In 2005, we installed solar panels (photovoltaic cells) on our roof. In addition to generating electricity, this was the trigger to see how much we could reduce our energy consumption and carbon footprint.

Since then, we've done various things to make the house more energy efficient and checked our progress against energy consumption for the year before we started on improvements.

• Starting point - description of the house in 2005 including electricity and gas consumption for benchmark year

• Solar PV and Solar Water - details of installations

• Insulation - measures to insulate roofs, walls, windows, doors, floors

• Energy efficiency and energy saving - things we've tried to reduce our energy consumption, including heating, ventilation, lighting, kitchen gadgets, water heating

• Costs - how much we've spent and   payback calculations - although we don't think this is really relevant or useful.

• Tools and gadgets – some stuff we've found useful for monitoring and measuring

• Experiments - measuring draughts, thermal imaging, stored heat cooking, measuring waste and recycling proportions
  

• Things we still want to investigate and do

• Energy results - details of our gas and electricity consumption since 2004-5 and CO2. Dynamic data can be displayed if you follow these links:-

• Gas

• Electricity

• Pictures

Financial benefits - Although saving money hasn't been our objective, this is something that a lot of people ask about. It's difficult to make year on year comparisons of energy bills because the standing orders get adjusted, rebates arrive erratically and prices don't rise at a consistent rate.  What we can say is that our total energy bills are around £200 per year (this includes a small payment for electricity generated although we do not qualify for the feed-in-tariff as our PV panels were installed before the scheme started)

Reducing the carbon footprint of a Victorian terraced house