10 eco products you don't need

[ARWadsworth]

No surprises there.

[Steve Firth]

Heh! My prediction that the egg shaped waste of money would be there paid off

[Nightjar]

Except that there are only 10.

Colin Bignell

[The Natural Philosopher]

The forgot to include windmills, solar PV..hybrid cars...

[Andy Cap]

One thing 10 - plastic film - *can* do on a single-glazed wood door is completely banish condensation. I reckon it helps a bit too with insulation.

Andy C

[Huge]

It certainly helped when I lived in the world's coldest garret in Herne Bay when I was at college.

[Bob Eager]

I wasn't. For that you would have had to live on Central Parade, not Queens Gardens (unless you did that as well).

[jgharston]

"Energy saving light bulbs"

They're not bulbs!!!! Are they blind? They're loops, spirals and helixes.

I'd be seriously worried if my tulip bulbs looked like that.

JGH

[Huge]

"It wasn't"?

TBH, I can't remember where it was. (*) I just remember being cold. I had a paraffin heater that I ran 24x7 in the winter. Even at night and when I wasn't there. Terrifying.

(* I couldn't find it when I went back a few years ago...)

[dennis]

Typically of which they only tell half the truth.. the plastic film is nearly as good as double glazing if it is draught proofed before you fit it. The insulating properties of double glazing rely on the layers of still air that form on the inner surfaces. There is no reason why they don't form on the filmed windows if its draught proof and about 20 mm gap. Sticking it over the whole frame including the draughty openings would be typical of what which do.

[Bob Eager]

Yep, my typo.

least you were back from the sea. Central Parade is much worse...and even people living in Charles Street (one back) freeze if on the top floor, exposed to the north wind!

[ARWadsworth]

Yebut, this is uk.d-i-y. We can do it for less than £8: per window:-)

[Jules Richardson]

Yes, it's pretty common up here (the wilds of northern Minnesota) where winter temps can easily hit -30C and where many houses still have old, wooden-framed windows which leak air quite badly. It does seem to help, although I don't know how much of it is down to double-glazing effect and how much is simply due to keeping the draughts out. Generally, people buy it when it gets cold and take it off again for the warmer months, so it doesn't have to be that durable.

cheers

Jules

[NT]

The article is a nice start, but a bit too airheaded.

Glazing film for instance - it *is* double glazing, or draught proofing, depending how its applied. Either saves noticeable energy.

Ecobutton: windows is easily told to hibernate, so I'm not sure how useful an ecobutton really is. Radiator booster: these have their use, but dont save any energy. Dg saves =A3 but isnt worth it. secondary glazing is

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They might well in practice save costs by distributing heat around the room more evenly.

[Dave Liquorice]

Lots of keyborads already have an "ecobutton" it's marked "sleep" and has a pictogram of a cresent moon on it. That can be set to send the machine into powered down mode when pressed, that may even be the default.

Depends on the sate of your windows... The glazing in on the verge of falling out of some of ours. DG is well worth it to stop the drafts. Secondary glazing is a PITA, stops you opening the windows without faffing about with it. You get condensation in the gap, which hastens rot in timber window frames.

[ARWadsworth]

There are much cheaper options for draught proofing.

[www.GymRatZ.co.uk]

Only one I would disagree with is the "Mira Eco Shower Saver Head" or whatever it's called....

I fitted one of these (cost about half of the rrp stated) The idea wasn't specifically to save water but to save "flow" and energy used to heat water. Initially it had a deafening vibration but the simple addition of the supplied pressure reducer (plastic blanking thing with an o-ring) fitted in-line at the start of the shower pipe stopped all vibrations and made it sound like a normal shower again.

Main and very real benefit with the head is I can now run both showers at the same time (upstairs and downstairs) off the same combi-boiler with no temperature of pressure fluctuations and plenty of "apparent" water for a great "full shower" experience.

It's way more than just a "water saving device" it's brilliant!!

Would never have bought one for the full "price fixed" rrp though..

P.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The only single glazing I have is a pane of glass over the front door. 25 years ago, I put a piece of that film across it and it's been there ever since, still in perfect condition. Actually, I accidentally prodded it with the vacuum cleaner nossle today, but it didn't do any damage, fortunately.

[Roberts]

Having been a visitor to relations in Finland, I was interested to see that they have treble glazing with about an inch between the outside pane and the middle one. No doubt at some time in the future when we've all got double glazing, some government official will start suggesting treble glazing,

Robbie