Were you about to install PV panels on your roof?

We'd be interested in your views on the cutting of the feed-in-tariff, here's our experience, what's yours?

The Green Deal coming soon!

There is much excitement about the Governments bright idea to encourage home owners and businesses to make energy improvements that don't need to be paid for upfront, and can be repaid over time through energy bills. There are lots of details still to be ironed out, but in essence the Green Deal is a "pay as you save" scheme designed to fund energy efficiency measures such as insulation, double glazing, boiler replacements, with the total repayments not costing more than the predicted savings on your energy bill. The downside is that it doesn't look likely to cover the cost of buying energy efficient appliances. And if it's not careful could end up being hopelessly bureaucratic. Wouldn't a cut in VAT on energy efficient products be simpler?

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Unfortunately not, all portable electric heaters will consume the same amount of electricity and produce the same amount of thermal heat, relative to power input. The only difference will be in how they deliver the heat, e.g. fan heaters are a good choice for quick heating of specific areas of a room, as you can direct the heat.

What will affect the running cost of the heater? The power/energy rating (watts or kWh) will dictate the running cost per hour of any heater. The most effective way to reduce running costs is to keep the heat in, insulating and reducing draughts will help keep bills down. Low cost solutions, such as heavy curtains, blinds, draft excluders will all help. Loft and cavity wall insulation, double-glazing can dramatically reduce heating bills too.

To find out what any electric heater uses, please try sust-it's energy calculator - see the running cost of any electric fire.

Energy labels for TV's have arrived and should be displayed!

It's a minefield buying a new TV these days - LCD, Plasma, LED, HD, screen size, Freeview, Freesat, 3D, internet, surround sound - however one addition you should be noticing is the EU energy performance labels, similar to those found on washing machines and other white goods. These are now mandatory! Labelling came into force in December 2011, with all new TV's sold required to have an energy performance label and a rating from A to G. It is good news that energy labels are being introduced - sust-it has been comparing the energy usage and running costs of TVs, and it is amazing how products and brands differ. There is a whopping £122 per year difference in running costs between the most energy efficient 50" TV and the least. Over 5 years that's a sizeable amount of money, not to mention the CO2 emissions. Please look out for manufacturers and retailers trying to off load the more inefficient products, plus retailers are legally bound to display energy labels in-store!