When power stations burn oil to generate energy, they pump out damaging gases into the atmosphere.
Homes use a quarter of the total energy generated and each household in the UK is responsible, on average, for around six tonnes of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide every year. In fact, the average home is responsible for more carbon dioxide gas than the average car.
Most of our homes are needlessly wasting energy and there are ways we can make it more difficult for our homes to behave badly. What's better, some energy efficiency measures won't even cost you a penny.
Some no-cost /low-cost tips:
* 12% cent of the energy to run televisions is used when they're not even switched on! The 140,000 TVs in York alone contribute to around 800,000kgs of carbon dioxide a year - enough to almost fill around 30 million party balloons.
* Washing clothes in a machine at 40C rather than 60C will reduce energy usage by up to a third - and therefore the same reduction in your bill. Spin wet clothes before putting them in the dryer too.
* Fitting a jacket to your hot water tank can cut wastage by up to three quarters. Emissions would be cut by 0.31 million tonnes if everyone in the UK put a jacket on their hot water tank.
* Turn off lights when you leave the room - lighting accounts for 10-15% of the electricity bill - and invest in energy efficient light bulbs. They use 75% less electricity than ordinary bulbs. If every home in York invested in one energy saving light bulb, it would save enough electricity to pay for the total annual energy bill for 219 households. Energy efficient bulbs also last up to ten times longer.
* Cut down on water usage. Boiling a kettle half full instead of full four times a day could save enough electricity to run a TV set for four hours. And having a shower uses only two-fifths of the water and heating needed for a bath.
* A fifth of the heat in your home can be lost through tiny gaps around windows, doors and floors. Draught proofing windows and doors can save between £15-£25 a year.
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