Save energy for free - with a helping hand from N&P!
Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, which became a ‘Carbon Neutral’ business in 2007, is offering to lend plug-in energy monitors to anyone interested in saving both the environment, and money on their energy bills!
Research from the Energy Savings Trust predicts that by 2010 consumer electronics, such as TVs, will become the top power guzzlers in the home, overtaking lighting, fridges and freezers. A plasma TV alone uses three times the energy of traditional TV sets. But how do you know if you’re saving energy at home? A useful place to start when you're looking to improve your energy efficiency is how much you are actually using to start with. We’re all told that boiling a kettle with one cup of water in it takes less energy than boiling it full, but how much difference does it really make? Well, with the energy monitors, N&P can help you to find out.
Anyone can apply to borrow one of the energy monitors, which will tell you how much energy a particular appliance is using. So, you can boil your kettle with different amounts of water in it, and see exactly how much you save by using less. Or you could see how much energy your TV uses when on stand-by or how much your mobile phone charger uses even when your mobile phone isn't connected - the list is endless!
Matthew Bullock, chief executive of N&P, said: “At N&P we subscribe to the view that doing nothing is not an option and that we need, in our working lives and at home with our families, to make an effort to reduce emissions which cause climate change. We put a lot of work into examining every aspect of our business and making changes to reduce our carbon footprint, and we want to help others to do the same. By offering the use of an energy monitor, we hope that people will be encouraged to take more steps to lower their energy usage, saving them money as well as helping the environment.”
N&P has 100 energy monitors available. To apply to borrow one, people should log on to http://www.npbs.co.uk/green/ They will be asked to fill in a short form, and a monitor will then be sent out as soon as one becomes free. It will be posted directly to the person applying for it, along with a return prepaid envelope, and the Society asks that it is returned within three weeks to enable someone else to benefit from borrowing it.