Archive for November, 2009
According to Home Office statistics, two thirds of burglars are likely to target unsecure doors to get into your home. Put simply, if you don’t have secure doors then your home is not safe.
We all want our homes to be safe, and the good news is that there are ways to ensure your home is much harder to break into.
Glass Doors – Single pane glass doors are one of the least secure options, as burglars simply smash the glass to break in. However, by replacing your current glass door with a double glazed equivalent you’ll find that the glass is near impossible to break, and burglars will no longer target your property.
Locks and Hinges – It’s important to regularly check the locks and hinges on your door. If possible, add extra measures such as chains and door viewers. For your back doors, it’s also important to get special secure locks and glass.
Upgrade Your Door – Some older doors are a lot less secure than what’s available now, so sometimes giving your door an upgrade is the only option. If you want secure options then double glazing is a perfect choice, with sturdy frames, glass that’s impossible to break, and secure locking mechanisms.
Keep Windows and Doors Locked – This last point may seem obvious, but it’s important to remember to lock all of your windows and doors, as just under a third of all burglaries are a result of unlocked homes.
Now you know what it takes for a secure property, take the measures you need to protect both you and your home.
National Energy Action, a charity developed to help educate about fuel poverty, has stated that over 750,000 households in Scotland will be facing fuel poverty this winter.
Fuel poverty is defined as those householders who have to spend a tenth of their income or more on fuel bills.
In fact, a total of 810,000 households in Scotland will be spending more than 10% of their income on heating this year. This is a dramatic rise since 2001, where 310,000 Scottish households were in fuel poverty.
Across the UK it is estimated by the NEA that over 5.1 million households will be in fuel poverty this year, and are expecting winter deaths to rise as a result.
Director of Energy Action Scotland, Norman Kerr, said that ‘it is essential that every effort is made to promote the initiatives that are available to help take people out of fuel poverty’.
The Warm Homes Campaign is designed to help make the Government more aware of the issues of fuel poverty, and encourages the use of schemes to help people improve the energy efficiency of homes and to maximise incomes.
Many of the problems stem from highly inefficient buildings, where as much of a quarter of the heat used is lost through draughty old windows. Double glazing can dramatically help to reduce this heat loss, making homes naturally warmer and allowing householders to turn down their heating bills.
Energy company, Ecotricity, is now supplying ‘green gas’ to UK homes for the first time.
This energy is made by renewable sources, and is also known as biogas. It is a result of a composting-like process that can break down waste that is usually dumped into landfill sites. At present Britain wastes 18m tonnes of food, which could be used to create biogas that could fuel over 700,000 homes.
Ecotricity is giving the option for householders to make the switch to this renewable energy option at no extra cost, as the company has promised to match British Gas prices.
Founder of the company, Dale Vince, has stated that ‘nobody has to carry on giving their money to the big multinational energy companies, who seem determined to keep burning whatever in the world they can get their hands on like there’s no tomorrow’.
The news will be welcomed by householders who wish to make a difference and reduce their carbon footprint.
However, it’s important to go one step further to reduce energy consumption. Much of the energy we use is simply lost through windows and walls, which is why insulation and measures such as double glazing can greatly reduce your fuel bill and your carbon footprint.
The Norden Old Library project is working towards another milestone with a fundraising appeal being launched to help with redevelopment of the building. The funding is sought to provide double glazing in the windows of the ground floor.
In July the Norden Clock was refurbished, and now the Norden Community Trust are setting their sights on the windows, where broken frames and glass are to be replaced with energy efficient double glazing.
Nigel Morrell, trustee, said that replacing the windows is a crucial step which will allow that floor to be opened up to the public once more. On top of this, he claimed that the work ‘will make long-term savings on our energy bill’ – due to the fact that double glazing dramatically reduces the heat lost through the windows, making heating bills cheaper.
Another trustee, Councillor Wera Hobhouse, said that they are ‘appealing to the generosity of Norden residents’ in order to fund the work.
Not only will double glazing make the building more usable, it will greatly improve the current look and stay in keeping with the overall character of the building. Double glazing provides a useful way of giving buildings of all shapes and sizes a much-needed facelift, and is a step in the right direction towards reducing carbon emissions.
Energy watchdog Ofgem has recently warned that Britain could face energy blackouts in the coming years due to an increasing over-reliance on power in the country.
Ofgem have also reported that bills are likely to continue rising, and will be as much as sixty percent higher by 2016.
This is why it’s important to act now to see the maximum benefits of energy saving measures. Getting loft insulation or installing double glazing might be a large cost now, but the earlier it is installed the longer you will feel the benefits of cheaper energy bills – helping to fight back against rising energy costs.
For those that wish to go even further, after insulating the home you may want to purchase renewable energy technology. This could be in the form of solar panels to help subsidise your traditional energy use with renewable energy.
In the future the government is even hoping to allow people to sell off surplus energy to the national grid, helping people all over Britain to become less dependent on fossil fuels.
If your budget doesn’t quite stretch that far yet then installing measures such as an eco shower head, to save water, and using energy saving light bulbs can help to reduce energy usage.
The Energy Saving Trust also recommends turning down the thermostat by just one degree Celsius in order to save as much as £60 a year on energy bills.
Last week in the Queen’s speech to open a new parliamentary session, she mentioned that legislation will be introduced to help those who are most vulnerable with their energy bills, and to work towards a low-carbon Britain.
One of the first moves will be a conference in Copenhagen, set up to develop new legislation on how carbon emissions should be dealt with, as the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012.
Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy and climate change, has also recently claimed that 2009 is a crucial year for the planet. He added wishes that he would like to see individuals and businesses all doing their bit to lower carbon emissions in the UK to help meet reduction targets.
With the Queen’s support, there is now more advice than ever on how to lower the carbon emissions of your home and to save money on energy bills.
The Energy Saving Trust has provided advice for all homeowners and tenants to help reduce utility usage, no matter what their budget.
One of the biggest areas is the boiler you use, as your boiler can account for around 60% of how much energy you use by heating gas for your home. Replacing a G-Rated boiler with an energy efficient model will help to cut carbon emissions, saving over £200 every year.
However, measures such as double glazing can also make a huge difference to the energy usage in homes, ensuring that less heat is wasted through the windows and that the heating can be turned down.
The 18th century cottage in Perthshire is set to have a modern makeover. The work planned for the cottage, which was once home to the Scottish fiddler Niel Gow, will help to make the building more energy efficient whilst still maintaining its unique character.
Measures such as double glazing and new French doors will be put in place to help conserve energy in the property.
The cottage is currently inhabited by owners who have lodged the plans to help modernise the building. These energy efficient changes will help the building be a more comfortable place to live, as double glazed windows ensure that the rooms are naturally warmer. The doors, too, would be double glazed.
The owners of the property, who have applied to make the changes through Perth and Kinross Council (due to their listed building status) are hoping that the work will be given the green light, as the aim is to maintain the unique character of the property.
Double glazing comes in a wide number of styles to suit all kinds of property, and the owners plan to use frosted glass for the French doors. The panes of double glazing fitted in the windows will be separated by astragal bars to help maintain the current look of the cottage – and to help it blend in with buildings nearby.
The weather keeps getting colder, so if you haven’t already, now is the time to act to switch your energy supplier and save yourself up to £300 every year!
Why You Need to Act Now
When you switch supplier, it can take over a month for the switch to finally become finalised, which is why it’s so important that you take action now to ensure your heating bills are reduced by the time the weather really gets cold in January and February.
And don’t let the time put you off – it might take over a month to happen, but actually switching will take a minute to apply for. Now you can use many internet services to see at a glance which provider can provide you with the best deals.
How to Find A New Supplier
Simply look at your latest bills and use a comparison site to compare prices. They will let you enter your details, and you’ll be given an automatic quote regarding how much you can save. And, if you sign up with direct debit, you could save even more!
A Few Other Tips to Bear in Mind:
- You can choose separate companies for gas and electric, and this could save you money,
- Direct debit will save you money,
- Even if you switched fairly recently, it’s always worth checking whether you can save more,
- With many new companies on the market bringing massive savings, and energy costs rising, now is the time to make a change!
If you want to save even more money and help to do your part for the environment then making changes to your home, such as installing energy efficient double glazing, choosing loft insulation and more, could literally save you multiple hundreds of pounds each year!
An expert has claimed that the country would see drastic reductions in carbon emissions if the government were to implement a new window scrappage scheme, similar to the car scrappage scheme, that could help homeowners to save money if they choose to replace old windows.
The Glass and Glazing Federation accounts for around two thirds of the turnover in the window industry, and has backed proposed new plans to implement a window scrappage scheme.
The chief executive of GGF, Nigel Rees, claims that this will be the incentive that householders need to take action. By installing energy efficient windows, this would work to massively reduce carbon emissions and fuel bills.
Energy efficient double glazing is widely known to reduce heat lost in the home through the windows. As a result, people could see a saving of £135 a year by replacing their windows.
The Energy Saving Trust has also released figures showing that double glazing will reduce carbon emissions from households by around 680kg each and every year.
Double glazing works by keeping heat inside the home, as its two layers of glass, and air filled gap, make it hard for it to escape. This also works well to keep the cold air out, as well as providing a number of other benefits including greater security, noise reduction and a wide range of window styles.
A new scheme that aims to make more homes energy efficient in London by 1212 has been started this week by the Mayor of London.
Boris Johnson launched trials of the scheme that will involve 10,000 homes to cut down carbon footprints. This will help residents to save money on their energy bills, creating green jobs and cutting down the energy used in the capital.
The services will be free of charge, and will include a number of measures to help them reduce the amount of energy they use. This ranges from simple measures including energy saving light bulbs and other steps to reduce energy.
There will also be bigger steps offered to those living in the homes involved, including loft and cavity wall insulation. These measures will be free to those receiving benefits, and subsidised for others.
There are nine boroughs involved in the trials, including Harrow, Camden, Havering, Croydon, Lewisham, Hillingdon, Haringey, Southwark and Kingston.
Eventually the program will spread across all areas of London, and will work on 200,000 – 500,000 properties by 2012. By 2015 it’s planned to access 1.2 million domestic properties.
Boris Johnson said of the trials ‘with more than a third of London’s climate change emissions being generated from domestic properties, making our homes more energy efficient is a no brainer’.
The new program already involves a sum of £9.5 million from the Mayor and the London Development Agency. It is thought the scheme will also create a number of green jobs, where other energy-saving measures, such as double glazing, will also be in demand.
