GARY RHODES Star Gazing - Mayfair Times

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property
TOP: HEATKEEPER BOOSTS
RADIATOR EFFICIENCY.
RIGHT: THERMAFLEECE LOFT
INSULATION, MADE FROM
SHEEP WOOL
responsibility to other residents to ensure any
visual or noise impact is kept to a minimum,”
says Rosemarie MacQueen, director of planning
and city development.
In other words, don’t try doing a Cameron any
time soon. But don’t write off the possibility of
reducing your carbon footprint a wee bit. Here’s
our guide to reducing the energy output of your
Mayfair home, from the top right down to the
bottom.
Sort out your insulation. According to the
Energy Saving Trust, nearly 50 per cent of the
heat in a house is lost through roofs and walls.
Loft insulation can save around one-third of your
heating costs – and eco-friendly materials, such
as sheep’s wool, recycled newspaper or hemp
work more efficiently, too. If you think your
insulation is sufficiently up to scratch, remember
not to overlook the nooks and crannies – 20 per
cent of heat loss is through ventilation and
draughts. So invest in draught excluders for
doors and windows.
Heat your home efficiently – 60 per cent of all
domestic CO 2 emissions come from old boilers.
Replacing an old boiler with an energy efficient
condensing boiler can save you one-third on
heating bills. Look into double glazing (no pun
intended) – a fifth of all heat loss can be through
single glazing or badly fitting window frames. This
can be a planning issue if you live in a listed
building or conservation area, so check with the
council as to the rules and regulations.
Produce hot water efficiently. You might have
to forgo a solar hot water system in Mayfair, but
fitting a GasSaver device to your boiler reduces
gas usage by recycling flue gas heat that is
normally wasted and expelled into the
atmosphere, reclaiming it and using it to preheat
incoming cold water.
If you really want to splash out, you could
investigate installing a fuel cell into your home,
which, run on natural gas, will reduce your
carbon footprint by two-thirds, “does” hot water,
central heating and will provide electricity to boot
– you can even sell what’s left over to the
National Grid.
Be warned, however, they do not come
cheap. John Lidderdale, director of Mayfair-based
company Logan Energy, estimates that a 5kw
fuel cell, to do the bare essentials, is around
£15,000 and a 200kw fuel cell, which would
provide the needs of a large Mayfair house,
would cost upwards of £800,000.
On a cheaper note, even small things can
make a difference. Redecorate using eco-friendly
paint. Put a brick in the cistern – it will save water
when flushing the loo. Replacing ordinary
lightbulbs with energy-saving versions is four
times more efficient – and can save you up to
£100 over the bulb’s lifetime. Switch electrical
appliances off standby – or if you can’t be
bothered, invest in Bye Bye Standby, a new
energy-saving device which links all your standby
kit together, allowing you to switch the lot off with
a remote control when you’re out or asleep. From
next year, the government will make Smart
Meters, which tell you how much energy your
home is using, available to anyone who wants
one for free – seeing how it all adds up will
encourage you to use less energy.