Welcome to the second instalment of tips to create a greener home from eco expert Tim Pullen. Tim will be presenting two seminars each day at The Scottish Homebuilding & Renovating Show entitled Energy Efficiency - The Ten Best Eco Home Investments You Can Make and Choosing The Right Heating System. The show is at the SECC Glasgow on 19 and 20 May 2012. Here are Tim’s final five tips.

6 Voltage Optimisation - Voltage optimisation reduces electricity consumption in the home by ensuring that equipment is running at the best voltage. This not only saves money, it also reduces CO2 emissions and extends the life of the equipment. At a cost of around £350 electricity consumption can be reduced by 10% to 12% per year.

7 Eco-heating – Consider replacing your boiler. A gas or oil boiler just 10 years old could be as much as 40% less efficient than a modern A-Rated boiler. Or consider switching to a more sustainable heating system – biomass perhaps. If you have an open fireplace a log or wood pellet burning stove is more sustainable, effectively zero CO2 emissions, cheaper to run and eliminates a draughty flue.

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8 Heating Controls – Fit a system that will allow the temperature of each room and the times that it is heated to be properly controlled. Turning the thermostat down 1.50C will reduce the heating energy consumption by 10%, but the heating control system has to be sufficiently sensitive to allow that reduction. Heating only those rooms that are in use could reduce the energy consumption by another 20%.

9 Hot Water Cylinder - A good heating system needs a good cylinder, especially if you are using renewable heat sources. Investing in a good quality thermal store will maximise the benefit of the renewable energy and reduce your heating bills.

10 Renewable Energy – 75% of the energy used in the home is for heating and hot water. Invest in heating technology before electricity generation. And do all the things listed above before investing in renewable energy.

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