Is living off-grid realistic?
It is realistic to live off grid? Living off grid means that you are not connected to, or rely on the national grid for your energy needs. This will probably involve some sort of energy storage system to ensure that…
How much energy does my home use?
Estimating how much energy a home uses Domestic buildings are responsible for 30-40% of primary energy use in the UK. When talking about primary energy use, we tend to be referring to electricity and gas, although some properties use oil…
An Air Conditioning Inspection in London
London has 1000’s of registered commercial premises and many of those are serviced by air-conditioning units. An air-conditioning unit forms part of the HVAC system of the building, providing cooling, heating or a combination of the two. The Greater London area…
Homeowners’ guide to boilers
When you buy a new home, there are plenty of things to be worrying about and things like the boiler might not be high on the list of priorities. Even so, there are a few things that you need to…
Is infrared heating safe?
Infrared heaters are becoming ever more popular here in the UK – as opposed to convection heaters like radiators which heat the air, infrared (sometimes known as radiant heaters) warm objects directly – this makes them very efficient. One questions…
Mechanical ventilation in buildings – what you need to know
How do we deal with hot weather in the UK or getting rid of latent warm air without spending huge amounts of energy and money on air-conditioning systems? Although natural ventilation is the commonly low-cost practice to cool a building efficiently…
Could a wood-burning stove cut my energy bills?
Wood burning stoves seem incredibly popular at the moment, with more and more homeowners making the switch – but why is their suddenly so much interest in them? Well once you get them installed, if you can source the wood…
Is electric heating expensive?
In the UK, the cost of electricity is 10-15p/kWh and the cost of gas is just 3.5-4p Therefore, on the face of it, heating with electricity is considerably more expensive than heating with mains gas (e.g. a boiler). How much…
Natural Ventilation – What you need to know
How do we deal with hot weather in the UK? With increasing frequency of heatwaves caused by global warming there are several accompanying problems for homes such as: Decreased indoor air quality within the houses Decreased thermal comfort of the…
The Problem with the Nest Intelligent Thermostat
Smart thermostats have become all the range over the last 12-18 months, with more and more people installing them in their home to help lower energy bills and better manage their heating requirements. All the large heating control companies have…