Interested in Reducing your personal Carbon Footprint?

John Shiel, will present a talk on the Ultra-Low Carbon housing development with a summary of Sustainable Living at Progress Hall on Wednesday 10th October at 7– 7.45pm, with 45 mins for a Q&A. John will research questions that are not satisfactorily addressed on the night, on behalf of those enquiring. Please RSVP by 1st Oct to jafshiel@gmail.com or 49525209. John has Degrees in Engineering and Computing and is currently researching a PhD on rapid reduction of Housing Greenhouse Gases.

At a recent presentation given to the local U3A ideas were gathered on Keeping Warm Sustainably – the class agreed these tips would lower energy use with the benefit of having lower bills.

• Allow the sun in the Northern windows, by having the eaves protrude at the top of the window no more than approximately ½ the height of the window from the eaves (this cuts off the sun in summer)
• insulate ceiling to R4
• zone your living room to only heat a small volume eg. additional doors or curtains across corridors;
• put closely-fitting heavy lined curtains with a pelmut on windows and ensure it reaches the ground, wraps around the edges and overlaps in the middle to act like double-glazing and draw the curtains at dusk and don’t fully open until the sun is coming in windows;
• add thermal mass to the living room with a large wine cellar rack, or remove the carpet on a concrete floor or add an internal brick wall;
• draught proof external doors with metal strips on base and plastic foam around door edges, but watch mould issues, and also air quality if there is gas in house;
• monitor humidity for mould with a temperature and humidity USB monitor with LED or open up doors and windows regularly or use ozone or Damprid;
• close adjustable wall vents;
• use more clothing and blankets.
• Another tip could be to use an air conditioner to heat one room instead of a radiator, but to keep the thermostat low to say around 20 degrees with additional clothing or increased activity.