A BURTON energy expert has supported an Ofgem warning that householders will have to find revolutionary ways to save energy as utility bills are set to soar because of green targets.
Burton energy adviser James Charteris, who runs energy company Solorvox, spoke out after t he chief executive of the energy regulator, Alistair Buchanan, said that next month about 10 per cent of the UK’s total energy generation capacity would be lost as coal and oil-fired power plants are to be shut down under a European environment directive and more could follow later this year.
Mr Buchanan said within three years the UK’s spare cushion of power generation would fall from below 14 per cent to less than five per cent.
“The big unknown is over the demand side,” he added. “Can the Government get a revolution going on consumer habits to force through energy efficiency?”
An average dual fuel bill is now more than £1,300 a year, an increase of more than 160 per cent in nine years.
Mr Charteris agreed with Mr Buchanan, but said there were steps householders could take now to make their homes more efficient and to cut their bills.
He said firstly residents needed a thermal imaging camera which reveals air leaks and moisture in cavity wall insulation, water problems in flat roofs, defects in pipes or under-floor heating systems and inefficient seals around door and windows.
Easy and inexpensive ways to cut energy bills are closing curtains in the evening, filling a kettle with only the water needed, switching off lights when leaving a room, using draught excluders and turning down the central heating system by a degree or two.
More expensive ways, which would leave to bigger savings, are:
Insulating a roof and the walls with the environmentally-friendly Icynene Insulation System, which would save up to £600 a year;
Investing in solar panels, cutting on average £237 a year in energy bills plus receiving Government money for generating electricity for the National Grid.
More information is available by calling 08454 746641.
