Asking Mistergreen

Light emitting wallpaper!

A company developing ultra-efficient organic LED (OLED organic light emitting diodes) lighting technology has been awarded a £454k grant by the Carbon Trust. The OLED materials, being pioneered by LOMOX Ltd, have a wide variety of potential applications and when coated onto a film could be used to cover walls creating a light-emitting wallpaper which replaces the need for traditional light bulbs.

As well as being flexible, OLED film will require a very low operating voltage (between 3 to 5...

Double glazing failures

Is it inevitable that sealed double glazing units in timber window frames will fail prematurely? What can be done?

windows scrappage scheme petition

The Glass & Glazing Federation (GGF) has petitioned the government to introduce a scrappage

scheme, whereby householders are encouraged to scrap their old poorly insulated windows in

return for a £1,000 grant towards the installation of new, professionally installed, energy

efficient ones. The petition has been set up through the ePetition Scheme on the Official

website of the Prime Minister's Office at www.number10.gov.uk and is available at:

The Big Freeze

Every winter at some point, Britain grinds to a halt because of exceptionally severe weather conditions. The point is not the question of whether the conditions are exceptional but how we as individuals react to the disruption caused. Mostly, if the media are to be believed, we try to find someone to blame for our woes- the government has not done this or that, or local councils have not stockpiled enough salt for the roads. But the reality is that as individuals, we have failed to get our minds right. We expect to be able to drive from London to Sheffield in three hours in January because...

Magnetic levitation in the Bathroom!

Noisy extract fans in bathrooms are a nuisance! Typically fans are controlled by the lighting circuit with an over-run after the light is switched off. The purpose of the extract fan is to remove smell and to lower humidity.

But over time the fan can become noisy. Extract fans offered by RHL of Reading England use magnetic levitation technology to eliminate contact between the fan shaft and the bearing and longer life and less noise are claimed see http://www.rhldirect.com/

Removing...

Fixing draughty floors

In most UK houses with timber ground floors, the space under the floor is (or should be) ventilated to the cold outside air. It is surprising how the area of the narrow gaps between the boards adds up. In a typical room of say 25 square metres, each gap of 2mm between boards would be equivalent to an open letter box! This is a really good energy saving home improvement. 

 Unfilled joint on the left.Filled joint on the right

Ideally, gaps should be filled when the floor is sanded, using a binder...

High Efficiency Showers and Draught Proofing

BUT
Except for blocking an open but unused chimney flue, there is no mention of draught proofing.
Of course, it is difficult to assign payback and return on investment to draught proofing, but clearly as a very simple process, this is something  that can be done by a DIYer. With materials cheaply purchased from the local DIY store or builders merchant draught proofing outside doors or windows must be very cost effective. Perhaps draughts are British thing!. Certainly windows and doors  in the US and Europe where weather conditions can be more extreme seem to be more...

INTEREST FREE LOANS

The Carbon Trust now has interest free loans available to businesses for energy saving projects. 0% business loans are unsecured and interest free, with no arrangement fees. Loans can be repaid over a period of up to four years and as the scheme is designed for energy savings to cover repayments, the loan will effectively pay for itself.
The maximum loan limit available to borrow has now been doubled to £400,000
The size of the loan offered and its...

Climate Change

FIRST REPORT FROM THE GOVERNMENT'S COMMITTEE ON CLIMATE CHANGE   Meeting carbon budgets - the need for a step change
Committee on Climate Change (CCC)
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) is an independent body established under the Climate Change Act to advise the UK Government on setting carbon budgets, and to report to Parliament on the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This is the Committee's first annual report to Parliament...

Save water in the shower

The eaga ShowerSmart fits easily to your existing shower unit and ensures a constant flow of 7.7 litres per minute, giving a full even jet and reducing fluctuation in the speed of the water flow.

Save Money
As soon as you install your eaga ShowerSmart, it will start saving you money and water for a guaranteed 15 years. The average UK family is likely to save up to a substantial £900* over the product's lifetime.

Help the environment
Fitting the eaga ShowerSmart enables the average family to save more than 12,000 litres of water every year* and cut carbon...