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Solar-charged batteries vs cheap night-rate batteries — and how big do you actually need?

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  Solar-charged batteries vs cheap night-rate batteries — and how big do you actually need? Ever looked at your shiny home battery app and thought, “Brilliant… but is this powering my house, or just keeping the fridge emotionally supported?” Let’s put some numbers on it — especially if you’re heading towards an all-electric home (heat pump + EV). The two battery “jobs” A home battery usually does one (or both) of these: Solar shifting (day → evening) Store surplus solar at lunchtime, use it at tea time. Tariff shifting (cheap night → expensive day) Charge from the grid overnight (cheap rate), run the house in the morning/early evening (expensive rate). Most households end up doing both , but the “right” battery size depends on which job matters more for you. Step 1: Work out your daily electricity use (today) Ofgem’s “typical” household electricity use is about 2,700 kWh/year . That’s roughly: 2,700 ÷ 365 ≈ 7.4 kWh/day Ofgem So, if you don’t have electric...
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Love Food, Hate Waste (and the Mystery Science in Your Fridge)

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  Love Food, Hate Waste (and the Mystery Science in Your Fridge) Ever opened the fridge, stared inside and thought, “Well… this has all gone rogue” ? You’re not alone. In the UK, households throw away millions of tonnes of perfectly edible food every year — not because it’s unsafe, but because we forgot it was there, over-bought, or misunderstood a date label. Campaigns like Love Food Hate Waste exist for a reason: wasting food wastes money, energy, water, and carbon . The good news? Small changes make a big difference. 🍎 What Can You Do About It? 1. Shop with a plan (but not a rigid one) A loose meal plan stops impulse buys without killing spontaneity. Think “three dinners from these ingredients” rather than seven fixed meals . 2. Understand your date labels Use by = safety (don’t push it) Best before = quality (your nose and eyes still matter) Yoghurt doesn’t suddenly turn evil at midnight. 3. Make leftovers visible Leftovers hidden at the back of the ...
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Insulation: Can You Ever Have Enough?

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  Insulation: Can You Ever Have Enough ? Short answer: almost certainly not . Longer answer: many UK homes have some insulation, but far fewer have the right amount, in the right places, installed to modern standards . This blog looks at the crucial difference between what you have and what you should have – and why that gap matters for your comfort, bills, and carbon footprint. What Most Homes Have If your house was built before the 2000s, typical insulation looks like this: 🏠 Loft 100–150 mm of mineral wool Often patchy, compressed, or missing at the edges 🧱 Walls Cavity walls : may have older blown insulation (or none at all) Solid walls (common pre-1920): usually uninsulated 🪵 Floors Timber floors with no insulation underneath Draughts coming up through gaps you only notice in winter 🚪 Windows & doors Double glazing, but with: Poor seals Thermal bridges around frames This setup was once considered “reasonable”. By tod...
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Five New Year’s Resolutions to Make Your Life Greener (That Actually Stick)

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Five New Year’s Resolutions to Make Your Life Greener (That Actually Stick)  Every January we make grand promises: exercise daily , learn a language , finally organise that cupboard . By February, reality has usually won. So instead of heroic gestures, here are five small, realistic New Year’s resolutions that genuinely reduce your environmental footprint — and are much more likely to last until next New Year. 1️⃣ Use Less Energy — Before You Generate More Solar panels are brilliant. Heat pumps are impressive. But the greenest energy is the energy you don’t use . Simple wins: Turn the thermostat down by 1°C Switch devices fully off (not standby) Wash clothes at 30 °C Draught-proof doors and windows 💡 Cutting demand is cheaper, faster, and often more effective than buying new tech. 2️⃣ Buy Fewer Things (and Keep Them Longer) Fast fashion, gadget upgrades, impulse buys — they all come with hidden carbon costs. A useful rule: If I didn’t need it last mont...
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A Fragile Comeback: Young Salmon Return – But the Bigger Picture Is Alarming

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  A Fragile Comeback: Young Salmon Return – But the Bigger Picture Is Alarming There’s a flicker of hope in our rivers. Young Atlantic salmon have been recorded in three rivers in north-west England for the first time since 2015 , described by conservationists as a “significant environmental turnaround.” Cleaner water, habitat restoration, and reduced pollution really can work. But zoom out, and the story turns worrying. Record Lows on the River Frome On the River Frome in Dorset , the annual salmon count tells a far more troubling tale. For the second year running , numbers of juvenile wild Atlantic salmon have collapsed. Since 2002, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has spent four weeks every late summer catching, measuring, weighing, and micro-chipping juvenile salmon – known as parr – along this 35-mile chalk stream. Target each year: 10,000 tagged parr This summer: just 3,226 Last year: 4,593 Another record low. Another warning sign. Why This ...
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Warming World, Hungrier Insects: What Can We Do About It?

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  Warming World, Hungrier Insects: What Can We Do About It? As global temperatures push beyond 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels , researchers are warning that key crops such as wheat could suffer damage rates of up to 46% from insect pests . That isn’t a distant, abstract problem — it’s a direct threat to food security, prices, and farming livelihoods. Why warming favours pests Rising temperatures change the balance between crops and insects: 🐛 Faster insect life cycles → more generations per growing season ❄️ Milder winters → fewer pests die off 🌍 Range expansion → insects moving into regions where crops have little natural defence 🌾 Stressed plants → crops weakened by heat and drought are easier to attack In short: warmer climates tilt the playing field in favour of insects. What can we do about it? 1️⃣ Smarter pest management (not just more chemicals) Heavy pesticide use creates resistance and harms pollinators. Instead: Integrated Pest Managem...
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Near-1.5 °C: A Line We’re About to Cross

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  Near-1.5 °C: A Line We’re About to Cross The UK Met Office has issued a stark forecast: 2026 is likely to be one of the hottest years ever recorded . Their projections suggest global average temperatures could reach between 1.34 °C and 1.58 °C above pre-industrial levels . That upper figure matters — because 1.5 °C isn’t just a number . 📏 Why 1.5 °C Is So Important The 1.5 °C threshold, set out in the Paris Agreement, was never a “safe” limit — just a line beyond which risks escalate rapidly : More frequent and intense heatwaves Increased flooding and drought Accelerating ice melt and sea-level rise Greater stress on food, water, and ecosystems Crossing it temporarily doesn’t mean failure — but lingering above it does . 🌡️ What Makes This Forecast Different? This isn’t just a long-term climate projection. The Met Office is factoring in: Underlying human-driven warming Natural climate variability A growing chance of warming spikes that push us ov...
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