I think there is a lot of nonsense talked about energy saving. The so called energy saving bulb only saves energy in the summer. In the winter the radiated heat from the tungsten bulb means you can have the thermostat set lower.
Most central heating heats the air only heaters where you can see the red hot parts heat you directly. Often they are used in garages because their doors open so many times.
This brings me to the main point air changes. With central heating the main advantage was it did not exhaust up a chimney are take with it loads of air causing drafts everywhere.
This causing of drafts is not limited to open fires. Bathrooms and Kitchens have extractor fans and clearly the air must be replaced from somewhere. The same applies to some tumble driers which often pump the heated air outside.
Some air changes are required but we need to control how much and from where.
So if the extractor is on in the kitchen then we also want fresh air to be able to replace it directly from outside not by sucking hot air through the house and causing other rooms to get cold.
I have last year moved to using an induction hob and this has made a huge difference. It makes less steam so the extractor is not required. It also keeps the kitchen cooler in the summer as all the heat goes into the pan and not to heating the kitchen.
To me the big problem is when items are tested for energy use they are tested in isolation not as part of an integrated system.
What annoys me is the sky box. In order to receive information from Sky the LNB is powered at all times. But with a free to air satellite box the LNB is switched off when on stand-by. So a Sky box uses around 12 watts on stand-by where all other satellite boxes use less than 1 watt. Nearly every item we have with a stand-by uses less than 1 watt with the exception of the Sky box. I think it's time Sky was brought to task.
