Kent Building Developments

Kent Building Developments sponsors cycle ride for South African township

2012-02-20T07:21:00.001-08:00

On the 17th and 18th of March Kent Building Developments will be sponsoring a cycle ride from Harrogate to Bempton (near Flamborough Head), 150 miles! Thankfully this is mainly on B and minor roads. It will take us 2 days and we will be staying at Bempton house B & B.

All funds raised will go to Masiphumele Trust to help them promote education at Masiphumele. This includes mentorship and financial support for students at university and will also help indidviduals establish small and sustainable businesses. Please visit www.masicorp.org for more

To sponsor this really worthwhile town ship plan please ring 01944 759 259

How to make your home an eco home - part 2 New Build

2012-02-09T05:09:00.000-08:00

Eco house part 2 – new build

This is really exciting and gives you more options to make your home eco friendly and save on energy bills. Many of the same options apply as for an older property but for a new build eco home you will have to consider the trade-off between the considerable extra build cost and energy saving.

Planning a new eco home or looking to buy a new build eco home what should you be looking for?

Ground source or air source heat pumps

High levels of insulation

Your new eco home should be designed so you gain as much solar energy as possible so reducing the need for lighting and heating

Hot water and energy production from solar panels and/or PV panels

Double or triple glazing

Look for homes that use natural insulation

Taking care over the design in the early stages will reap benefits not just in energy savings but on the value and saleability of your home as fuel prices increase

If every home in the UK adopted these measures CO2 emissions would be reduced and for non domestic buildings the potential reduction in CO2 emissions are even greater .

Look for a builder with experience in building eco homes and ask what sort of energy savings you can expect.

How to make your home an eco home - older properties

2012-01-23T02:42:00.000-08:00

Plenty of people are talking about it, even governments work out how to make it happen, but just how do you make your home an eco friendly home and what benefits should you expect?

Eco house part 1 – older property
If as most of us do in the UK you live in an older home or one built earlier than the 1970’s you will be limited in the changes you can make and the savings you can expect. However there are still things you can do depending on the type of property you have.

While it is a good thing to save money on fuel bills a few simple changes will make your home more comfortable and at the same time you can do your bit for energy saving. In a few years time as energy costs rise it seems likely that a poor energy rating could affect and make homes difficult to sell.

Make sure you have high levels of insulation – roof and cavity walls
Make sure windows and doors are sealed with no gaps
Lag hot water pipes and tanks
Make sure doors are well fitting and block any gaps
Don’t leave gadgets on standby in the UK it is estimated that 8% of domestic energy is used by items left on standby
Consider using an energy wizard which helps to reduce fluctuations in voltage and current which reduce the energy efficiency of domestic appliances. It is estimated that energy wizards can cut bills by 10% for an average household that saving of £60 per year. They cost between £20 to £30.
Check your central heating boiler, is it energy efficient. The older the model the less energy efficient your boiler is likely to be.

The same applies to appliances older fridge freezers use more energy and are less environmentally friendly
More expensive to implement, there are other changes you can make to reduce energy usage and make your home more comfortable.
Consider double/ triple glazing or secondary glazing
Condensing boilers can save energy costs as they can be more energy efficient than traditional boilers. This is a design of boiler which can have an increased efficiency over the more traditional boiler. The efficiency of a typical non-condensing boiler is around 75%, whereas with condensing boilers it can be over 87%. This increased efficiency is due to the extraction of heat from the otherwise wasted flue gases.
Installing skylights will bring in more light reducing the need for artificial light
Solar panels can be installed but you will need a new dual coil cylinder and control equipment making installation costly. It can take many years to break even on the cost

Motion sensor light bulbs for indoors and outdoors reduce energy bills as lights are automatically turned on and off. They also act as a burglar deterrent.

for more on eco homes please visit http://www.kent-build-eco.co.uk/