DIY Gadgets to Save Energy at Home

Perhaps you’ve done all the basics when it comes to improving energy efficiency in your home, but you’d like to save a bit more energy. Whatever the case, there are a wide range of DIY gadgets that could help you save energy.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the smart DIY gadgets that could help you save energy at home. Let’s dive in!

The Best DIY Gadgets for Lowering Your Heating Bills

Note: The following article is directed to those who are either qualified heating engineers or have relevant experience to make such gadgets. If in any doubt, do not attempt this at home. For more tips that are suitable to most households, skip to the final section ‘additional energy saving tips’.

Last year, the BBC ran an article discussing a range of DIY gadgets to help keep energy bills down. So, what did they find?

DIY Weather Compensation

First up the BBC interviewed an employee of an electric car charging firm and DIY techie Paul Pschierer-Barnfather. In his Chester attic, he’s put together a small plastic case with a few circuit boards and wiring to create a do-it-yourself weather compensator.

The DIY device is connected up to the gas boiler and is designed to lower his boiler’s flow temperature when outdoor temperatures increase. This is sensible as it is more energy efficient. After all, a property requires less energy when external temperatures have risen.

At the time of the interview, Paul expressed how the device had been running perfectly for two thirds of a year, adding that “(he) should have done this years ago.” He built this device and installed it by himself. Moreover, he stated that it only cost him £15.

Mr. Pschierer-Barnfather benefited from his experience of working at an electric car charging firm and his own technical know-how to create such a device on his own. Of course, there are a wide range of branded weather compensation devices on the market, but they tend to cost more than £100 and often several hundred pounds.

The inspiration for Paul’s creation came from his research into the advantages of lowering a boiler’s flow temperature.

Flow temperature is how hot water becomes (when heated inside a combi boiler) before being distributed to radiators to heat the property. Naturally, it costs less to run a heating system with a lower flow temperature hence why weather compensation can be so advantageous. 

Moreover, a lower flow temperature sees the boiler condense a greater amount of hot water vapour. Modern, condensing combi boilers are designed to capture the heat from this steam thus increasing their energy efficiency.

Again, you should not attempt this at home unless you’re sure of what’s involved. Moreover, certain DIY work may not be suitable for anyone but a qualified heating engineer. If in doubt, consult a professional for advice.

DIY Weather Compensation

Programmer Tomás McGuinness, like Paul, is a DIY techie who the BBC spoke to in 2022. Tomás decided to add sensors that are capable of reading his boiler’s flow temperature while having the ability to contact a smartphone app with relevant notifications.

More specifically, he designed the sensors to send a notification to the app when the return flow goes higher than 55°C. The reason that Mr. McGuinness chose 55 degrees Celsius as the point for the sensors to contact his app is that this is approximately the temperature at which a boiler would no longer condense, thus the energy efficiency benefits of a condensing boiler would be lost.

Once he receives the notification to his app, he has the ability to adjust the temperature himself via the app to whatever degree he’d like. But how much does his system cost? According to the BBC interview, Tomás estimates the cost of his sensor system at about £10.

Notably, Mr. McGuinness found several individuals through Twitter expressing an interest in trying out prototypes of his sensor system. Despite the benefits of his system, Tomás still unsurprisingly showed his concerns about rising energy bills. Indeed, this is a sentiment most of the country can easily relate to these days, continuing as we arrive in 2023.

DIY Electric Appliance Monitoring

Last but not least, the BBC article also looked at a setup from Reading-based IT worker Dan Medhurst.

Dan made use of a sensor fitted to the front of his electric meter to monitor the electric use of various appliances in his home. But how does this work? In this setup, the sensor tracks the pulsing LED on his meter to determine how much power is being consumed at any given time.

This data would then be sent to a Home Assistant. With a smartphone or computer, Mr. Medhurst could then access this data at any given time. This way he could figure out what appliances are causing spikes in use.

This sensor monitoring system allowed him to realise the extent to which his tumble dryer was using electricity. Moreover, he decided to slightly increase the temperature of his fridge but while ensuring the contents remaining sufficiently cold (i.e., 5°C or less).

Mr. Medhurst went to figure out additional ways of saving energy such as by turning his TV to eco mode to reduce the brightness/contrast. All in all, Dan’s setup and intelligent response to the data he received helped him lower his electricity bill by (in his estimates) more than 10%. However, again, rising prices were still on his mind.

Are Small Changes Worth It?

While small efforts here and there to save energy (e.g., adding kettle boiled water to a pot before boiling vegetables such that your hob won’t need to use as much energy) don’t seem like a big deal, they can all add up.

Chair of Hydrogen Sussex (an energy industry body), Abigail Domer also told the BBC that “these are tiny actions that actually can make colossal differences” in relation to UK-wide efforts to save energy. For instance, by lowering domestic gas consumption, this can limit the risk of blackouts in the UK while also benefiting the environment. 

Additional Energy Saving Tips

Whether or not the above DIY projects are suitable to your skills, knowledge, or/and qualifications, there are many additional ways you can energy around the house.

While there are a range of expensive steps you could take, we’ll primary focus on free or low-cost solutions today.

Some popular ways of reducing energy bills in the UK include:

• Add draught excluders to your doors and letterbox.
• Fit an insulation jacket to your hot water cylinder.
• Ensure that you open your curtains in the day to let sunlight (thus solar thermal energy) into your home before closing them over at night. If you have a radiator beneath your curtains, wait till its finished heating before pulling them over.
• Make sure you have your boiler serviced annually. This is, of course, important for many other reasons and most notably that of safety.
• Have smart heating controls installed in your home.
• Reduce how long you spend in the shower.
• Make use of eco-mode on various appliances so long as this is still suitable to meet the needs of everyone in your household.

More expensive steps worth considering include having insulation added to your property, replacing your current windows with double-glazed windows and getting new, better insulated doors installed.

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