Starters Main course

A friend of yours has gone onto the Energy Saving Trust website and completed their Home Energy Check to see if they could make their home more energy-efficient. The suggested improvements are listed in the table below:

If your friend makes all the suggested improvements, she will save £875 per year in energy bills. How long it will take for her to recover the cost of installing all the improvements?

Did you know?

Blackpool Illuminations, a five-mile stretch of electric lighting, only use green electricity from renewable resources comprising of wind, small-scale hydro, landfill and Bio-Gas.

Lighting accounts for about 20 per cent of the energy bill in your home. Compared to the old light bulbs, a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), or energy saving light bulb, giving the same amount of light, uses one-fifth to one-third the electric power, and lasts 8−15 times longer.

Leaving your appliances such as your TV and computer on standby can cost you up to £86 per year – about nine per cent to 16 per cent of the average electricity bill.

EnergyQuick Maths Menu

Can you...

Use a comparison website to work out the cheapest gas and electricity contract?

Check your energy bill to see whether the meter readings are correct, and whether you are being charged for the right tariff?

Use an energy meter to work out the cost of running an appliance?

Work out the cost of using the tumble drier, and how much you would save by drying your clothes on the washing line?

Answers – Main Course: 4.5 years. Set Menu: 1: 0.183; 0.521; 4.49; 14.39 2: c 3: £172.92

About

Maths Takeaway Template - Energy.indd 1-3 24/04/2013 12:43

Top energy-saving tips:

Turn your thermostat down. Reducing your room temperature by 1°C could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent and could save around £60 per year.

Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C/140°F.

Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors.

Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.

Don’t leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.

If possible, fill up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher: one full load uses less energy than two half loads.

Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you’re using an electric kettle).

A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they’re fully turned off.

1: Electricity is typically more than three times as expensive as natural gas – 14.39 pence per kWh rather than 4.49p. It also emits nearly three times as much carbon dioxide: 0.521kg per kWh rather than 0.183kg. So replacing old inefficient appliances and lighting with new more efficient versions will save you a lot more in electricity. (Energy Saving Trust).

Put the numbers in blue above in order of size, from smallest to largest.

2: The recommended depth of loft insulation is 270mm. My loft currently has 100mm of insulation fabric.

How much more do I need?

A: 30mm B: 100cm C: 170mm D: 100mm

3: Your last dual fuel energy bill for the summer months was £95.48. Your autumn one is £268.40.

How much more will you have to spend on fuel for the autumn than you did in summer?

Grin or groan?

“Due to the current economic climate, the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched off.”

“Wind power is very popular because it has a lot of fans.”

“A fuel cell is where the gaol keeps gas guzzlers.”

How energy-efficient is your home? Take the interactive quiz on the Energy Saving Trust website, at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.

You can measure the size of your carbon footprint by using the online calculator at http://hec.est.org.uk/Measures.asp

If you would like to improve your energy saving maths skills, or maths skills in general, contact your union learning representative for more information.

Specials Set Menu Extras

Maths Takeaway Template - Energy.indd 4-6 24/04/2013 12:43