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Scots green homes open for viewing |
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28 Aug 2012, 8:57 PM
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Some of Dumfries and Galloway’s most eco-friendly homes will open their doors on September 29 for the Green Homes Network Open Day. The Green Homes Network, a Scottish government initiative managed by the Energy Saving Trust, was launched last year and now has more than 600 homeowners signed up across Scotland.
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Some of Dumfries and Galloway’s most eco-friendly homes will open their doors on September 29 for the Green Homes Network Open Day. The Green Homes Network, a Scottish government initiative managed by the Energy Saving Trust, was launched last year and now has more than 600 homeowners signed up across Scotland.
The eight households in Dumfries and Galloway are part of a group of 48 homeowners across Scotland taking part in the open day to provide others with an opportunity to visit a local home that has a renewables system installed.
Between them, it is estimated their renewables technologies have saved the householders around £12,000 off their fuel bills over the past year, and cut their carbon footprints by around 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
As part of the open day, the public will receive advice and tips on how renewables systems could benefit them, and hear about actual savings and costs.
In addition to visiting a home, people can also drop in to the information hub at 135-139 High Street, Dumfries, from 10.30am to 4pm.
Renewable heat and electricity generating systems – for instance heat pumps, solar panels, micro-wind turbines or biomass boilers – are available for homes of all shapes and sizes.
One household who have not regretted investing in renewable energy are Daniel Prince and his wife Laura and daughters Hannah and Gaia who live in North Edinburgh. The family have been trying to track and reduce their carbon use for the last few years. In March 2010, they decided to take the next step and installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
Daniel believes that generating their own electricity will be a good investment in the long term. “At this time, fuel bills are increasing and so having Solar PV panels is a very solid investment,” he says, “It’s a good place to put your money.”
As for the installation process, he says that the installers were good and he was pleased with the quality of the work. “They did a really good, neat job,” he adds.
Daniel feels that they have benefited in a number of ways: “It makes us and our community more aware of electricity use, especially from the kids’ point of view. It makes you more conscious about how electricity is a resource and that you need to use it wisely.”
Anyone interested in visiting the Green Homes on the day should visit www.greenhomesopenday.org.uk to find out more.
For general energy saving advice, they can get in touch with their local Energy Saving Scotland advice centre on 0800 512 012.
Credits:: Galloway Gazette
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