Having been made redundant only a month ago, I have some very serious monetary issues that need my immediate attention, before it gets to the case where my outgoings on a monthly basis far exceed my income. This would be catastrophic, as I have an excellent credit rating and have never deferred on a bank loan or credit card payment. I pride myself on never living beyond my needs or financial constraints.
One huge area of concern is the financial drain my house has on my limited budget per month, in particular areas such as use of electricity, gas and water. I include water in my energy optimization plan, as it uses power to get it to my location and in some respects it takes electricity to pump it around my central heating system. The energy optimization plan will encompass jobs such as draft proofing, insulation of water pipes and the loft area, thermostats being fitted to radiators and new light switches being fitted along with energy saving bulbs replacing the out dated high voltage type.
I intend to save some energy by walking around the house and adjust ill-fitting doors and windows. I was fortunate enough to have double glazing fitted about two years ago but I am sure the windows and doors have settled a little and are in need of slight adjustment. This will preserve the expensively heated air escaping and keep the room warmer, safe from unwanted drafts.
Stage two of my energy optimization plan is to lag all the hot and cold water pipes through the entire house, or where I can get to them at least. The cold water pipes will be lagged against frost and ice and the hot water pipes will be lagged and insulated against heat loss. The entire loft space will get a thick layer of insulation and boards fitted to squash it down thus filling in any gaps.
Stage three of the energy optimization plan will encompass the central heating receiving a makeover, I will fit individual thermostats on each radiator and a main timer switch on the boiler itself. The radiators can be individually adjusted to suit the requirements of the room rather than a combined heat setting, wasting fuel in the process.
Stage four will see the energy optimization plan deal with the lighting and switches. The bulbs will all be swopped for the new high efficiency energy saving ones, they not only use less electricity to illuminate, they also last 100 times longer. In areas where the light is needed for short periods of time, such as the WC or the landing, I intend to fit timed switches so the light will be extinguished when it is not needed. With this being automatic it eliminates the chance of humans forgetting to turn them off! Lastly I will remove all the outside lighting which was fitted to sort of say look at my big house, I am successful and I want you all to know it. It is expensive to run and quite honestly it never made me feel any different.
One huge area of concern is the financial drain my house has on my limited budget per month, in particular areas such as use of electricity, gas and water. I include water in my energy optimization plan, as it uses power to get it to my location and in some respects it takes electricity to pump it around my central heating system. The energy optimization plan will encompass jobs such as draft proofing, insulation of water pipes and the loft area, thermostats being fitted to radiators and new light switches being fitted along with energy saving bulbs replacing the out dated high voltage type.
I intend to save some energy by walking around the house and adjust ill-fitting doors and windows. I was fortunate enough to have double glazing fitted about two years ago but I am sure the windows and doors have settled a little and are in need of slight adjustment. This will preserve the expensively heated air escaping and keep the room warmer, safe from unwanted drafts.
Stage two of my energy optimization plan is to lag all the hot and cold water pipes through the entire house, or where I can get to them at least. The cold water pipes will be lagged against frost and ice and the hot water pipes will be lagged and insulated against heat loss. The entire loft space will get a thick layer of insulation and boards fitted to squash it down thus filling in any gaps.
Stage three of the energy optimization plan will encompass the central heating receiving a makeover, I will fit individual thermostats on each radiator and a main timer switch on the boiler itself. The radiators can be individually adjusted to suit the requirements of the room rather than a combined heat setting, wasting fuel in the process.
Stage four will see the energy optimization plan deal with the lighting and switches. The bulbs will all be swopped for the new high efficiency energy saving ones, they not only use less electricity to illuminate, they also last 100 times longer. In areas where the light is needed for short periods of time, such as the WC or the landing, I intend to fit timed switches so the light will be extinguished when it is not needed. With this being automatic it eliminates the chance of humans forgetting to turn them off! Lastly I will remove all the outside lighting which was fitted to sort of say look at my big house, I am successful and I want you all to know it. It is expensive to run and quite honestly it never made me feel any different.
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