The 10 ways a sustainable home can save you money
Making the right changes to your home will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy bills. Lucy Siegle illustrates how it can be done
Heat pump
The air-source heat pump is at the heart of this sustainable home. Reportedly three times more efficient than a gas boiler, it can transform a house’s energy bill and carbon footprint. It works by collecting thermal heat from the air, absorbs the heat into a fluid, boosts the temperature and then transfers the heat to water. Unlike conventional heating that burns fossil fuel to generate heat, in the best case scenario of a well-installed system, the heat pump moves heat using a small amount of electricity.
Underfloor heating is the perfect match for an air-source heat pump. The heat pump is at its most efficient at lower temperatures, around 70-82F (21–28C). Distributing the heat around the large emitting surface of the floor is super efficient. It also gives excellent thermal comfort through consistent heat that is equally distributed, making this environment feel more cosy.
Don’t worry if underfloor heating is out of the question as a retrofit or is out of your budget. Heat can also be circulated around radiators, just like a conventional heating system. Today’s installers are experts at matching your heat pump with your heating system. That may mean changing to bigger radiators to allow the heat pump to work its magic.
In this setup heat is also sent to a specially designed hot water cylinder containing a highly efficient heat exchange coil. Heat pumps generally operate at lower temperatures than traditional boilers but the very efficient heat exchange coil makes sure that plenty of heat is transferred to the stored hot water for showers, baths and the home's hot taps.
Solar Panel
EV charging station
Solar Panels
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
Smart Panel
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
Food Waste
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
Stand-By Electronics
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
Kitchen
Three times more efficient than gas boilers and great for underfloor heating Read more..
Air Source Heat Pumps
In the kitchen
As three per cent of the average home’s energy use comes from cooking, this family saves the large electric oven for large family meals and batch cooking. For day-to-day cooking, counter space is given to three models of kitchen efficiency
The increasingly popular air fryer works like a small conventional fan oven. Although it draws energy continually while cooking, it does this quickly and efficiently, using direct radiant heat alongside high-speed circulation of hot air.
The microwave directly heats food rather than the air around it in a short space of time and is therefore highly efficient.
Unlike conventional ovens, automated electric rice cookers and slow cookers are insulated for better efficiency. They use low amounts of energy to cook food really slowly – the clue is in the name! Use a low setting to maximise efficiency.
Food waste represents an eco catastrophe. It’s associated with 8-10 per cent of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions. The average household of four people wastes 341kg of food a year, costing over £1,000. Around 60 per cent of this is avoidable so let’s eat it, not waste it! Holding a weekly use-up day where you prioritise food with a shorter shelf life that is commonly binned, such as vegetables, and sticking to it has been found to reduce domestic food waste by nearly half.
Food often ends up as waste when the packaging it arrives in doesn’t make for good storage. A great hack is to decant into food storage tubs and jars and to attach a sticker with the best-before date clearly marked.
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
EV Charger
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
Washing machine
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
LED lighting
14 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
Drying clothes
When it’s nice and bright outside (and if the weather forecast tells us this will last for the duration of a laundry cycle) it’s time to put a wash on.
The solar inverter used in this system means that the solar panels will be able to power the washing machine, if the household is careful to choose a low-energy cycle.
Airer
Shifting from traditional energy-guzzling incandescent light bulbs to energy-efficient LEDs in the UK will save the equivalent amount of carbon as removing half a million cars from our roads. Many households have made the switch, but if the average UK household swapped all bulbs to LEDs, which use 90 percent less energy and last longer, they could save around £40 annually on energy bills for an outlay of around £100. You can also use LEDs with dimmer switches and spotlights. Vibes guaranteed.
E.ON Next is making new energy work for you, with heat pumps, solar panels and EV chargers
At the core of the sustainable home is the smart meter and its associated display unit. This display unit connects wirelessly to the smart meter and shows the householder how much energy they are using. The electricity use and cost is updated every 10 seconds, allowing them to make real-time choices about when to use solar to run the heat pump, heat hot water, run the washing machine or charge their EV from the grid. A ‘pylon’ icon on the display also tells them when they are exporting excess solar generation to the grid through E.ON Next’s export premium tariff.
The smart meter used by this family works in conjunction with the free E.ON Home and E.ON Next apps on their mobile phone.
Between 9 and 16 per cent of the electricity used in UK homes powers appliances when they are in standby mode. Sometimes called ‘energy vampires’ these appliances needlessly draw power when they are not in working mode. The worst offenders include wireless speakers, soundbars, TV streamers, DAB radios, smart plugs and TVs. These are the ones to focus on if you want to save up to £20 a year.
Turn it off!
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EoN-Next
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EoN-Next.com
is making new energy
work for you
Food waste
Smart meter
Produced by Telegraph Media Group Writer: Lucy Siegle | Project manager: Abby Draycott | Commissioning editor: Jim Bruce-Ball | Sub-editor: Tim Cumming | Picture editor: Alex Kelly | Designer: Jonathan Clayton-Jones | Web editor: Ross Thomas
Illustration: Guillaume Kurkdjian @HandsomeFrank.com Picture credit: Getty
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As the net zero transition progresses, home heating still represents 18 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the National Audit Office. Meanwhile we've seen record-high energy bills in recent years, thanks to market and geopolitical factors. It can feel as if we have little control over what happens, but through microgeneration, smart monitoring and essential sustainable life hacks, today’s sustainable home puts control back in the householder’s hands.
It integrates practical measures, financial instruments and, of course, green technology. This is a response to serious challenges, but it’s also true that every part of the house – from the roof to under the floorboards – is full of opportunity.
Here is where it is worth putting your focus and budget to future-proof your own four walls.
This house is a composite based on scenarios for a similar-sized house with typical energy usage, a well-installed efficient heat pump and optimum roof mounted solar taking advantage of tariffs, giving an illustration of what savings are possible.
is making new energy
work for you
Washing machine
This household uses an electric car (EV) to get from A to B. The occupants charge the car at home and take advantage where needed of E.ON’s NextDrive EV tariff, which gives electricity at a lower rate between 12am and 7am.
This is great if the car is out being driven during the day. But they’re also taking advantage of another great combination: EVs and solar panels. By installing eight solar panels on the carport roof they could partially charge their EV from free solar electricity, boosting savings and eco performance.
The tumble dryer is one of the most energy-thirsty appliances in the home. Along with the washing machines and dishwasher it accounts for 14 per cent of a typical energy bill. If you have loads of wet clothes when it’s too stormy to line-dry, the heated clothes airer is a planet-saver. A folding rack with a built-in electric heater, it dries clothes slowly and efficiently – and it may also extend the lifespan of a garment that would ordinarily be tumble-dried.
Fourteen solar photovoltaic panels are mounted on the main roof. These panels contain semiconductors that convert sunlight, made up of photons which are solar energy, into electrical energy. Now it’s up to the householders to choose where to deploy the electric current generated by the panels.
This system is set up to exploit a beautiful partnership: solar panels and air-source heat pumps. Integrating these technologies is the key to lowering your bills and boosting environmental performance: as much of the electricity from the panels as possible is used to power the home’s heat pump.
When the sun shines for long periods of time, with fully optimised panels, this house can actually make money by selling the excess solar electricity it generates back to the grid.
Fourteen solar photovoltaic panels are mounted on the main roof. These panels contain semiconductors that convert sunlight, made up of photons which are solar energy, into electrical energy. Now it’s up to the householders to choose where to deploy the electric current generated by the panels.
This system is set up to exploit a beautiful partnership: solar panels and air-source heat pumps. Integrating these technologies is the key to lowering your bills and boosting environmental performance: as much of the electricity from the panels as possible is used to power the home’s heat pump.
When the sun shines for long periods of time, with fully optimised panels, this house can actually make money by selling the excess solar electricity it generates back to the grid.
Lighting
Lighting
Click the hotspots to see where you could save energy
Turn off TVs, speakers and soundbars to save £20 a year Read more..
Standby electricals
Air fryers, microwaves and slow cookers increase efficiency savings Read more..
Kitchen
Electric dryers are a great alternative to energy-thirsty tumble dryers Read more..
Dryer
8 Panels are the optimum number to power an average home. Read more..
Solar
Charge your electric vehicle at home with an EV charging station Read more..
EV
Low-energy cycle washes can be powered by solar panels on the roof Read more..
Washing Machine
Monitor how much energy your home is using in real-time
Read more..
Smart Meter
Switch to LED bulbs which use 90 percent less energy Read more..
Lighting
The average household wastes 341kg of food a year costing £1000 Read more..
Food waste
Heat pump
The air-source heat pump is at the heart of this sustainable home. Reportedly three times more efficient than a gas boiler, it can transform a house’s energy bill and carbon footprint. It works by collecting thermal heat from the air, absorbs the heat into a fluid, boosts the temperature and then transfers the heat to water. Unlike conventional heating that burns fossil fuel to generate heat, in the best case scenario of a well-installed system, the heat pump moves heat using a small amount of electricity.
Underfloor heating is the perfect match for an air-source heat pump. The heat pump is at its most efficient at lower temperatures, around 70-82F (21–28C). Distributing the heat around the large emitting surface of the floor is super efficient. It also gives excellent thermal comfort through consistent heat that is equally distributed, making this environment feel more cosy.
Don’t worry if underfloor heating is out of the question as a retrofit or is out of your budget. Heat can also be circulated around radiators, just like a conventional heating system. Today’s installers are experts at matching your heat pump with your heating system. That may mean changing to bigger radiators to allow the heat pump to work its magic.
In this setup heat is also sent to a specially designed hot water cylinder containing a highly efficient heat exchange coil. Heat pumps generally operate at lower temperatures than traditional boilers but the very efficient heat exchange coil makes sure that plenty of heat is transferred to the stored hot water for showers, baths and the home's hot taps.