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22 steps (and counting) to reduce your carbon footprint

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Improve your household's energy efficiency

It will greatly benefit your comfort and wellbeing

Improve your home!

Don't you want to be warm and comfortable at home watching your favourite show when it's cold outside ?

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Explore the actions you can take

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SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS

  • Duration

    24 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

The term “photovoltaic” consists of two parts: the Greek word phos (genitive photos) meaning “light,” and “volt,” the unit of electromotive force (named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery). Photovoltaic can therefore be “translated” as “transforming light into electricity.” Proceed with this action topic to learn more about the solar photovoltaic technology that allows you to take advantage of the sunlight and use it to supply your home with electricity.

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SOLAR WATER HEATING SYSTEMS

  • Duration

    25 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Have you ever tried to heat up water by placing a vessel filled with water under the shining sun for a few hours? Actually, you can ensure a stable hot water supply for your household by harnessing the sun energy. You can do this by installing a solar water heating system. Learn more about the opportunities the solar water heating provides to households by proceeding with this section.

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MICRO COMBINED HEAT AND POWER SYSTEMS

  • Duration

    13 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Many people have never heard of a Micro combined heat and power (micro CHP) technology, and even among those who have, there is often confusion as to what it is and how it works. Proceed with this session to learn about the main components of the system, its benefits, main types, sizing and cost of installation.

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ENERGY STORAGE AND HYBRID RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

  • Duration

    14 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

In this session you will learn about the concepts of hybrid systems and energy storage that can provide a stable energy supply for your home. You will also learn about the concepts of self-sufficiency rate and self-consumption rate.

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ONSITE ENERGY GENERATION

  • Duration

    20 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

This Action topic provides general information on generating your own energy at home. Learn about the benefits of producing energy at your home and about the most popular technological solutions for self-generation of energy from renewable sources.

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STEP-BY-STEP GUIDELINES

  • Duration

    11 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Maybe you have thought of self-generating energy at home, but you have always dismissed it since you considered it as too complicated or too expensive? Or maybe you just did not know where to start? We invite you to proceed with this session to learn more about the issues you need to consider before, during and after the installation of three popular energy self-generation systems – a solar water heating system, a solar photovoltaic system and a micro combined heat and power system.

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UNDERSTAND MY ENERGY BILLS

  • Duration

    10 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Knowing exactly how to decode your energy bills helps you build your armor against high energy bills and help you take the first steps towards saving money and the environment. ​

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THE POWER OF HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

  • Duration

    15 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

This session helps you understand which appliances contribute to your electricity bill, from brewing your first cup of coffee in the morning until switching off the lights just before a good night’s sleep.

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RHYTHMS & ROUTINES

  • Duration

    15 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

This session increases your awareness of the social rhythms within which energy consumption take place in the context of time – days, weeks, months, and years.

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MOVING TO RENEWABLE ENERGIES

  • Duration

    10 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Moving to renewable energy sources helps you ease the burden on our environment. This session will enable you to understand how switching to renewables creates an environmentally just futures for the generations to come.

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IMPROVE THE AIR TIGHTNESS OF YOUR HOME

  • Duration

    15 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

If your home is air tight you won’t feel any discomfort because of drafts, your home temperature will be at it’s best, your walls won’t have any mold and your walls fabric won’t be degrading due to condensation. In brief, all the right reasons to make sure you got this handled.

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IMPROVE YOUR HOME INSULATION

  • Duration

    20 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

In this session you’ll be able to measure the effectiveness of insulation materials, their strength and weaknesses in order to be able to choose between different options. And you’ll learn all the areas where you can add insulation in your home in order to make your home energy efficient. So if you wish to make a big energy use cut, you should go for it.

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CHANGE OR UPGRADE YOUR WINDOWS

  • Duration

    10 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Aside from protecting you from bugs, your windows are an important aspect of energy efficient homes. So if they're not performing at their best, it's time you take action on this one.

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IMPROVE YOUR HEATING, VENTILATION AND COOLING SYSTEM

  • Duration

    20 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

As much as half of the energy used in your home goes to heating and cooling. So making smart decisions about your home's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can have a big effect on your utility bills and your comfort.

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National financing programmes

  • Duration

    10 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Take a look at this action in your own language and see how to save money when you make improvements to your home

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CHOOSING A NEW BOILER

  • Duration

    15 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Get some useful insight on the aspects that matter when choosing a new boiler for your house

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WHAT MAKES AN ENERGY CONSUMER "SMART"?

  • Duration

    5 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Start to consume energy smartly to avoid wasting it. Discover in this session what we mean by "smartly"?

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LEARN HOW TO USE YOUR THERMOSTAT

  • Duration

    20 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Your thermostat is the tool to control your heating and cooling equipment. If you know how to use it correctly, you can reduce energy waste while improving your comfort.

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LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR HYDRONIC HEATING SYSTEM

  • Duration

    15 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

This action presents some advanced options for controlling your hydronic heating system to achieve comfort with increased energy efficiency

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CHOOSING A NEW AIR HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM

  • Duration

    15 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Get some useful insight on the aspects that matter when choosing a new air conditioner or air-to-air heat pump for your house

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1 - SIDE-EFFECTS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY

  • Duration

    10 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

You can implement one or more energy efficiency measures but if you don´t change your behaviours, your energy consumption can remain the same or even increase. Some inefficient or less efficient behaviours can prevail and prevent you from getting the expected savings.

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2 - TAKING A STEP FURTHER ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY

  • Duration

    5 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

Find out how to maintain the savings achieved from energy efficiency measures and how to avoid waste of energy. Use only the energy you need, not a tiny bit more!

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3 - ENERGY SUFFICIENCY TO MAINTAIN EFFICIENT ENERGY USE

  • Duration

    5 min

  • Cost

  • Difficulty

  • Impact

If you adopt Energy Sufficiency actions to reduce Rebound Effects in your home, you will see your energy bill decreasing!

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Behind Act4Eco there is a consortium made by 9 partners coming from all over Europe. The real strength of Act4Eco stems from the variety of sectors if which partners are involved, ranging from energy to IT usability, from e-learning to consumer rights, from policy making to public engagement.
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