A Year of Reducing Our Energy Use: Lessons Learnt and Top Tips

Over the last year onsite at St Denys Church, Southampton we’ve made some small, informed changes to reduce our energy consumption onsite. By carefully tracking our usage and making changes based on the data, we’ve reduced our we've reduced our annual electric consumption by thousands of pounds. 

We’ve identified the ‘hidden big drinkers’ of energy, the subtle drainers of power and a range of affordable kit that helps make a difference. We’ve also found that the lessons learnt onsite, can also be applied to our homes.

Hopefully this inspires you to see that small, informed changes can make a difference and will give you some ideas of what you can try at church or at home 

A Bit About Us:

St Denys Church site is on the edge of the inner city of Southampton. We have a large Victorian church building attached to our church community centre and both are open and used 7 days a week. There are many high & beautiful ceilings, which present challenges for efficient heating and lighting, and the central heating does not stretch to the church office (which is used 6 mornings a week) so that presents the challenge of warmth. The needs of the food projects and hospitality mean we have at least 7 fridges/freezers onsite, and commercial ovens and multiple urns that are used heavily (and sometimes left on).

At the heart of these changes has been one volunteer (Mike) who had motivation, knowledge and determination, and to whom we owe a huge thanks. He was accompanied on the journey by 2 key volunteers, a part-time member of staff and the priest-in-charge. In addition, the wider church and community supported through donations, practical help and a willingness to change habits.

How did we get information about our usage?

• Monitoring the changing energy consumption over each day and week to identify hot spots and changes: Our low-tech strategy involved Mike taping a mobile phone to the old electricity meter. This took a photo of the reading every hour. He then transferred the numbers to a spreadsheet to produce a graph of time and usage. (A smart meter will make this easier)
• To find out how much energy an specific appliance actually used: We used a device for reading the usage of a single appliance – ( great for checking actual use of ovens, fridges, freezers, heaters etc. It helped us spot our big drinkers)

Don't be put off - power monitors are cheap and easy to use - available from all major hardware stores, typically costing between £10 – 20. For instance, the 'Energenie' power meters – but other brands are available; your local store can point you to a suitable model.

A top tip is, once you're done with it, don't just put it in a cupboard – pass it along, or offer it for other members of your church to borrow and check on their appliances

What were the Most Significant changes we made:

1. Replacing a thirsty old chest freezer with a new one (Lesson learnt: consider energy consumption when accepting second-hand donations)
2. Getting the faulty immersion properly fixed (Lesson learnt: regular 24 hour monitoring of power helps find hidden problems early)
3. Switching to chair heaters in the office rather than wall heaters (Lesson learnt: heat the person not the space)
4. Replacing standard halogen lightbulbs with LED ones (Lesson Learnt: It takes a community effort to change the light bulbs but it’s worth it) Top Tip: today there are LED alternatives for almost every light fitting, from fluorescent tubes to halogen capsules. Don't assume you have to keep using the same type of bulb if you have unusual fittings – major savings might be one quick bulb-swap away!
5. Taking better control of our gas heating and insulating the pipes (Lesson learnt: it’s worth establishing new habits in the core team who are onsite the most)

You can read the full list of the changes, benefits and cost we made at this blog: Practical Examples of How We've Reduced Our Energy Use

What kit is really useful?

• The manuals for your devices are a great place to start – you might not have read them, but often they will give you important information on energy use – if you have older equipment, you might be able to find old manuals online. This will help you decide if an old appliance is worth replacing with something newer and more efficient
• A smart meter! (we’re waiting to get one fitted). Also, if you've been running multiple electric meters historically, consider trying to consolidate onto a single meter, to save paying additional standing charges.
• A device for checking energy consumption. There are lots of models out there, so shop around, but this £10 meter from B&Q might be a good starting point: link here.
• A plug-in count-down timer to automatically turn off urns, heaters etc after a certain length of use (for example this one)
• Heated seat cushions with pressure sensitive switches (for example this one)
• Double- and triple-walled urns (everyone knows that a good church runs on tea and coffee, so a more efficient urn might be a good purchase!) We've been very impressed by this triple-wall urn from Adexa; whereas our old single-walled ones got so hot you couldn't safely touch the outside, this urn is far cooler to the touch – the heat is kept locked inside! Link here – and of course other models are available if you search around!

What’s next to reduce further our consumption?

We know there is still more to do, especially as we move towards Net Zero. Some particular things for us include:

• Tackle the ovens – (we’ll need grants to do this). We can only use electric appliances, but technologies like induction hobs and steam convection ovens are more efficient than older conventional electric hobs and ovens.
• Keep improving the toilets -  The other toilets need light sensors. And to address water usage where toilet washbasins are using old 'twist' taps, we'll look to fit “concussion” press-taps, which switch off automatically – hot taps left on don't only waste water but also a lot of expensive heat, which is much more costly than the water wasted!
• Improving our insulation in the building: this is often difficult with old historic buildings, but it is important to look for changes that can be made. By re-building the roof with better insulation in “the den” (our children's area in the church) we have made that area a bit warmer at least. But there is lots more to do!
• Look at our energy supply, switching over to a greener tariff and alternative sources of energy

Find out more about what you can do:

If this is inspiring you, but you don't know where to start, then take a lot at this blog: 5 Ways to Start with Reducing Energy Use

And if you want some more detailed ideas about changes you can make (and how much they cost) then check out this blog: Practical Examples of How We've Reduced Our Energy Use