Earth Notes: Saving The Planet @Home
Site updated 2026-01-06 19:35 GMT.Want to do your bit at home to improve your quality of life, save money, cut down on waste and carbon pollution, and get the planet back how it used to be?
Did you know that the majority of your neighbours are undertaking energy saving actions every day
? That is also one of the most powerful messages to encourage people to save.
On Earth Notes
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Omicron, a rant about bad people, and more shy Eurasian footwear... #podcast #lockdown
16WW Energy Series Dataset (dataset microgen research tech)
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Net utility (electricity) CO2 emitted this year over first 0 months: 0kg
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Things That We've Done
We've crunched our carbon footprint. We've become a SuperHome. We've pondered other changes that we might make. But most of all there's been quite a lot of fun learning. Maybe it is my engineering mindset, but I have made a hobby out of conservation and meter watching. I have had fun out of 'tuning' life a little. The rest of my family humours me! See a full list of articles under search at the top of the page, and here's some actions to start with that we took...
Things That You Can Do
Effective changes that can be made at home are based on lowering energy/resource demand...
- Saving electricity (and gas) in all sorts of ways, including,
- Lighting: low-energy light bulbs (eg CFL / compact fluorescent and LED preferably at 60 lumens per Watt (60lm/W) efficiency or better). If rewiring, then look at 12V light circuits connecting to PV/battery systems.
- High-efficiency white goods (eg fridges) and other electrical goods at home and at work. Look at energy consumption in use, eg per wash or while on, and in 'standby' mode if you won't be turning them off at the wall. Choose an energy supplier that provides 'green' energy and supports renewables.
- For cooking: investigate CO2 savings with induction cookers and microwave ovens.
- Clothes washing: alternate ideas with drying (eg on a line), and low-temperature (cold/30°C/40°C) washing and do full loads. Also, simple changes in habits and textiles (wool is brilliant compared to cotton for whole-life costing as well as washing/drying/ironing). Re-use fashions!
- Low water-use toilets, showers.
- Insulation and thermal capacity (over-cladding buildings).
- Close curtains at dusk to retain heat (and on hot sunny days to keep the sun/heat out).
- Turn down your heating thermostat 1°C for up to 10% saving. 18°C to 21°C is about right during the day (and hypothermia is only really a risk when temperatures at home are as low as 5°C, but spending more than two hours at 12°C raises blood pressure), and nearer 14°C at night when sleeping. Only heat rooms that you are using. Use a timer (or something smarter) to avoid heating when no one is home! Wearing the right clothing helps keep you comfortable at lower temperatures.
- Don't have your hot water thermostat set higher than 60°C/140°F, and 'instant' water heaters avoid losses from a tank for new systems.
- Don't leave gadgets and appliances on standby/charging, turn them off (maybe with a smart power-strip or trailing adapter) or unplug them. You might trim as much as 30% off your electricity bill.
- Check your mains electricity use at home with tools such as the Kill-a-Watt meter, or just read your supply meter daily or weekly. Gas too.
- Minimise the electricity you use at times of peak grid load (eg 4pm to 9pm in the autumn/winter in the UK) since more carbon-intensive and expensive fuels may be burnt in 'peaking' plants, and the grid is under most strain too. Intensity at peak time circa 2009 was ~0.6kgCO2/kWh, as much as 50% over typical levels.
- On the flip-side, make good use of energy when it's abundant such as saving up computing work until the sun is shining for low-carbon results.
- Reduce, re-use, recycle (including electricals).
- See some thoughtful tips at MoneySavingExpert.com.
News
- : GB National Grid Delivers 2.4 GW of New Transmission Connections in 2025:
On the demand side, approximately 0.5 GW of new demand connections...
...brings the total generation capacity connected in England and Wales over the past five years to 12.6 GW.
- : I volunteer in a repair cafe: we can help you learn to fix your broken Christmas gift [walker2025repair].
- : Renewable energy project approvals hit record high in GB in 2025, data shows:
The boom was driven by applications to build new battery storage, which almost doubled to 28.6GW this year from 14.9GW in 2024. Planning approvals for offshore wind developments jumped more than sevenfold to 9.9GW from 1.3GW last year. Planning approvals for battery, wind and solar power have risen by more than 400% over the past five years.
- : Household battery uptake booms on back of 'game-changer' rebate:
... 6 gigawatt-hours of storage capacity could be installed under the scheme by the end of the 2025-26 financial year
In terms of capacity, we're installing nearly 15 times the amount of capacity that we were installing over 2024 ... what was the biggest battery in the world a few years ago, which was the Hornsdale South Australian Tesla big battery ... [Australian] households right now are installing the equivalent of a Hornsdale big battery every three and a half days.
- : Ireland reaches 1 GW of installed rooftop PV capacity (2.1GW PV total).
- : from the NESO "Energising Progress" email newsletter:
On wind generated 23,825MW ... 47.4% of Great Britain's electricity...
- : Ofgem approves early investment in three UK electricity 'superhighways':
The new high-voltage cable projects linking windfarms in Scotland and off the North Sea coast to densely populated areas in the south of the country could start operations by the early 2030s rather than towards the end of the decade ... This should help to cut the rising cost of paying windfarms to turn off when they generate more electricity than the grid can transport.
('constraint' costs); Ofgem press release re EGL3 (2GW), EGL4 (2GW), GWNC and the NG Great Grid Upgrade. - : NESO: GB Connections Reform Results.
- Archived news...
References
- [baldwin2016past] Past-focused environmental comparisons promote proenvironmental outcomes for conservatives
- [walker2025repair] I volunteer in a repair cafe: we can help you learn to fix your broken Christmas gift
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