One easy way to make your lifestyle more planet-friendly is to reduce your electricity consumption. The Green Mole Forum can help make this simple – just borrow a monitor pack and you can find out how to cut your electricity bill, with very little effort on your part. The monitors are also available through local libraries but, as they have long waiting lists, we're offering this alternative, along with some technical help, if you need it.
Each pack contains a pair of ingenious monitors – one that allows you to see how much electricity your whole house is using (and what this is costing) and another to see how much energy an individual appliance consumes at any given moment (useful to check out standby current) or over a period of time.
The monitors encourage getting into the habit of switching things off, especially last thing at night or when going out, the challenge being to get consumption to as near zero as possible. They also show which appliances are greedy guzzlers of electricity (freezers, tumble driers, irons, kettles, electric heaters) and which are relatively innocent (like a portable radio). And interesting things like, how much you save by boiling just enough water for a cup of tea, instead of a kettle full!
For a £20 refundable deposit you can borrow them for a fortnight. Call Anne Brewer (Bookham) on 01372 456421 or Derek Smith (Leatherhead) on 01372 378914 for more details or contact us or send an email to ask to be added to the waiting list.
Thermal leak detector
This nifty gadget makes it easy to monitor your home's energy efficiency by finding places that let heat out or cold air in.
As you scan it around it shines a light on the surface your are measuring - green, blue, or red.
Simply set the detector's temperature tolerances to one, five, or 10 degrees farenheit (or 0.5, 3, or 5.5 celsius) and scan the light across the area you want to inspect. As well as displaying the temperature of the surface you aim it at, the light will change to red for warmer spots and blue for cooler spots to detect air leaks in both warm and cool weather.
Cut Energy Bills and Improve Your Home's Efficiency
Sealing the leaks and improving insulation in your home can help you save as much as 20 percent on your heating and cooling bills. An efficient, greener home will stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Use the Thermal Leak Detector to check your refrigerator and freezer temperatures and efficiency.
If you would like to borrow it for a week or two contact us or send an email to ask to be added to the waiting list. Happy hunting!
