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 Still, over 15 million outdated appliances are in use in UK homes, wasting energy and CO₂.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 Energy Saving Trust
2 Based on a car, with average fuel efficiency, driving the 118 mile journey between London and Birmingham
3 Heating accounts for 57.7% of energy used in the home, Source: BERR, Domestic Energy Consumption by End User in 2006' 2009
4 Source: Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances
5 Source: Energy Saving Trust
6 Source: Waterwise
7 Source: Waterwise
8 Source: Act on CO2
9 Source: Energy Saving Trust