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In October 2004 I bought a new house and carried out extensive renovation work.  I had a lot to do on a restricted budget but also wanted to minimise the environmental impact of my home.  What I discovered was that most of the major things like solar heating, wind power and rainwater harvesting were too expensive but that there were quite a lot of smaller things I could do.

My family moved in lock, stock and barrel on Christmas Eve 2004, waking up on Christmas morning with great excitement but very cold - the heating wasn't yet working.  By January 2005 we'd more or less finished the decoration, carpets, electrics and the plumbing but the chippy took a bit longer.  He was installing the kitchen, which was cast off from a friend - it's now painted a deep vibrant red, which contrasts well (I think) with the bright orange walls.

All the renovation work on the house had ceased by the beginning of 2006 when I started researching and writing The New Green Consumer Guide, which made me realise that there were lots of things I would have done differently if I started the process again.  My biggest mistake was installing an aga - obviously not great because it's on all the time.  So I turn mine off for most of the year and used it as a treat in the winter months.  

Click here for TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT ECO-RENOVATING MY HOME

Below are some of things I have learnt.  If you want to find out more about some of the technologies and ideas please do get a copy of the book!

HEAT & POWER

Before I even started working out what to do on the energy front, I talked to Mathew Rhodes from a company called Encraft.  They help people find a personalised, contemporary energy solution for their home.  His main advice was that when looking at energy improvements at home, you should first insulate, then look at energy efficiency - for example an energy efficient boiler - and only then look at renewable energy. 

Only Oil

I'm afraid that there's no mains gas supplied to my house, so pretty well the only option was to use oil.  Luckily there aren't many houses in this position because gas is far more efficient.  

Boiler

The house has a 10-year old oil fired boiler.  I thought that I might replacing it with an heat condensing boiler, which would apparently cost about £1700.  But rather encouragingly, when I asked the boiler maintenance man to check out the efficiency of the one I've got, he said it was over 80%, which is apprently pretty good. Another reason for not hurrying to replace my boiler is that it makes sense to buy one that is the right size for your needs.  Once I have insulated my house, as much as possible, I'm hoping I can make do with a smaller boiler.   

Heating

One of my biggest tips about boilers and heating is to remember to adjust the controls.  I turn all my heating off even if I'm going away for one night.  What's the point of having piping hot water and no-one to use it?  I've also realised that in my household we really only need hot water for our baths at night - so my hot water is only on for a couple of hours out of 24!   Space heating's the same.  Think about which rooms you're actually going to use and heat them rather than the whole house.  Having separate thermostats on each radiator is important (see below) for this but also dividing your house into zones, so you can heat upstairs at a different time to down, is a good idea.  You should also turn it off when you're not at home. 

Radiators

All my radiators have been replaced with more energy efficient ones with individual thermostats, which means that unused rooms don't need to be heated.  I've also installed energy saving radiator panels behind them. These are like slatted foil sheets they reflect the heat back from the wall into the room.  Apparently 70% of the heat from your radiator is simply heating the wall behind, which means only 30% is being used to heat the room.  This can result in significant savings on your fuel bill.  The illustrations on the left show radiators before and after the panels have been installed.  You can buy these panels from Energy Saving World. 

Insulation

My roof is still uninsulated - it's a high priority because heat will be floating out into the atmosphere.  My first inclination was to use sheep's wool insualation, which works brilliantly and has a good eco-rating too.  However, it doesn't score so well on the price - it's about four times more than using insulation made from recycled paper - Warmcel.  So this is what I'm going for.  The trouble is that I need to sort out my attic conversion before putting insulation in and that's slowing me down. I haven't the time or the money at the moment but as soon as I do I'll be getting my skates on.  

Wind change

One of the first eco-things I wanted to do was put a wind turbine on my roof.  The house would appear to be in an ideal location for this because it's right on top of a hill - and it gets quite windy.  But my research into wind turbines made me conclude that if I do get one, it shouldn't be on my roof - they are much more efficient located some distance away from buildings - and that with current technology it's very unlikely I'd get enough electricity to justify the cost.  I haven't given up on the idea - I'll be keeping track of the technology and grant support - with the idea of installing a turbine when I can.

Ground source heat pumps

If my house had underfloor heating it would have been ideal for ground source heat pumps - the technology doesn't work as well with radiators.  You also need to be prepared to dig up quite a lot of your garden - or pay more and dig a bore hole - to install this technology.  But they are a good renewable energy option - producing four times more energy - drawn from the heat of the earth - to every one unit of electricity used.  One issue to be aware of though is that heat pumps work a bit like fridges and they need cooling gases.  The ones used are no longer ozone-destroyers, but they are significant greenhouse gases - 1400 times worse that CO2. There's only one company I know which provides alternatives - Earthcare Products.

Energy Saving Lightbulbs

Almost all the lightbulbs in my house are energy-efficient ones - even the spotlights in the kitchen.  But this wasn't as easy as I had thought it would be. The main problem was that  I didn't like the light colour for the spotlights, even thought it said on the pack they were a 'warm white'.  After going back to the manufacturer with my concerns I found that smaller bulbs were the answer - they looked better and used even less energy.  The only lights that don't have compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) are the candle lights in my sitting room, which work on a dimmer, my bathroom light above the sink and a couple of speciality lights that my boys have been given to put in their bedrooms.  I haven't got any LED lights because I didn't know about them when I was doing the eco-renovation.  If I was doing it again I'd install lots of these - as my brother has in his kitchen. They only use 2 watts of electricity.  Find out more in The New Green Consumer Guide.  A good place to buy energy-efficient bulbs is Energy Saving World.  

I still think that lighting manufacturers need to make a a lot more effort to create light fittings that work with energy saving bulbs.  It's very difficult to get replacement halogen bulbs that are energy-efficient - they only work with some types.  And it's the same problem with bathroom lighting.  Another point to remember is that you don't have to have the spiral-shaped bulbs - CFLs now come in what's called a decorative shap - see picture above.

WATER AND PLUMBING

The water supply to my house is metered.  Rather bizarrely I rather enjoy getting my water bill. This is because I can then work out how much I have used on a daily basis and compare it with last time - I now use quite a lot less than the average British family, according to information supplied by Wessex Water!

Flushing loos

Lavatories are one of the biggest water users in the average home - nearly a third of what we use is flushed away. For this reason I thought I'd get water-efficient loos until I discovered that they cost between £200 and £300 - far more than ordinary loos - and might save about £5 worth of water in ayear.  Far more effective in my view is Interflush. This is a little device I've had fitted to the flush handles on my loos.  It means that it only flushes when you hold the handle down - so you only use what's needed.  This has been brilliant in our house and saved lots of water at minimial cost - they're less than £20. 

Rainwater Harvesting

I like the idea of collecting rainwater from roofs and using it for domestic purposes - chiefly flushing lavatories and watering the garden.  I found that there are lots of systems available. The big drawback is that you need to have space for a vast tank, either underground or in an outside shed.  It's also expensive.  

Watering the garden

For watering my vegetables I've managed to syphon water through a hose-pipe from the ditch that runs along the side of my lawn.  Luckily the garden is on a slope so there's enough pressure to get the water to flow.  Not so good is the fact that the pipe gets silted up and it's quite tricky cleaning it out.  

Startling pumps!

It's claimed that pumps account for 20% of the world's energy consumption (mostly for pumps used by industry)!  Grundfos, the leading pump manufacturer say that if all their customers switched to the most efficient vairable speed pump, it would cut CO2 emissions by 9%, saving the equivalent to 6 coal-fired power stations.This doesn't amount to massive energy savings at home but it's still significant - the variable speed pump for my hot water will save me about £25 on my electricity bill..

FURNITURE & FURNISHINGS

CARPETS

When I moved in to Coker Hill the upside was that there is a lot of carpeting in the house. The downside that I din't like most of it. So I had to dispose of it.  I was interviewing a handyman who said he could get rid of it for me - he had a farmer friend who took bulk waste from him and burnt it.  He was totally unaware and disinterested about the fact that this would create lots of polluting emissions. The District Council told me that carpets weren't included in their recycling schemes, so all the ones I threw out ended up in land fill - along with 5 billion pounds of wasted carpet that are thrown away around the world.  The most innovative carpet initiatives being carried out is by Heuga - they use recycled materials, lease carpets and use renewable energy in their factories.  Find out more on their website - www.heuga.com. 

These carpets at the house caused a lot of comment at my housewarming party

Windows 

One of the first things I wanted to do when I bought my house was replace the windows.  They are made of aluminium and aren't very attractive.  However, when I found out how much it would cost I decided to make do, at least for the time being.  The good thing about them is that they're double glazed.  Not so good is that some of the seals are damaged and they get fugged up.  On a recent trip I took to Germany to see Passivhaus, I discovered that you can get triple-glazed windows.  That's what I'll do if I replace them - but I'll also make sure that the wood if FSC certified (Forest Stewardship Council). 

PAINTING & DECORATING

SOME USEFUL GREEN BUILDING RELATED WEBSITES

Ecos Trust - www.ecostrust.co.uk

Energy Saving World - www.energysavingworld.co.uk

Forest Stewardship Council - www.fsc-uk.org

Sustainable Building Supplies - www.sustainablebuildingsupplies.co.uk

TODAY