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Know your carbon

We know we need to use and waste less energy - it saves money and cuts our carbon footprint. But do we know how much energy is used and CO2 produced by what we do at home? Over a quarter of all the CO2 produced in the UK comes from the energy we use to heat, light and power our homes. Every year the average home produces around five and a half tonnes of CO21 - that's equivalent to the CO2 produced diving from London to Birmingham about 140 times2.

Lounge

Keeping our homes warm uses more energy than lighting, cooking, heating water and running all our appliances put together3. That's why having our homes properly insulated is so important for saving money and CO2.

Insulating your loft will alone cut your energy bills by up to £205 a year and save a tonne of CO2.

Even a small step like fitting draught proofing around windows and doors makes a difference, saving £30 on energy and 150 kg CO2 a year. That's equivalent to the CO2 produced from using a microwave for over 300 hours.

Kitchen

Cooking and washing use a lot of energy, but small and simple changes make a difference. Washing at 30 degrees rather than at hotter programmes will save 45 kg CO2 each year - equivalent to boiling a kettle more than 700 times.

Technology has come a long way over the past decade when it comes to domestic appliances. Still, over 15 million outdated appliances are in use in UK homes, wasting energy and CO2.

Replacing a 10 year old fridge freezer with an Energy Saving Recommended model will save about £39 a year on energy and up to 140kg CO24. That's more CO2 than is produced driving from Leeds to Manchester nine times.

Bedroom

We waste about 8% of the electricity we use at home by leaving our TVs and other appliances on standby, so turning stereos and TVs off makes a real difference. It will save around £37 a year and 130kg CO2 - that's equivalent to the CO2 produced by boiling a kettle more than 2000 times.

Energy saving light bulbs use up to 80% less energy than traditional bulbs - each bulb saves around £45 in energy over its life.5

Using energy saving bulbs throughout the home will save up to 170kg CO2 over a year - that's the same as the CO2 produced tumble drying 130 loads of washing or watching a plasma TV continuously for over 36 days and nights.

 

Bathroom

A quarter of an average home's energy bill comes from heating water6, so using less hot water will make a big difference to energy bills and carbon footprints. 70% of hot water used at home is in the bathroom7.

Taking a shower typically uses a third less water than a bath, so having fewer baths is an easy way to save money on energy and CO2. (Unless you have a power shower - power showers can use as much water as a bath in just five minutes)8

Around 60% of the average home's CO2 emissions come from its boiler so having an efficient boiler makes a big difference. Replacing an old boiler with a new condensing boiler and a full set of heating controls will save up to £235 a year on energy and as much as 1,300kg CO2.9

  1. 1 Energy Saving Trust
  2. 2 Based on a car, with average fuel efficiency, driving the 118 mile journey between London and Birmingham
  3. 3 Heating accounts for 57.7% of energy used in the home, Source: BERR, Domestic Energy Consumption by End User in 2006' 2009 
  4. 4 Source: Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances
  5. 5 Source: Energy Saving Trust
  6. 6 Source: Waterwise
  7. 7 Source: Waterwise
  8. 8 Source: Act on CO2 
  9. 9 Source: Energy Saving Trust