The Great Big Energy Saving Challenge

To help them,

and your energy bill You could replace all of them,

be difficult to get used to.

It's not just a TV.

Most of us want to save money and sub-woofer and everything else.

in just three weeks?

Energy Saving Challenge.

This is the coastal town

we're going to follow six families Over the next three weeks,

sustainability director from Robert are Dr Alan Owen,

who lives completely off grid on ..and energy expert Lucy Conway,

The challenge is to try

suspect so. We don't skimp.

the children and raising awareness.

We can take the guesswork All their fault.

They are all at your houses in this street.

No, not particularly. Why is that?

we've installed energy monitors As part of this challenge,

for the past couple of weeks.

consumed, either electricity or gas, of all the energy that is being

mapping everybody's energy into a spreadsheet, and I've been

The least greedy when it comes to their energy?

So, 30%, guys.

Lucy, thank you for joining us.

That's right. We generate which is totally off grid, isn't it?

Let's have a look at what You've got that DVD, haven't you?

How proud are you of your fridge,

There's a beer fridge

Norman lives with his wife Alison

It's probably unnecessary

Shall we have a look

Which is one of my bugbears, I do like a lamp on of a daytime.

No TVs, no iPods, no phones.

Getting their energy use down

OK, everybody. This is

but with a very serious message, Obviously, this is a fun challenge,

You get totally bored, on our iPods, but the power's gone.

for the blackout than others.

so that they work. Like this.

The dog that was really annoying As you can hear.

we'll have to wrap up.

and get ready for bed?

effects of a night without power.

to a cold house this morning.

when we come down in the morning,

was it?

cold. I miss having warm breakfasts.

this morning than it usually is.

music goes on, or the television,

When I got up this morning,

That was an experience.

with the house being this cold

I've got layers on today.

getting the power back on,

Watch a bit of TV.

To find out, I'm sending are there more inventive solutions?

It's these houses

of roughly what you spend Does anyone here have an idea

Rosie, one of the residents, is

Let me introduce you to our lovely

but not a lot.

So, we need to find out

this low-cost rental housing.

as much as you can towards the sun,

heating the house.

And the remainder of the heat draught-free houses.

by Rosie, her three girls

Well, Rosie, if you're brave enough a heavenly idea. Brilliant.

solar panels to heat her water.

This also acts as if there's no sun.

that's already there.

Inside Rosie's house, an excellent source of heat.

So, all the kids...

heat generators.

are going to run upstairs.

The children are running

the temperature of the house.

so the heat doesn't escape.

or indeed, anyone can do

more energy-efficient?

So this must be the first approach, in the roof, and all that.

energy with renewable energy. Right.

goes before energy creation.

And down the stairs,

the temperature was 20 degrees.

I can now reveal that

absolutely nothing. Wow!

LAUGHTER AND CHAT

into these vents in the ceiling.

a heat recovery system.

is used to heat up

coming in from outside.

into every room in the house, then be circulated

long after we've gone,

cracks and gaps in the walls.

taking home from this trip?

The price was amazing.

and our energy bill was like ?2,500.

fancy gadgets

the residents will need to find out their consumption by 30%,

with energy technician Gordon.

Gordon's job is diagnosing

These days, all new builds must

poorly insulated and a bit draughty.

are happy with their house.

any problems with heat loss.

Gaps? That's... That's impossible.

To find out if Bill's right, we're

the thermal-imaging test.

Gordon's taping up the vents,

and he's also those sorts of things,

I see. OK.

How this works is that

They've had the heating

There is some slight leakage

with theatrical smoke.

going to come out most.

be able to see the smoke escaping.

so that's coming out through...

How's it getting up into the eaves?

gaps and cracks in the structure,

from there, the cavity wall,

and all that air roof spaces and vents in the wall,

for the cost of probably

you could save quite a lot,

and ?300 a year in gas.

you are going to have

the thermal-imaging camera

I think it's good for the house

ventilation through the walls.

have been less resistant,

insulation was the way to go.

round the house insulating things,

draught-proofing.

the lowest energy users,

for them to make further cuts.

watching the energy monitors

are making are having any impact.

Jill and Peter,

they've spent since they got up.

of electricity today.

done three-quarters of a day yet.

I've been waiting for this for ages.

He likes a pot.

for a pot. You don't.

more than half the money we spend

our homes and providing hot water.

You're bad for heating.

HE LAUGHS

to harness the power of the sun.

on the east coast of Scotland.

it's two degrees outside.

much of an impact here?

Marty Jopson to the street

a little bit of sun

is build a solar air heater,

for Angela and Scott's house,

Scott would like it

Is that right?

Yes, says Angela.

your cans on the table.

into a long tube of cans.

is knock holes in the bottom.

get rid of that.

and we can make a long tube.

a little while to dry,

because it has to be...

to be completely matte black

as much heat as possible.

I will lift this off carefully...

I'll show you what we've got inside?

I prepared earlier.

from the sun

The air is going through by these metal tubes.

come back into your house.

Is it going to work?

You hope so! Yes, I hope so too.

got the hot sunshine on your house?

isn't painted black.

moves in the day?

Yes. And let's go.

so...I'm hopeful.

by Katrina and the Waves

come out of the pipe.

so any heat we gather

is currently six degrees.

in here has got to?

up here, right at the top.

So, I'm going to send It's ferociously hot up here.

the temperature to us.

It's really hot, girls.

have you got inside now?

and it's working a lot better This is great, yeah. It's free,

solar air heater is,

your garage or shed,

larger versions

our homes for free

through the windows.

That's free energy from the sun. beautiful, light room even lighter?

some persuading. could go, but he may take

and money.

back on after 24 hours,

Even though it's, like, minus one fridge back on? Yeah.

the beer fridge off, in the winter?

He needs tips gas guzzlers on the street.

money on, in the tank.

are you, if you invest ?10

cycling a bicycle do you think,

'use more power than In fact, most hairdryers

and say, "Actually, there is the opportunity to engage people

Is a kettle something that drinkers on this street.

'The street will need to use

One, two, three, go!

Jill, I want you in here.

'If everyone in the UK only boiled We're halfway, guys!

The kettle's steaming - 82.

'for seven minutes has '12 people pedalling

Not as good as a beer? LAUGHTER

'As it's Norman's birthday, we're

I think, Norman, that you will This is a mini beer fridge.

I think it becomes a habit quite and not letting it escape elsewhere.

Cheers!

their gas are trying to reduce

Dr Owen has been analysing the through the challenge.

Right, well,

collectively, as a street, you have

improvement. Now, we've had some I think that's a considerable

guzzlers were Alison and Norman

at 33%.

as a whole. We've obviously still achievement for the street,

now and, er...

cos somebody left the television have heard her shouting

Lucy is back on the street with her

a long soak in the bath afterwards.

and see how many litres it this bucket

you're using in the shower. OK.

Go.

Three, two, one...

So, I think that's about five litres

somebody in this household did the shower, which I believe

is two pence per minute.

over the course of a year those last 32 minutes every day,

Just for two showers.

Lucy is leaving Sheila with a shower

At Bill and Me Young's their

Today because it was a very sunny

and a jacket on.

and move the telly to let Me Young could follow Lucy's advice

Before the challenge started we had

Small changes like these can

save around ?65 a year.

is still sticking

And some of the younger

off lights and point out lights when I don't need them, and switch

Now it's been, the heating at, like, 22-23 degrees.

"Bring your slippers When we get visitors we always say,

This little gizmo measures

19.6. So, it's a degree warmer

That looks absolutely awful now.

But there is something really simple

The girls are gathering in Jill's It's ladies' night on the street.

Hello, how you doing? Hello, I'm ..science writer Alok Jha.

Meet my energy-saving friend.

Alok is a light bulb obsessive who

This row here,

You know what that means,

40s by then or something.

that often. Excellent.

to change all her light bulbs.

as ?400 a year on her energy bills.

your 100 light bulbs changed!

with that energy.

Six households have been trying to

their bills into the bargain.

time for a final push from champion There's only a few days left -

Today, she is joining the young

Have you had shorter showers? Yes.

The other day, my mum used all I had a three-minute one today.

energy than you have saved already?

so the TV is not in the window of our living room

Hello. Hello. You've got a very

How stupid was it? When you think about it now...

It's been a steep learning curve

But no-one has learned

I'm absolutely gobsmacked through -

carpet and things.

Some people might have found it quite

Time to find out if our six families It's results day.

Before we reveal the results and

and a dish

The hay has been acting a few hours earlier.

the eating? Is that what they say?

Do you think you're going to be entered into the competitive spirit.

with little or no knowledge of how street in the country,

will they have saved

and electricity?

Alan, do you want to tell us first The results are in.

you have absolutely blitzed that.

great big energy savings and, make little changes that add up to

and boiled a kettle using only had light bulb parties

The Great Big Energy Saving say that

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