Two ways to drive down fuel consumption and bills

It is difficult to provide heat and light for homes in remote locations, and the logistics involved in delivering the energy will drive up costs and bills. What is more taxing is to manage during a power shortage – but that is what residents in the Inner Hebrides have done after their main renewable supply sources failed due to unseasonably mild weather. In the absence of wind, people on the island of Eigg have had to ration and resort to traditional diesel fuel.

There are less extreme methods to cut fuel consumption and drive down your bills – you can install a glass vacuum solar tube module, which usually requires no planning permission to fit onto the roof. Using solar energy free of charge to displace the average home’s use of fossil fuels in providing hot water by about 60 to 70 per cent will save £100s.

There is also the option of switching to a building energy management system (BEMS) which makes your central heating and boiler system up to 30 per cent more efficient. It controls the features such as boiler flow and return and can constantly calculate how to switch the boiler on a bit later and off a bit earlier to save you money. Payback can be as soon as a year after purchase.