We are all told to switch to green energy. And of course fossil fuels are causing terrible harm to the planet. The Green Party and Lib Dems want all homes nationwide insulated for free (which would provide lots of jobs over years), as along with energy-efficient boilers, this is the best way to help reduce household bills.
Turning down the thermostat is not usually good advice, as it could cause hypothermia in vulnerable people and pets. Instead, look at measures like radiator boosters to stop cold air flowing out the wall into the street. If you use portable radiators, choose quality oil-powered ones over convector heaters, which heat up too fast, and could cause heatstroke in older people and pets.
Big Energy Credit Claim Back is helping 12,000 households to reclaim a combined £3 billion of credit, sitting in the banks of energy companies, due to advance direct debit payments. You can legally have this returned within 2 weeks.
Gas Safety and Boiler Servicing
Gas leaks smell like rotten eggs. Get everyone out and call Gas Safe Emergency Helpline (never smoke or use ignition switches). Locate your emergency control valve, to know how to switch it off.
Odourless carbon monoxide causes poisonous gas (headaches, nausea – and also in pets who get red ears/gums/lips, vomiting and may be irritable. Medical emergencies.
Signs of carbon monoxide leaks are floppy yellow/orange flames on hobs/ovens, sooty stains around appliances, pilot lights that go out and condensation inside windows. Get an annual boiler check and install a carbon monoxode alarm (a back-up, not prevention). It’s the law for landlords and hotels to have them.
Consider Switching to Ecotricity
Consider switching to Ecotricity. This company does not make its ‘green energy’ from burning carcasses of abattoir animals, and is also makes gas from grass! Founder Dale Vince owns EcoTalk, a phone company powered by green energy that uses profits to buy land to conserve it for birds and native mammals.
Dale is an eco-vegan loudmouth! who is calling for a halt on deep-sea mining to protect seagrass meadows (essential for sea turtles and sea horses). Also get an energy-saving kettles (old-style kettles use a lot of energy, for a nation that drinks as much tea as we do!)
Do Wind Turbines Harm Birds and Bats?
The London School of Economics says over 100,000 birds a year could be killed due to wind turbines. So in a country that gets most energy from wind, experts say good ideas are to place turbines further apart, paint one blade (and wind towers) black so birds can see them and install manmade islands to provide breeding habitats for seabirds.
Building roads to offshore parks is also harmful, which is why Ecotricity tends to place turbines in urban areas. New bladeless turbines (like tall vibrating wands) claim to be bird-friendly.
Ecotricity is focusing on bifacial solar panels, which make electricity from undersides by light reflected off the ground, so need less sun to work. Solar energy works more by daylight than sunlight, so unless you live in Scandinavia (plunged into darkness for winter), this is hopeful.
Make Use of Energy Grants
- First of all, ensure you are claiming benefits (and disability benefits) that you’re entitled to. Just one phone call could see many people get £11,000 to take them onto Pension Credit (which will also entitles them to Winter Fuel Allowance).
- AGE UK Warm Homes program can help to install radiator boosters, draught excluders and energy-efficient lightbulbs, and benefits. One recipient with dementia (who had been turning off her heat to save money) ended up £9000 a year better off.
- Big Energy Credit Claim Back is helping 12,000 households to reclaim a combined £3 billion of credit, sitting in the banks of energy companies, due to advance direct debit payments. You can legally have this returned within 2 weeks. Then switch to Ecotricity!
- British Gas Bounce Back List lists over 200 places to find help with bills and grants, and includes a list of warm space cafes nationwide. Check if you’re eligible for free or discounted boilers under the The Energy Obligation Scheme.
