Ever since that first Hawaiian surfed on a length of tree bark, people have recognised the awesome power in waves.

For years, environmental engineers have recognised that the constant oscillations of waves have the potential to supply a huge amount of sustainable energy round the clock, which is something of a rarity with renewable energy, since the majority of forms are intermittent (e.g. solar requiring sunlight to produce power).  In fact, if we could harness just a minuscule percentage of the energy from the sea, in the form of wave power, we could make a massive dent in our seemingly insatiable need for fossil fuels.

What makes wave energy even more attractive is that most of the population around the world is distributed around coastlines, therefore by producing power near where the energy is needed, transmission losses become a thing of the past.

It has only been fairly recently that solutions to harness wave energy have come to the fore, however many of these have fallen at the wayside as a result of them being cost prohibitive, largely inefficient or simply because the technologies could not stand up to the rigours of being in salt water 24/7.

That all could be about to change though, with a new wave energy solution developed by a team of engineers from Berkeley University, California.

So what do the Berkeley team say?

A team including, Reza Alam and Marcus Lehmann, have come up with a revolutionary way of tapping the constant 24/7 power of wave energy. Instead of trying to harness the energy from the surface, which has the potential to disrupt shipping, fishing and leisure, they have come up with a renewable energy source based on the sea floor – so no more issues from the nimbys complaining about the visual impact!

Being on the seabed – how does this technology harness energy from waves?

The idea was first thought of when it was realised that patches of muddy ground found off the coastlines of Northern America, reduced the force of waves hitting the shore. The oscillation of the waves would gently push the mud up and down, causing a build up of heat as a result. This turbulence, absorbed by the muddy floor, would be the perfect 24/7 dense form of energy generation.

Double action cylinders hold a carpet, which in its current form is a thin sheet of rubber, although this will no doubt be replaced with a more durable substance as the prototype develpops. These cylinders are then forced up and down by wave energy, leading to a build up of hydraulic pressure. This can then theoretically be passed along the sea floor and onto the shore where it then can be exchanged and transformed into electricity.

How can wave energy make drinking-water more abundant?

Large-scale desalination, the act of obtaining clean drinkable water from saltwater found in the oceans of the world, is a very expensive job due to the energy required to either heat the seawater or pump it through filters. Due to this, many countries are still crippled during periods of draught. However, with the increased potential that the seafloor carpet technology brings, it means that desalination and the quest for clean drinkable water may become highly accessible to coastlines. The energy produced by the new technology can sustainably run large desalination plants, which would provide millions of gallons of fresh, drinkable water to countries that need it.

How effective will the seafloor carpet be?

The Team at Berkeley, suggest that just one square metre can power two homes and just 10m of Californian coastline can provide as much electricity as a whole football, or ‘soccer’ as they say over in the States, field’s worth of Solar Photovoltaic Panels.

With Wind turbines up and down the country, we often hear complaints over why they don’t rotate during periods of high wind velocity. However, with this wave technology, there is no limit to the strength of wave that can be exploited.

When can we see this sustainable wave energy appear?

At present they are in the process of testing indoors. However, Berkeley intends to take it live and test it in the ocean off the coast of California by 2016. If this goes well, then they believe that they can get it ready for commercial use within 10 years…watch this space!

For more information click HERE

When it comes to energy efficiency, we appreciate how difficult it is to gauge when an appliance is worth replacing. Customers ask us on a daily basis whether they should replace old TVs, Microwaves and Freezers.

There is clearly now far more focus on energy efficient appliances, with manufactures making this a key USP to help drive consumer purchasing decisions, so much so it is now possible to have an A++ rated appliance.

While many appliances have a marginal impact on your overall energy bill, the Fridge Freezer is one of the only appliances in the home that is switched on 24/7 for a total of 8760 hours a year.  It accounts for about 7% of the average household energy bill, so it is one of the most important appliances to consider upgrading to a more energy efficient model. However, it is important to know that you can also improve the efficiency of existing fridge freezers by following some of the simple tips below.

How can I increase the efficiency of my existing fridge-freezer?

• Placing your Fridge-freezer away from direct sunlight ensures that it does the minimal work possible and therefore uses less electricity while producing the same temperature.
• Keeping the Fridge-Freezer at least 10cm from the wall allows for the most efficient cycling of air, ensuring the maximum efficiency is reached.
• Setting the temperature for the fridge at 4°C and the freezer at -18°C helps maintain healthy food while not wasting energy on overcooling.
• Ensuring food has cooled sufficiently before placing it in the fridge-freezer takes helps ensure you are not wasting excessive energy on cooling it.
• One important energy efficiency tip is making sure that the fridge-freezer is as full as possible. Storing bottles of water in the fridge and newspaper in the freezer reduces the volume of air than needs to be re-cooled each time the fridge-freezer is opened and closed.
• Finally, in order to stop any unwanted heat from entering the fridge-freezer space, make sure that seals around the door are maintained and kept clean – this should ensure the seal holds, so no cold air escapes / warm air enters.
• If you have multiple fridge / freezers in your home – unless you need to store 4 year old joints of meat, try to reduce the volume you are storing so you can turn one of these off.

So you’ve tried all that and you still think you are wasting energy? Now might be the time to consider replacing the fridge freezer altogether. So what do you need to consider before purchasing your new appliance.

Is it worth the money buying a new fridge-freezer?

Determining the specific tipping point, where it becomes cheaper to replace your fridge-freezer with an energy efficient model, rather than keeping your old one up and running is not a straightforward calculation.

As a rule of thumb, if you have bought a new fridge freezer in the last ten years then, unless it is completely broken, don’t bother replacing it with a new model since the efficiency gains won’t be worth it.

If your fridge-freezer is more than 10 years old, then you should consider replacing it with a new model. A fridge-freezer over 20 years old for example, may cost as much as £160 per year to run. Compare this to a new A++ rating fridge-freezers, which would cost a mere £25 per year to run. That is a saving of  £138 per year, which means that a highly rated fridge freezer such as the SAMSUNG RB31FEJNCSA would payback in just 4 and half years.

Remember though, that it doesn’t always make sense to buy the cheapest fridge-freezer available. If you bought a £200 B rated model, then the annual cost to run it might be £50, therefore simply by spending a little more (on an A++ model), you would save an additional £25 per year. Based on the fact a fridge-freezer should last 15 years or more, then you have the potential to save an additional £375 just over that time scale.

So should I just focus on Energy Efficiency rating?

Another important fact to consider when purchasing a new fridge-freezer is the size. The energy ratings are based on a cost per litre. This therefore means that buying a large A++ rated fridge-freezer may still be more expensive to run than a medium sized B rated one. Ensure you buy the optimum size, with the best efficiency rating you can afford.

How much loft insulation do you need?

Over the years, insulation has become an increasingly worthwhile investment for homes and businesses. Energy bills have soared over the last 10 years and loft insulation is a relatively cheap energy efficiency measure to install, so it makes sense that people are looking to install it where possible and benefit from lower energy bills.

Back in the eighties, just 25-50 millimetres was considered sufficient, whilst building regulations now dictate that a new build needs to have 270mm of insulation in the loft to achieve the required u-value of less than 0.16w /m²k  (based on standard rock wool or sheep wool insulation).

Diminishing returns of installing additional insulation

With loft insulation, there is a law of depreciating returns, which means the first few centimetres of insulation will save you many times the cost of the installation, but each extra centimetre adds less value, to the point where it is no longer worthwhile to add any more. With cheaper energy prices 30 years ago, that extra few centimetres of insulation was just not worth it, but with the recent astronomical rises in fuel costs, that extra £10 a year saving has suddenly become £30, and that starts to become a lot more attractive.

Is it worth topping up your loft insulation?

In the following table you can see the energy savings from adding additional insulation in to your loft. The energy savings often cited by publications are based on going from no insulation to a depth of 270mm, however in our experience, most homes will have some level of insulation; it is actually quite rare to find a property with no insulation at all.

The numbers in the table are based on a typical turn of the century mid terrace property. It has solid walls but a modern boiler and has an area of 86m²

The actual savings will of course depend on how warm you like your home and how long you have your heating on for. A well insulated property will keep the heat in longer and therefore make your boiler work less hard. The insulation lasts a long time as well, so even if it takes 20 years to pay back, it will still pay for itself in its lifetime.

Because the savings can vary so much depending on the fabric of your home, and how much heat you need, the savings can vary considerably, so it may be worth getting an energy assessment to see if your home could benefit from adding extra insulation in the loft.

How much loft insulation is enough?

If you already have 270mm of loft insulation, whatever the material, you will not benefit from a top up. The cost of materials and installation will be too high for the few pounds a year you will save.

If you have less than 75mm, you are looking at making significant savings with an excellent return on investment of around 10 years or less. The cost/benefit of insulating up to 350mm is very marginal, but may be of benefit if you spend a lot on heating. The installation cost is of course much reduced if you are insulating up to 270mm anyway – so you should check with your assessor to see how much insulation will be right for your property.

COSYWOOL INSULATION

£79.99

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If you are able to install the insulation yourself, the costs will be much lower, and you will likely at least halve the periods for return on investment.

It is also worth noting that we have not considered any future energy price increases in our figures. Obviously, one would expect energy prices to continue to rising, and that being said the savings could be far larger and the payback far quicker than stated above.

Free loft insulation is currently available in some areas

Any home within a CSCO postcode area or in receipt of certain benefits can get free loft insulation, as long as you currently have 50mm or less in your loft, and it is possible to insulate more than 50% of the space. You can get in touch with us if you think you may qualify for a free assessment.

Installing loft insulation

Interested in installing loft installation? We have scoured the country for the best tradespeople, so that we can make sure we only recommend those we really trust.

If you would like us to find you a local installer, just fill in the form below and we will be in touch shortly!