With the increasingly hot weather and periods of extreme heat, it’s useful to have strategies for keeping our homes cool in summer. Hot homes are unpleasant, and several consecutive nights when the temperature stays above 18oC can be dangerous for vulnerable people. It is best to stop excess heat ever getting in your house in the […]
Recently there has been a lot of coverage of domestic energy prices, and the energy price cap. Electricity tariffs can be fixed, where you pay a constant price for each unit of electricity, or variable where the price changes over time monthly, daily or hourly. The venerable economy 7 tariff makes a cheaper price available
With Autumn upon us and the cold weather of winter soon to return, we look at relatively easy, more affordable steps that can help to keep houses warm and save you money at the same time. Below that we also list some approaches to saving money on heating while still being comfortable. Quick Fixes to Create
This month we talked to Ben and Richard about how they have improved their listed cottage after experiencing a very cold house during their first winter there. Ben and Richard live in Mill Cottage in Littlebury, a cottage formed from two original 18th Century dwellings with a 20thCentury kitchen extension and a 21st Century second extension. The
Rapid advances in battery technology have enabled widespread adoption of electric bikes (ebikes). Can an ebike be a realistic option for greener local journeys in the countryside? We spoke to several village residents about their ebikes. What is an ebike? Legally we are talking about ‘electrically assisted pedal cycles’. The electric motor assists the rider
This month we look at an example of improvement options for a house with existing storage heating. Cliff and Fiona Snow have lived in Rookery Lane, Wendens Ambo since 1998. The cottage was built around 1840, and has several extensions. Heating is via electric storage heaters, with LPG gas fire back-up. The cottage has never
Zappi car charger Although the transition to 100% of new cars being zero emission was moved back to 2035 recently, it is still expected that 80% of new cars will be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. For those with off-road parking, charging at home can be economical (See the bottom of the post for other
*** Update : Gordon updated us on his first spring with the Solar Panels: “Just to update you on my Solar Panels. I only used £1.92 of electricity during May 2024 and my bill for the month was £18.16 (Ed: Predominantly made up of standing charges).” *** The photographer Gordon Ridgewell moved to Littlebury about
Cindy Whife and Malcolm Domb have lived in a recently built three bedroom detached house in Peggys Walk since 2013. Although these well-insulated houses were designed for low carbon heating, the initial prototype ASHPs performed badly and have generally been replaced with new much more effective and efficient models. Cindy says “The original heat pumps
Charlie Wittich lives with his wife and two children in a Grade 2 Listed (applies to whole house), 4 bed house in the Littlebury Conservation Area. The house is in 3 sections – an original 1560 part fronting the high street and mid-1800’s and mid-1900’s extensions. The house had a very old oil boiler when
