Mini Wind Turbines - B&Q

Hello My Friends,

Trust you are all well. I have been reading the latest North Manchester EEAC (Energy Efficiency Advice Centre) newsletter and note that B&Q stores in the UK are stocking Windsave mini wind turbines and RM Solar Limited solar panels shortly.

It would appear that they have set a fixed cost for the products, and the EEACs will be helping to conduct in store demonstrations during Energy Saving Week which is from 23rd to 29th October 2006. The Windsave small scale wind turbine has been a long time coming - I made my first referral to them over 3 years ago ! Glad to see things are progressing in the right direction. However the B&Q retail price for the Windsave turbine is £1498.00 and is not available for self install - they say that the customer will be contacted about install after purchasing the turbine but its not clear if the purchase price includes installation? Thats compared to the price of £1595.00 plus VAT on the Windsave website which includes a standard installation fee by an accreditted Windsave installer.

Mmmmmmmm.....................? Perhaps check this out before you buy!!

This year's Energy Saving Week will focus on how individual consumers can make a difference by adopting small measures to reduce the amount of energy they consume on a daily basis.

You may have already seen the latest TV and billboard ads from Gritish Bas (sorry couldnt resist!) which focus on the issue of switching off unused lights and using energy saving light bulbs. Also the "save your 20%" EST campaign - although some of the TV ads are a little obscure ?

B&Q will also be stocking energy monitors for specific appliances to show consumers how much energy is being used - I understand that these monitors will be included in sales of B&Q's new electric room heaters.

I know I have talked about renewable technology before in earlier postings but I truly believe that there will be a huge increase in uptake of such measures in the next few years. If Tony Blair's farewell speech at the Labour Party Conference this week is anything to go by, it would appear that his focus is very much on reducing emissions and energy consumption and favouring renewable and new sources of power and fuel as well as nuclear (the jury is still out on nuclear).

It may well result in the next phase of the Energy Efficiency Commitment being double that of EEC2 - and renewable energy measures may well be a very important factor in this scheme.

I truly hope so and I will be working hard to encourage housing developers and property services contacts in social housing and private sector to implement more renewable technology in their investment programmes and new property developments.

Another excellent source of renewable technology is solar thermal for producing a supply of hot water in homes. Generally the system works in conjunction with a boiler as back up but the common view that you need lots of sunshine to make the water hot enough is a misconception - you simply need sunlight and a good quality collectors. But I will save the details for another posting to follow soon !

Hope you have found this useful and if you have any questions by all means get in touch with me.

From Your Friend The Energy Angel