As Head of Sustainability at Riverford, Zac knows more than a thing or two about the simple choices we can all make, that go on to have cumulative, measurable, positive impacts on the planet. He’s also used to making tough, imperfect, but ultimately necessary choices – both at work and at home, as a dad with a young family.
That’s the thing with sustainability – there’s no such thing as “perfect”, but being curious, asking the right questions, and trying to do things just a little better than before, is where it’s at. In this new series, we’ll explore how to take a sustainable-ish approach to everything from our homes & gardens to our shopping, food, tech & energy usage.
Reducing your energy usage and switching to more renewable and cleaner forms of energy are clear ways to reduce your impact and save money. Reducing the burning of fossil fuels tackles the root cause of climate change and increasingly provides individuals with greater security and autonomy over their own energy and finances.
Around half of UK electricity generation comes from renewables. Whilst there is a lot still to improve with how the UK generates, prices, and distributes energy, great strides have been made in increasing generation of renewables – however, there still remains huge opportunities to take this further, with offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, tidal energy systems and more.
Electricity supply accounted for nearly half (49%) of the UK’s total carbon emission reductions between 2008 and 2024, making it the primary driver of the UK’s overall progress towards Net Zero.
Household energy use accounts for about 26% of total UK energy use (DESNZ, 2025). This is significant, but also a real opportunity for all of us to contribute to reducing our energy and carbon impact across the UK. From big changes like installing solar panels and air source heating systems, right down to everyday actions like making your own draft excluders, turning lights off or lowering your boiler’s hot water flow temperature by a degree or two – we all have the agency to contribute to a better energy system, and lower our carbon emissions collectively.
How is energy used in the home?
Most energy use in the home comes from heating and hot water. See pie chart below from Nesta:
Reducing your energy consumption
There is a huge amount of information out there, a lot of it is helpful, some of it is confusing, but many options are presented which don’t always align with everyone’s finances, capacity or time, or the realities of family life. Whilst some of these options will incur an initial cost, all of them will save you money over time.
Without stating the obvious, almost everything that saves energy, will save you money (and reduce your carbon footprint!).
Understanding your energy use
If you can get a smart meter (not everyone can – I live in a house where it wasn’t possible with our current provider, Octopus) it’s a great way to track your energy habits and see where you can changes.
Heating
Heating is responsible for the majority of household energy use and there are several factors to consider when thinking about the most sustainable option.
- Source of heating energy – typically gas-powered central heating systems
- How much you are using/how you are managing heating in your home
- How much heat is escaping and insulation options
Installing Solar Panels and Heat Pumps
For those able to afford solar panels and/or heat pump systems, there are great opportunities here to reduce your energy consumption and in the medium-term, save money.
Solar PV (photovoltaic) systems for most homes in the UK need to be around 3 to 4kw – this costs around £5000 to £8000 to purchase and install and will typically cover its cost within 8 to 12 years. They are also 0% VAT rated (until March 31st 20276).
Heat pumps are becoming more affordable and the government Boiler Upgrade scheme (giving people up to £7500 off of eligible heat pump systems, until 31st March 2028), combined with 0% VAT on these items and their install, make them an increasingly popular choice to reduce energy and carbon emissions in the home.
Hot water
Hot water is the second biggest energy use after heating in the home in the UK.
Boilers are a big deal – both in terms of how they can reduce your energy usage and bills, and the impact they can have on the UK’s overall energy use.
Around 85 to 90% of UK homes use a boiler (mostly gas, some oil or LPG) for hot water and heating. For many, moving to a heat pump isn’t possible due to the high cost – air source heat pump installations typically cost between £7,000 and £13,000, before grants, with an average coming in around £11,000–£12,500.
In this case, reducing your boiler water flow temperature can help reduce your bills and your carbon footprint. Lowering your room thermostat by 1°C saves an average of £107 to £130 a year on energy bills, while turning down a combi boiler’s water flow temperature from 80°C to 60°C saves about 9% on gas use (roughly £65 annually). That’s a big annual saving without actually having to forgo hot water!
Switch to Energy Efficient lighting
Whilst lighting is a small proportion of overall household energy use (approx 3%) there are some simple swaps you can make, and many are relatively inexpensive.
LEDs are the best option here. According to the renewable energy hub the typical cost to swap the average UK home over to LED is around £100 to £150 and will then save between £100 to £240/year. Carbon emissions are also reduced by up to 40kg a year.
The simplest low cost method is of course getting strict about switching lights off when they’re not in use!
Energy providers
If you only have the ability or capacity to do one thing to support a more sustainable future, consider choosing a good energy supplier i.e. one heavily or solely invested in renewable power generation.
UK energy system and the grid
Power companies use greenwashing to sell power under ‘green tariffs’. This is where power companies continue to generate electricity the traditional, non-renewable way – i.e. from fossil fuels – and then purchase something called Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates.
REGOs are usually produced when renewable energy generation e.g. energy generated by wind-farms or solar parks, produce power. But the problem is that these certificates can be transferred – a supplier can buy fossil-fuel-generated power (“brown power”) for its actual supply while purchasing cheap, unbundled REGOs separately to legally brand its tariffs as green.
For example, if a 20mw windfarm is built, and generating power, and the certificates get sold to fossil fuel generators, then effectively this permits a further 20mw of power generation through fossil fuels. It’s a greenwashing trick and doesn’t contribute to pushing up the percentage of renewable power on the grid.
The alternative is green tariffs from the likes of Ecotricity, Good Energy, or 100Green. These companies match their power sales to renewable generation, which they either fund themselves, or buy from other renewable sources.
If the companies above sell 1mwh of power to customers through the grid, they have purchased, or generated power from a renewable resource. This increases the market share of renewable energy on the grid, as providers are generating revenue from increasing and continuing the generation of renewable power.
What can we do at home? Energy Efficiency
There is a huge range of additional things you can do in the home ranging from simple behaviours, to installing more expensive measures, that will help to reduce your energy use, carbon emissions, and save money. This helpful article from the Centre for Sustainable Energy takes you through a range of these actions, from DIY draught proofing to installing your own insulation.
I’ll dive into home appliances in a future column!
Any questions? Reach out to Zac via @Riverford on Instagram.
Zac has an MSc in Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture and in his spare time he is a director at The Living Projects CIC, a community- and education-focused regenerative land management project. His new sustainability series for Wicked Leeks will cover home, energy, travel, water and more – you can also follow along via Instagram @Riverford.
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