SMALL SWITCHES FOR BIG IMPACT - Easy New Year’s resolutions you can actually keep | Guernsey Electricity

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SMALL SWITCHES FOR BIG IMPACT - Easy New Year’s resolutions you can actually keep

Want to save money and protect the environment? The good news is that we can help you out with some easy switches to achieve both – all without disrupting your lifestyle.

The start of the new year is a time when many of us pledge to make positive change and arm ourselves with resolutions designed to improve our lives and the world around us. The list often features goals that resonate with almost everyone:

1. Saving money
2. Protecting the environment

The good news is that we can help you out with some easy switches to achieve both – all without disrupting
your lifestyle.

SAVE MONEY

During winter, your energy bills are likely to be higher than at other times of the year. But there are some easy habit changes that can help cut down how much you’re spending.

One of the best ways people can save money is by insulating their property – whether that’s big-ticket wall insulation or simply plugging up draughts draining money from your wallet. Like a magnet, warm air is attracted to anything cold. It actively hunts down ‘cold spots’ like uninsulated windows, attics, and even small draughty gaps to make its escape. As a result, your heating system then needs to work really hard to replace that warm air before its replaced by cold outdoor air. This constant cycle is what you’re paying for.

If you could do with some guidance on how to save money, our paid service can help uncover where you might be wasting money on your energy bills with advice and recommendations specific to your home

 

Book a Home Energy Audit

HELP THE ENVIRONMENT

Did you know that we import around 90% of our island’s annual electricity from low-carbon sources in the European grid? The rest of the electricity islanders demand is then topped up using fossil-fuels at the Vale power station.

If, like most of us, you use more power during the winter, you’ll sometimes rely on fossil-fuels for that power. This produces localised carbon emissions and adds to your carbon footprint

SIMPLY MOVE SOME ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE USAGE TO BETWEEN 11PM AND 5AM TO POWER USING 100% LOW-CARBON ELECTRICITY. THIS COULD INCLUDE ELECTRIC HOT WATER CYLINDERS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, TUMBLE DRYERS AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGERS.

A good place to start is with an electric hot water cylinder; cut your cylinder’s emissions by almost 90% simply by setting your timers to heat water from 11pm and finish at 5am.

From cold to hot takes just two hours, so provided your cylinder is big enough for your property’s occupants’ needs, you’ll have enough hot water for the following day.

The above image is a snapshot demonstrates the peaks and troughs of electricity demand during a typical winter weekday. We’d like to smooth these peaks powered by fossil-fuels by moving some usage to the overnight ‘low-carbon importation’ period.

HELP SAVE WATER TOO

Did you know that moving electricity usage to between 11pm and 5am also helps cut water waste?

As one of Guernsey Water’s biggest customers, we use a huge amount of water to keep things cool at the
power station.

But if people can move some usage away from the power station to overnight – particularly for your big spenders like hot water cylinders – we’ll have less to keep cool, meaning less water.

Learn more about hot water cylinders

WHERE OUR ELECTRICITY COMES FROM

First, let’s start with how much electricity our island needs.

In January 2024, we saw our charts peak dramatically as the island demanded 94.2MW – the highest in our history.

Since 2000, we’ve been importing around 60MW of daily electricity from low-carbon sources in the European grid including hydro, wind and solar power. To top-up that additional 34.2MW of power on 10th January 2024, we needed to burn fossil-fuels at the power station, producing several tonnes of carbon per hour.

We won’t hit above 90MW every day – but we always need to be prepared for when we do. During the colder, darker months, our modern community always demands more than 60MW, which is why you might see the chimneys hard at work in the St Sampsons skyline.

Guernsey also has several community solar projects around the island at places such as The Guernsey Post, the Longue Houge plant, the KGV playing fields, The Ladies College, and at our very own site in the Vale. During sunnier days, these generate on-island renewable electricity which flows directly into the grid, helping make renewable energy available to everybody.

Community Solar projects

MAKE A SMALL SWITCH FOR A BIG IMPACT IN 2025

Simply set the timers on some of your electricals to use, run or charge between 11pm and 5am and help make a positive impact to island life this new year.