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Home & Garden Articles
Get 71% of Your Domestic Hot Water For Free
Thu 31 May 2007 - 16:59
Get 70% of Your Domestic Hot Water For Free
By Graham Hall
I enjoy working from home, with no commuting, dressing down and the flexible hours. By using the Internet, email and telephone I can communicate with the entire world from my own comfortable surroundings.
I do have to venture out to meet clients face-to-face when we discuss their particular energy saving requirements, but even that has become so much easier with the availability of satellite navigation. I thought I would indulge myself with a new toy now they are so well priced. After six months I have upgraded my description of sat-nav from big boy's toy to essential business (and leisure) aid.
I find it a joy to use and also a time and fuel saver, which guides me straight to my appointments without the hassle of stopping to read the A-Z and numerous U-turns as I searched for the exact location of my meeting. As I am an energy consultant I can fully justify the initial carbon cost by offsetting its footprint against the fuel saved, now that I travel directly to my chosen location.
Having spent over thirty years advising on the implementation of energy saving measures primarily to the commercial sector as a cost saving measure, I now find myself with the additional remit of fighting the catastrophic side effects of using conventional energy in both business and home environments.
I'm not an avid television watcher, but quite enjoy the various house development programs, that often reflect the energy issue, both in terms of carbon footprint of the materials used and the day-to-day running costs after completion.
I am heartened when I see high levels of insulation being built into these properties, as the resultant reduced losses obviously means lower energy consumption and coupled with excellent improvements in boiler efficiency and control over time can provide a warm home at far less cost to both the occupier and the environment.
The thermal efficiency of new-build homes in the UK has improved over time to meet government legislation, but the prescribed minimum is still well below ideal and it is generally only in these televised "one-offs" that you see the thermal barrier raised. With a clear understanding of design principles and the use of some high- tec materials, the energy required per square metre could still be dramatically reduced.
What I fail to see when I watch these programs is much use being made of renewable energy. I have seen the occasional use of geothermal technology and heat pumps and also some wind turbines, but little evidence of the easiest and most cost effective of all forms of renewable energy; solar thermal panels.
Solar thermal technology can easily be retro fitted into most existing properties and is even cheaper if incorporated as original equipment in new-build developments. The principle of using solar thermal technology has been around for many years and the uptake in other Northern European countries has been significantly higher than in the UK. In Germany 50% of homes are using solar to making savings of 70% on the cost of heating their domestic hot water. Those same savings are easily achieved in the UK too.
Perhaps the UK thermal solar industry has been slow to counter the misconception that this form of energy is only recovered on blue sky days, when it should be stressed that modern panels are capable of converting light to heat on cloudy days too, and at temperatures below freezing if units of the highest standard are used. With remarkably short payback periods and working life expectancy in excess of 35 years they present an excellent investment for now and well into the future and that return will continue to grow as conventional energy costs rise at an ever-steeper rate.
I guess it finally boils down to asking you one question.
Would you like to heat up to 70% of your domestic hot water free for the next 35+ years and save up to 1 tonne of CO2 each year?
We can make a difference. We will make a difference.
Feel free to visit the website for more information.
Graham has worked in energy related industries in the UK for 30 years. Some of the clients he has worked for include: Houses of Parliament, NAO, BBC, British Library, Natural History Museum, Imperial College, Taylor Nelson Sofres and Procter & Gamble. He now runs a website dedicated to educating homeowners and businesses to the benefits of "going solar". Solar
Energy is Free Energy. Solar Energy is Zero Carbon Energy.
http://www.solarism.co.uk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Graham_Hall
http://EzineArticles.com/?Get-70%-of-Your-Domestic-Hot-Water-For-Free&id=584603
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