Dear Lazyweb: 'green' gas and electric suppliers/tariffs?

[denny]

I'd like to get the new place put onto a planet-friendly gas and electric tariff, does anyone have any suggestions on good companies/deals to check out? I use a lot of electricity, but not much gas - the only gas item in the flat is a hob, whereas there are electric heaters in two of the rooms as well as computers and many other gadgets sucking electricity.

Comments

[denari.livejournal.com]

ecotricity are supposed to be the greenest electricity supplier, no idea about gas

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Thanks - reading about that lot was fairly convincing, I've just signed up for their most hippy-friendly tariff :)

Given how little gas I use, I think I'll just leave that with British Gas for now.

[mr_magicfingers]

Beat me to it, they're well known and open about their business. They're who I was going to suggest.

That said I could spec you out a nice 2.5kw array for the roof, after all the council are going to put a load of scaff up, we could just nip up while they're on tea break ;)

[djlongfella.livejournal.com]

Array ? Is this a turbine or solar panel...am interested...

[mr_magicfingers]

Solar.

Wind gens are pretty pointless unless you get a big one and have the positioning to put it on a high tower to catch enought wind. Small domestic turbines are a waste of money, you'll never make the initial cost back and will get a much better return on your money by using it for insulation. They may make you look green but in all honesty they make you look like a twat.

Solar panel arrays are good but here very few electricity companies will buy your power back, which is where they really score in what's known as a grid-tie system. Otherwise you have to have a battery bank and run everything on 12v power or run a big inverter to push it back to 240v, which is reasonably efficient but still not ideal.

You really need to completely revamp your power usage and house power design to make any real returns on these systems. You'll be more efficient by switching to lower power fittings, insulating well and being more mindful of your power usage throughout the house, particularly in an average uk home.

If you're building from scratch, as I intend to one day, then it's a very different game. My house will be off grid eventually.