Top Tips For An Eco Friendly Home

Turn televisions off when you are not using them, don't just put them on standby. Televisions use almost as much energy when they are on standby as when they are fully on.

Don't leave mobile phone chargers on when not in use. Adapters consume electricity even when they are not connected to an appliance.

Consider buying rechargeable batteries and a charger instead of disposable ones. This reduces the number of batteries you throw away, this is important as batteries contain chemicals which are bad for the environment.

Use appliances efficiently. If you are boiling the kettle, only use as much water as you need. Try to use the washing machine only when you have a full load. Also reduce the temperature to 30 degrees. Modern detergents are designed to work at lower temperatures.

When you buy a new appliance, buy an A+ rated one. Energy efficient appliances may be more expensive to buy, but they will more than pay you back by reducing your energy bills. Also think about the size of appliance you need. There is no need to buy a giant chest freezer if you live alone.

When you get rid of your old appliances don't just throw then away. If they still work then why not sell them and make a bit of extra cash. If they do not work then try to dispose of them responsibly. There are mountains of fridges and televisions just sitting in landfills, these will take centuries to decompose and some release CFCs and other nasties into the environment.

The most obvious thing here is to turn lights off when you leave a room. Also replace conventional light bulbs with energy saving ones. As well as saving energy, these bulbs have a much longer life span so they save you money in 2 ways.

Many people leave their hot water boiler on all day. Think about times when you don't need it, for example when you are at work, and use the timer to turn it off. Make sure your boiler is checked regularly to make sure it is burning efficiently. This can help save you money as well as preventing a dangerous build up of carbon monoxide gas.

Make Your toilet more eco friendly by reducing the amount of water used in each flush. There are a number of devices you can buy which you place in the cistern, this reduces its capacity.

It is estimated that 70% of the heat from a radiator is lost through the wall. Radiator panels sit on walls behind radiators making sure the heat goes into the room not the wall.

If you have a chimney that is no longer in use, invest in a chimney balloon. These inflate to snugly fit your chimney reducing heat loss from the room.

One simple option to help the environment is to use a green tariff from your energy supplier. This may cost a little more than the standard tariff, buy the energy is obtained from wind farms and other green sources. If you are in the UK, why not find the cheapest green energy tariff you can on uSwitch.com

If you are willing to invest the money, there are a number of other things you can do to reduce your home's carbon foot print.

Loft insulation can dramatically reduce the heat lost from your home thus reducing your energy costs. It's not a cheap investment but it will pay for itself relatively quickly.

Similar to loft insulation is cavity wall insulation. Again this reduces heat loss in your home. Again not the cheapest thing to do but it will pay for itself.

The most drastic changes on this list you could make to your home are solar panels, solar water heaters and wind turbines.

These additions require significant investment in the thousands of pounds. I don't personally have any of these fitted and I don't know anyone who has. I have heard conflicting opinions about them, some people say they are generating a large proportion of their electricity through them. Some even say they are sometimes able to sell electricity back to the national grid. On the other hand, I have heard of people who have invested thousands and are saving only pence per day. I suspect it depends greatly on your geographic location, are you in a built up area for example.

I would love to hear from anyone who has fitted solar panels, solar water heaters or wind turbines and hear how much they have benefited from them. Please leave your comments in the Your Thoughts And Comments section lower down on this page.

I discovered a small online publisher called Green Books. This company specialises in books on environmental issues including recycling and conserving energy. Many of their books are even printed on recycled paper.

Please view my lens on them called Green Living With Green Books or go to the xooguru.com Green Books entry for more information.

These are some of the other lenses from xooguru:

xooguru.com - The Shopping Wiki
Adopt An Animal - a novel charitable gift?
Do You Care Where Your Clothes Come From? - take part in the argument about cheap clothes