Garden Bird Bingo
Reducing Energy Consumption We have put together a few more energy-saving suggestions to help cut down on energy consumption, and to minimise the impact of the increased energy prices on our bills. Not only is reducing energy consumption good for the planet, it is good for our pockets too! This week’s focus is on “vampire energy”. Vampire energy is the energy consumed when electronic devices are in “standby” mode. Six of the top vampire energy devices in the home include: Gaming consoles such as Xbox, Playstation, etc. Televisions Surround sound systems Cable and satellite TV boxes Computers, and computer equipment such as modems, routers, etc. Household items with a clock, e.g. microwave This is a simple calculator site for estimating how much a household appliance costs in electricity over a day / month / year. https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/energy-cost-calculator.html You can input the average price of electricity to get a good estimate of the cost of the electricity use for the appliance. The approximate cost of one ‘unit’ or kWh [kilowatt hour] of electricity in Ireland currently is about 30c, inclusive of taxes, PSO levy and standing charges. While a little outdated, this American website is a handy way to work out the consumption of a wide range of gaming devices. Their page https://energyusecalculator.com/electricity_gameconsole.htm gives you a good indication of the energy consumption of gaming consoles while in use, and in standby mode. You can input the cost of electricity in Ireland, and patterns of use to work out the average annual cost of running these devices using their calculator. This is another useful website which gives information about standby power, including electricity measurements for different types of appliances. https://standby.lbl.gov The Irish website https://www.greenhome.ie was created by An Táisce. In addition to providing energy saving ideas and tips, it also hosts a ‘green home’ survey that allows you to calculate the energy efficiency of your home – there’s both a short and a long version. Registering, and completing the long survey will give you a baseline score of how sustainably you are running your home, in terms of waste, water, transport, as well as energy. The information from the survey helps people to change some of their habits, and to take steps to reduce their consumption. Using energy saving tips and advice people make changes in their home that reduces waste and consumption, and saves money. One major benefit of the survey is that after a couple of months of implementing the changes, people can log in and take the survey again, and comparing new with old, they can calculate how much they have improved in terms of sustainability. You can register for the long survey here: https://www.greenhome.ie/MainSurveyLanding The greenhome.ie website also has some great tips for saving energy in the kitchen on this page. https://www.greenhome.ie/Energy/How-to-make-your-home-more-energy-efficient-All-Around-the-House-In-the-Kitchen-Some-Tips-for-Saving-Energy
Spring is in the Air
As we welcome the imminent arrival of Spring, it is a great time to get into new habits – including ways of being more energy efficient and living more sustainability. But it can be hard to know where to start!
We have put together a few energy-saving suggestions to help cut down on our energy consumption, and knock a few euro off our bills, which we will be posting over the coming weeks. As we all know, the price of electricity and gas has steadily increased, and so saving what we can, where we can, and when we can, will reduce the impact of rising energy prices. We have listed a few websites which you may find useful.
Energy Saving Advice and Tips.
The BER Ireland site is a great resource with lots of really helpful suggestions to save energy, electricity, and with very useful tips on heating and insulation, including some very cost effective measures. It also has motoring and renewable tips too.
http://www.berireland.ie/energy_saving_ideas_tips.html
The SEAI website includes information about all things sustainable energy wise, ranging from information on grants to improve the energy rating of your home to energy saving advice, as well as information about their community energy programme.
The SEAI has a useful guide to Home insulation which includes information about the different types of attic insulation.
https://www.seai.ie/publications/Homeowners-Guide-To-Attic-Rafter-Insulation
Here you can find information about the other home insulation grants that are available from the SEAI.
https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/insulation-grants/
The SEAI have also produced a Keeping Well and Warm booklet.
https://www.seai.ie/publications/Keeping-Well-and-Warm-booklet.pdf
Heating Control Upgrades
A booklet from the SEAI is available, explaining what Heating Controls are, how they work, as well as information about picking a registered contractor, as well as links to information about the grants.
https://www.seai.ie/publications/Homeowners-Guide-To-Heating-Controls.pdf
Information on how to apply for the €700 grant for Heating Control Upgrades from the SEAI for heating is available on this webpage.
https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/heating-upgrade-grants/
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Talking to others and sharing your thoughts is a great way improve your wellbeing;
as does being outdoors in nature.
So why not find one of our 'Happy to Chat' benches in Kenmare and take a moment to
catch up with old friends or new friends?
Chime Outreach Service
