07:50 Thursday 20th January 2011
Peterborough Breakfast Show BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: Now all this morning we’ve been doing our bit to save money. Because the Green Party think the World War Two generation could help us tackle climate change and save us a few quid as well. Later on they’re going to launch a nationwide search for the best ideas from the home front, to help us make us more energy efficient, and save cash, be less wasteful and all that. Thank you for all the suggestions for saving money this morning. Some of my favourite ones, “save wear and tear on busy city roads by closing them all to traffic.” It’s going to work, isn’t it? It’s going to work. And I particularly like “stay at home as much as you can, save petrol, and make the most of your TV licence.” Plus: “Stop the car five miles from home and push it the rest of the way.” That’s always going to be a petrol-saving option. But they want us to go back to the Second World War and think about cutting squares of toilet paper up instead of toilet roll, eating unpopular meat, or even plugging a hole in your shoe with some cardboard. Eve Young is from Peterborough Environment City Trust. Morning Eve.
EVE YOUNG: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: What do you think about first of all the ideas that the Green Party have got about putting cardboard in your shoes?
EVE YOUNG: It might not suit everybody.
PAUL STAINTON: No.
EVE YOUNG: But there are thousands of money-saving energy-saving tips out there, so any suggestions are good.
PAUL STAINTON: I do remember my dad cutting up squares of newspaper when we ran out of toilet-rolls as kids. And we did use newspaper. It’s not pleasant.
EVE YOUNG: No. A bit before my time, that one.
PAUL STAINTON: Oh thanks. Cheers. Yes. But you sort of do the opposite don’t you really? You help older residents in the city save money, and not the other way round, where we’re trying to get older residents for the Green Party to help us all save money. It’s a bit of a contradiction, isn’t it?
EVE YOUNG: It is a little, yes. The project we’re doing is with Cross Keys Homes, helping their elderly tenants. Basically they’re judged as being the most vulnerable for fuel poverty. So it’s really to make sure that they’re not reducing their comfort over winter, and not suffering in the cold.
PAUL STAINTON: When you’re giving tips out to the older members of our listeners, do they ever give you tips back?
EVE YOUNG: Not so far no.
PAUL STAINTON: Really?
EVE YOUNG: No.
PAUL STAINTON: It’s amazing, because every time I bump into somebody over the age of 60 they’ve always got something to say. Hey you want to do it like this young lad.
EVE YOUNG: No. I think I do a lot of talking so I don’t get much chance.
PAUL STAINTON: Yeah. And how much can you save pensioners in this city?
EVE YOUNG: Well we’re looking at checking their benefits income as well as saving on their fuel bills. Some of the economies I’ve done so far, for instance, if I highlight that they’re not getting pension credit, they should get an extra £1000 a year.
PAUL STAINTON: Wow!
EVE YOUNG: Also with you saving energy in the home if you haven’t got any loft insulation, you have that put in, then you can save about £200 a year. So there’s lots of different measures you can do.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes. That’s quite a lot of cash, isn’t it? About £1200. Let’s have your top tips then for saving cash/energy.
EVE YOUNG: Yup. Like I say, loft insulation’s a really good one. But also if you draught-proof your home as well, and you can do this very simply by just putting pieces of silicone in any holes you’ve got under your windowsills and your doors. That’s really good. Making sure (INDISTINCT) reduce condensation levels as well, as I know a lot of people get water on the inside of their windows. So that’s always a good one. Reducing your thermostat by one degree can cut heating bills by 10%. So onviously you try and keep it within the recommended temperature of 18-21°, but every degree you reduce it, like I say, it’s a 10° saving. So whatever you’re used to, try going a little bit lower, and you might find you’re alright in that sort of temperature. If you can take showers, rather than a bath, they use 2/5ths of the water needed for a bath, and again, if you try and cut your shower time down by a minute, that can save you about £30 a year. A lot of people forget that heating water does use fuel, which in effect you’re paying for as well. So you should be water conscious as well. Fourth one would be to have thermostatic radiator valves. They’re the little knobs on the side, so they can control room by room temperatures. And it gives you a lot of heat in the rooms that you want to have. You’re not wasting it on the ones you’re not occupying. Again, if you have that with timers on your heating on your boiler, those combined can save about 40%, which is obviously a really good saving.
PAUL STAINTON: You’ve gone mental this morning with money saving tips.
EVE YOUNG: I have. Yes. Yes.
PAUL STAINTON: You’ve almost given us as many as the listeners have. Listen, thank you for that Eve. If people are worried about their heatring, their money, and how they can save on both, what would you advise them to do? Get in touch?
EVE YOUNG: Yes. Well, we can always provide general saving energy tips and money saving tips as well. My project is just for Cross Keys tenants at the moment. But if they’re online, have a look, Energy Saving Trust also has lots of tips on there you can find it. But yes, just get in touch with us and we can help in that way.
PAUL STAINTON: Thank you for coming in this morning. Thank you for helping us help ourselves. Eve Young from Peterborough Environment City Trust, Household Energy Adviser, with some good tips there.