Energy efficiency week 14-20 October 2002
Merton Council is encouraging residents to think about energy this week for the sixth successive National Energy Efficiency Week, which runs from Monday 14th to Sunday 20th October 2002.
Energy Efficiency Week focuses on how everyone can be more energy efficient and help reduce the damage done to the environment by energy wastage. Merton Council is urging residents to visit the Merton Link foyer at the Civic Centre and to obtain and fill in a home energy survey form. These survey forms are available from the energy display area and will assist residents in finding out how to use less energy in their home. The survey is also available on Merton Council’s website. An energy efficiency advice bus will also be stopping at Mitcham by the clock tower between 10am and 4pm on Friday 25 October.
If residents and businesses were to use less energy, then less carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere and global warming will be reduced. Every home in the UK releases around five to six tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year as a result of energy use. This gas is the primary cause of climate change. Energy Efficiency Week aims to show householders how each home could slash this figure by up to two tonnes per year. Not only would this cut the effect of climate change, but also it would save around £5 billion per year.
Some examples of how to be more energy efficient are as follows:
· If everyone owning a chest freezer in the UK changed it to an A rated appliance, the energy saved would be sufficient to run UK street lighting for more than a year
· If everyone in the country installed one low energy light bulb, then the money saved would be sufficient to pay David Beckham’s wages for the next 58 years
· By turning the TV off standby use when not watching it, will save approximately £8 a year
· Having a shower instead of a bath
· Turning your central heating down by 1ºC can save up to 10% of annual heating bills.
Energy Efficiency is an Energy Saving Trust initiative backed by the Government. For further information on the events during Energy Efficiency Week or advice on how to save energy in your home, please call the Energy Advice Centre on 020 8683 6655 and quote Ref: MPREE02.