Practical Examples of How We've Reduced Our Energy Use
# Nature
Published by Sera Rumble on Thursday, 7 December 2023 13:24
Practical Examples of How We've Reduced Our Energy Use
| Before | Change | Cost | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Big Drinkers | |||
| A thirsty second-hand chest freezer (using over 100 kWh per month!) | A new more efficient chest freezer (using about 20 kWh per month) | £400 purchase £25 disposal | Adexa have a wide range of appliances reduced prices |
| Immersion heater with a sporadic & costly fault (wasting 30 kWh a day) | Got the professionals to fix the faulty part (took 3 visits as the fault was sporadic) | £350 parts and labour | Data monitoring was vital in identifying the problem |
| Lights | |||
| 156 lights with halogen (R7S) lightbulbs and old, inefficient fluorescent tubes | Use LED lightbulbs. We used these replacements for our old fluorescent tubes, using one-third of the power: link We used these replacements for our R7S halogen capsules, reducing energy use by 95%! link | £12 for our halogen bulb replacements; £12 for our fluorescent tube replacements | Note: we did a special fundraiser for this, and raised £900 over a month |
| Unnecessary high voltage lights | Disconnected the circuit so they can’t be used | £0 | |
| Lights being left on (despite signs) | Automatic sensors fitted in the ladies toilets to turn lights off. | A donation enabled the change to sensors in the ladies toilet | |
| Food-related Appliances | |||
| Single skin Urns | Double and triple skinned urns | £90 each | We’re buying them when existing urns breakdown |
| Fridges & freezers working extra hard & inefficiently | Aim to maintain space around appliances. Put 5cm wood behind appliances to keep distance from wall. Reposition appliances so 5cm gap on either side | £0 | Check the manual for your appliances, it might recommend how much clearance to leave. Many people don't realise that cleaning the radiator on the back of their fridge/freezer can help it to run more efficiently too |
| Heating | |||
| Wall heaters in the high-ceiling office | Chair heaters (plus a boost from 1 infrared heater when v cold) | 3 x £50 | We tested a range of options and found that ones which were pressure sensitive were most efficient |
| Heat escaping down the corridor & out of the front door | Door signs Habit changing so team proactively closes doors. | £0 | |
| Heat being lost along pipes | Insulate pipes (pipe lagging is very cheap and easily fitted by volunteers) | £1-£2 per metre | |
| Subtle Energy Drainers | |||
| Urns & heaters left on when no longer used | Add a time limited plug to switch item off after 2 hours | £8 each | We found these were very usable |
| Electronic magnets holding kitchen hatch open | Change button to an on/off switch so the circuits are not left 'always on' | £5 | |
| Various electrical items running for 24/7, and we just ignored it | Switched off an insectocutor and the faulty security lights running all through the night) | £0 | Making sure things are off when they don't need to be on is a great way to save without spending much. Inexpensive timer-switches might help |
| Some older equipment running our site-wide wifi was very power hungry | Replaced with new, simpler equipment that was less power hungry |