Finding the chase and cutting to it

There are about 30 million dwellings (residential buildings) in the UK. As of early 2025, over 1.4 to 1.6 million of these have solar generative capability. Only 44,000 are making use of solar thermal panels. With the rising price of energy and fuel, is that likely to change? Owned versus rented. One of the biggest […]

Mothering Sunday was not originally about celebrating Mother’s Day – it’s an old age tradition where people returned to their “mother church” – the main parish church or cathedral where they were baptized or raised. This act of returning home is the original meaning of “going a-mothering”. It is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in […]

If you live in the UK, you energy company is probably making a big fuss about “Power Moves”. Part of demand flexibility schemes are operated by National Energy System Operator (NESO) as a means of ensuring the UK makes the most of the renewable energy it produces. Power move, first launched by Ovo in 2024, […]

It’s my week to shop and cook. So, I am trying something new today, cooking my lovely left-over pie in the combination microwave. The average UK home spends 3-4% of its energy usage on cooking. It spends 80% on heating. Which doesn’t make cooking sound as if it’s causing much of an issue. But, our […]

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I’m no saint. Yes, I have been the one to make the suggestions of looking into the electric car and the heat pump, but, like everyone else, there are big areas I, personally, should do better. We are alpine skiers, and living in the UK, that means foreign travel to some mountains. Last year, we […]

Strolling through our local town centre or talking with family, it’s tempting to think that the grey skies overhead this UK winter are a sign that climate warming isn’t really happening. Actually, they are almost certainly a symptom of climate warming in action. Compared to the past few Novembers, November 2025 was dramatically warmer and […]

It’s February, so how can this be the topic of a post today? Or Solar elevation and what it means for me… Human beings have been interested in how high the sun gets in the sky since ancient Greece was a dominant power. In fact, the Greek astronomers founded an equation anyone can use to […]

Over the past few weeks, it feels like I have spent more time talking to Gemini than to any single person in real life. AI is helping more people in the workplace but what about easing things round the home? I wondered if Gemini can help me lower my carbon footprint? Of course, not being […]

This is another piece on how air sourced heat pumps (ASHP) work… Oh no, can’t we talk about anything else? Not yet, and bear with me. This is a fundamental thing to consider when trying to get the most out of your pump. But it helps to understand how a heat pump works to get […]