Not a Christmas Card

Dear Friends,
Once again I am not sending Christmas greetings by email. It is better for the environment, (tho’ it may not be for Royal mail!)
Each year I don't send more cards and save more money. This year I am contributing the money saved to Practical Action.
2008 has been a year of growth. We have taken on a another half allotment, Cambridge Architectural Research is flourishing and Cambridge Carbon Footprint attracts more support each month.
Alex is still still in Wales. He is now in charge of media department (which is like the press office) at CAT.

A printable card (900kb) or just the picture (92k) can be downloaded from box.net. Use recycled paper if you can.
Seasonal Greetings to all who find this in time and best wishes for 2009.
Love Andy

Wonderful wood

Autumn is here and it is time to light the stove.

We had the stove installed 12 years ago, and it has been one of the best buys for the house. The chimney sweep kept telling us that the lining of the chimney was failing. We found a company, Ivett and Reed, 01223 241547 , who did the reling and supplied and fitted a small stove. The most expensive bit was the lining!
The stove is a Brunell from Stovax.

Our not quite so spartan heating strategy is to have the gas heating on for an hour in the morning, so it heats the bedroom and the hot water, and then turn it on manually when we think we need it. Most evenings we can heat the living room with the wood stove. It takes a couple of minutes to split enough wood for a couple of days.
We bought the logs from Mr.Richardson, 01223 368968, who also does tree work. He will provide logs for £45 a half load, which must be about 500Kg of logs. He will also supply the logs cut to 200mm, so I only have to split them to get them to fit our little stove. We also have the number for Pete, 01223 845549, who others have recommended, but we have not tried.

In 2006/7 we kept a record of the wood we burnt from December to April, which came to 325 kg. I recon that is about 3,000 megaJoules, saving about 100 kg of CO2 from burning gas. It may have saved £30 too. But we don't do it for the savings.

• It is easy to heat just the living room, so we don't have to heat the rest of the house
• It is good in the spring and autumn, as we dont have to have the heating on
• It looks good.

Conservation and renewable energy

I get a number of enquiries about energy in the home.

My best advice is to do a Cambridge Carbon Footprint "Foot print group" http://www.cambridgecarbonfootprint.org/#CCG. As a follow up to the groups, which spend an evening taling about energy in the home, we also provide a network of contacts to support chanbe and a 'House Doctor' scheme were various experts can provide advice and practicle help.

There are a number of options.
You might like to take advantage of the EST free advice
service:http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/ "For free, independent and
local energy saving advice call 0800 512 012"
You can also get free advice from the Centre for Alternative Technology, www.cat.org.uk, 01654 705989. (They may be able to put you in touch with graduates of the the Renewable Energy course working as consultants.)

Cambridge Architectural Research (www.carltd.com, 01223 460475) can provide background and strategic advice on conservation and renewable energy. If you wanted to come to our offices with photos and plans, Jason Palmer and/or myself could provide a couple of hours consultation
for a fee (appx. £200). You would then be in a position to request quotations for installation of the technologies that suite your buildings.

We know of 3 architectural practices in Cambridge who advise on thermal
upgrades, sustainability and renewable technologies.

Granta Architects www.grantaarchitects.com 01223 305550
AC Architects, www.acarchitectscambridge.com, 01223 576315
Ecoways consulting, www.ecoways.org.uk, 01223 654 163

There must be more in Cambridge and region. I look forward to contacts!

Another useful resource is the Association of Environment Conscious Builders, www.aecb.net, who have a data base of local consultants.

We are also aware of some contractors who have contacted CCF:
Dragon Contracts, www.dragonbc.co.uk, 01799 598 086
Hutie, www.huttie.com, 01223 292 295

Some info on energy meters

This list of monitors includes some links to suppliers. It is nothing
like complete.

Plug In Appliance Monitors
I have tried these two:

Westfalia Wetekom Energy Cost Meter
£9.99
It has a small display and will not tell you average consumption as
the 'duration' counter only counts the time the appliance is on.
http://www1.westfalia.net/...

Plug-In Mains Power and Energy Monitor
£27.99
This was the first one we found from Maplin. It is often cheaper
in the shops!
http://www.maplin.co.uk/...

There are now a lot of cheaper units around. I have not tried any
of these:
EcoSavers Energy Meter
£11.99

http://www.smarterproducts.co.uk/...
http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/...
http://www.biggreenshop.co.uk/...
http://www.allthingsgreen.net/...
http://www.earthwhile.co.uk/...
http://www.ethicalgadgets.co.uk/...
http://www.greenthinking.eu/...
http://www.nigelsecostore.com/...

SMJ Plug In Energy Efficiency Meter

http://www.smjuk.com/...
£12.99
http://www.biggreenshop.co.uk/...
http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/...

ProTeam Plug In Energy Tracker
£15.99
http://www.housemakers.co.uk/...
www.electricity-monitor.com

Plug in power meter
£19.99
http://www.electricity-monitor.com/...

http://www.windtrap.co.uk/...

Power Cost Meter
£24.99

http://www.maplin.co.uk/...

Whole House Monitors
We have tried two.
Electrisave Wireless Energy Monitor
Originally known as the cent-a-meter in Australia and the USA it
has now been been replaced by the OWL. Although expensive, it
demonstrated that smart displays of electricity consumption raises the
awareness of the whole household.
£78.00
Efergy Smart Meter
The first of the cheaper units on the market. We have found them OK.
£44.99
Eco-Eye Mini Wireless Electricity Monitor
£39.99
The latest unit on the market, with a choice of displays. It has
added functions, with historical records and cost predications. A
computer interface unit is in development.

http://www.electricity-monitor.com/

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Eco-Eye-Review.htm
OWL portable wireless electricity monitor
The upgraded Electisave/Cent-a-meter.
£59.95
Wattson Energy Meter
More of a designer object, but includes a computer interface!
£149.99