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The Great Autumn Garden Tidy-Up: Ten Things You Should NOT Tidy

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  The Great Autumn Garden Tidy-Up: Ten Things You Should NOT Tidy “A perfectly tidy October garden may look wonderful to us—and like a housing crisis to wildlife.” October brings out a particular instinct in many gardeners. The leaves begin to fall. Perennials turn brown. Seed heads replace flowers. The lawn becomes untidy. Stems lean at strange angles. There are twigs behind the shed, dead leaves under the hedge and plants that, by midsummer standards, appear to have reached the end of their useful lives. So out come the secateurs, mower, rake, leaf blower and garden-waste bags. Within a weekend, everything can be transformed. The borders are cut to the ground, every leaf has vanished and the garden looks wonderfully neat. There is just one problem. Much of what we have removed was somebody else's winter home. Those hollow stems, dead leaves, seed heads, old logs and apparently neglected corners can provide food and shelter for insects, birds, amphibians, small mammals and countle...
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Six Million Properties at Risk: Is Your Home Ready for a Wet and Windy Winter?

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  Six Million Properties at Risk: Is Your Home Ready for a Wet and Windy Winter? “We can't stop the storm arriving—but we can decide whether we prepare before or after it.” After a remarkably hot and dry summer, it may seem strange to start thinking seriously about too much water. But that is exactly what households should be doing. The Environment Agency says that around 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk of flooding from one or more sources — not only rivers and the sea, but also surface water and groundwater. Perhaps even more concerning is the finding that more than two million people may be unaware that their property is at risk. At the same time, the Met Office's seasonal outlook points towards an increased likelihood of wetter conditions this autumn, with an increased likelihood of windy weather later in the season. That does not mean meteorologists can tell us that a particular town will flood in November. Seasonal forecasts simply do not ...
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Could You Really Have a Home With Zero Energy Bills?

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  Could You Really Have a Home With Zero Energy Bills? A house with no energy bills sounds wonderful. But what does “zero bills” actually mean? Imagine living in a house with solar panels covering the roof, a large battery quietly storing electricity, a heat pump providing the heating and hot water, and a smart energy system deciding when electricity should be bought, stored, used or exported. At the end of the year, could your electricity bill really be £0 ? Increasingly, housebuilders, energy companies and government policy are moving towards homes that combine precisely these technologies. There are even commercial tariffs now offering qualifying households zero home-energy bills for a guaranteed period. So this isn't science fiction. But there is an important question hiding behind the headline: What exactly do we mean by zero? Because a home that produces as much energy as it consumes over a year is very different from a home that never imports electricity from the grid. And o...
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The Heating Is Going Back On — But Are You Heating Your House Intelligently?

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The Heating Is Going Back On — But Are You Heating Your House Intelligently? “Before turning the heating up this October, make sure the heat you're already paying for is going where you actually need it.” October brings one of those annual household decisions that rarely has a precise date attached to it. Do we put the heating on? One evening feels distinctly chilly. The next afternoon is surprisingly warm. Eventually somebody decides enough is enough, the thermostat is adjusted, and the heating system wakes up after its summer rest. But perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking “When should I turn the heating on?” , perhaps we should ask: “How can I get the most useful warmth from every kWh of energy I use?” That is a much more interesting question. Whether your home is heated by gas, electricity or a heat pump, simply producing heat isn't the objective. The objective is to put enough heat into the places where people actually need it, when they need it, whil...
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