information will best help them cut down on their daily energy usage...

"The national roll-out of smart meters is an opportunity to improve consumer information on energy use through the integration of home energy displays with the smart meter technology. This study sought to define a core specification for these real-time energy displays, derived from a qualitative investigation of consumer experience of the electricity displays currently available on the market.

Only one of the displays used in the study, the GEO minim, comes close to meeting this specification. Despite a relatively well developed display industry in the UK, the majority of the home energy displays currently on the market do not have the functionality that consumers identify, in practice, as being critical to display design. Hence ‘the market’ cannot be relied on to deliver an outcome that is optimal for consumers."

The study also found that...

"Participants knew very little about their energy consumption. Those on prepayment meters had the best sense of what they were spending but this did not translate into an understanding of what used more or less energy in their homes. Consequently, the displays enabled all participants to learn about the differences in the power consumption of different lights and appliances. The types of knowledge that participants gained included:

- The power consumption of lights and appliances in Watts or kilowatts.
- How much it costs to run different appliances.
- Household baseload consumption. “I’m now getting used to the display and numbers. I know that it mostly sits at 0.129kW with just the TV on and it’s 0.048kW with everything off.
The range of their energy consumption levels and therefore what constitutes a high level of consumption (at least for them)
- Typical daily consumption or spend. “I remembered values from previous days. You get to know your daily consumption level. The most I ever used in one day was 40p.”
- Patterns of energy consumption over the week. “A lot of energy gets consumed on weekends with everyone home. This is usually taken for granted but now we’re trying to do something about it”.
- The link between individual and collective energy consumption. “If everyone turned their fridge down, it would make big difference.”

It's a fascinating insight into how we understand and interpret our normal power usage and if understanding is the first step to controlling and reducing our energy use, then that's got to be a good thing.

Read the full report which includes anecdotes from members of the public involved in the study, by visiting the CSE's website - click here.

photo credit: scraplab