We cover all aspects of renewable energy - wind power, solar power, solar water heating, hydro, biofuels, wave power and much more. http://www.reuk.co.uk Though many people pay a lot of attention these days to reducing their home electricity and gas consumption, and do a lot of recyling, it is often in the workplace / office where the biggest difference can be made. Many offices have all lights blazing all day long, multiple computers and other power... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Energy-Saving-and-Recycling-in-the-Office.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Energy-Saving-and-Recycling-in-the-Office.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:38:06 GMT In our article LED spotlights we introduced some of the energy efficient options available to replace standard halogen spotlights. LED bulbs make for excellent spotlights, but unfortunately many homes have tens of halogen spotlights installed for general room lighting - something which current LED t... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Lamina-Sol-MR16-LED-Spotlight-Review.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Lamina-Sol-MR16-LED-Spotlight-Review.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:38:37 GMT We have previously covered the following products in the Freeloader range: Freeloader Solar Charger, Freeloader Battery Charger, and most recently the Freeloader Pro. Though excellent at what they do and well made, these solar chargers are a bit on the expensive side. Now finally there is a new low... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Freeloader-Pico.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Freeloader-Pico.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:37:24 GMT There are two main types of water heating system - direct and indirect. In an indirect system fluid such as anti-freeze is heated and then passed through a heat exchanger fitted to the water tank. The heat from the fluid raises the temperature of the water in the tank, and the water in the tank cool... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Direct-Solar-Water-Heating-System.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Direct-Solar-Water-Heating-System.htm Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:25:37 GMT Every year electricity gets more and more expensive. Read on to find out how you can save electricity and money with this handy selection of energy saving tips. Electricity Usage Monitors The basic figures contained within a monthly or quarterly electricity bill do not give you much informatio... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Ways-to-Save-Electricity.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Ways-to-Save-Electricity.htm Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:39:13 GMT The graph pictured above and published to accompany a Financial Times article entitled Advantages of Frugal Fuel on November 5th 2009 is well worth studying in detail. It shows the relationship between the financial costs of various 'green stimulus measures', and the total reduction in carbon e... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Saving-Energy-to-Reduce-Carbon-Emissions.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Saving-Energy-to-Reduce-Carbon-Emissions.htm Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:51:10 GMT Other than an electric oven or heater, the tumble drier (dryer) is one of the biggest energy hogs in most homes. With unreliable weather here in the UK, it can be impossible for days and weeks on end to hang washing outside to dry. It sometimes seems that the only way to get clothes dry is to use a... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Drying-Clothes-Indoors.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Drying-Clothes-Indoors.htm Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:57:02 GMT Over the years we have covered numerous domestic power meters starting with the original Electrisave. The one shortcoming of these power meters was once the inability to download and view the collected data on a PC. That all changed with the Wattson Energy Meter and the latest OWL CM120 USB, but the... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Google-Powermeter.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Google-Powermeter.htm Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:23:23 GMT As the importance of renewable energy has increased over recent years, more renewable energy degree courses have been added by UK university physics, engineering and other departments. Now it is possible to do a dedicated undergraduate and post graduate renewable energy degree made up of IT, electro... http://www.reuk.co.uk/UK-Renewable-Energy-Degree-Courses.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/UK-Renewable-Energy-Degree-Courses.htm Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:18:38 GMT A Solar Charge Controller (or Regulator) is a device which protects the batteries in a solar electric system from being overcharged or being over-discharged. Overcharged batteries have a much shorter life time than well cared for batteries since the electolyte is boiled off as gas and lost.... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Charge-Controller.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Charge-Controller.htm Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:12:59 GMT Wind power suffers from one major problem - the wind is very fickle. If wind turbines are to be a viable large scale replacement for coal- and gas-fired power stations, a way has to be found to capture and store the energy from the wind so that it can be put to use when it is needed, and not just wh... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Storing-Wind-Power-with-Compressed-Air.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Storing-Wind-Power-with-Compressed-Air.htm Fri, 09 Oct 2009 07:51:03 GMT There are many different solar water heating systems possible, many of which are described in the REUK.co.uk website (links to related articles are provided throughout this article). Almost all new homes and many older homes now do not have a hot water cylinder, and so short of installing one, there... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Simple-Solar-Water-Preheating-System.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Simple-Solar-Water-Preheating-System.htm Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:47:49 GMT Battery sulfation takes place when a Lead Acid Battery discharges. The lead from the plates combines with the electrolyte (dilute sulphuric acid) to make lead sulfate. When the battery is recharged this process is reversed however, some of the lead sulphate will crystalise on the lead plates. Th... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Battery-Desulfation.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Battery-Desulfation.htm Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:56:29 GMT For all but the simplest solar water heating system, a pump controller is a vital component. A solar water heating pump controller constantly measures the temperature of the solar panel (aka solar collector), and the stored hot water tank (aka hot water cylinder) to decide whether the pump should be... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Drayton-SHR52120-Solar-Thermal-Controller.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Drayton-SHR52120-Solar-Thermal-Controller.htm Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:44:22 GMT Over the last two years since we published our article Solar Powered Poultry Lighting we have designed and put together over 100 successful poultry lighting systems ranging from one bulb one hen hen houses to commercial poultry houses containing 1000's of birds. During that time we have developed a... http://www.reuk.co.uk/REUK-Poultry-Lighting-System.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/REUK-Poultry-Lighting-System.htm Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:17:19 GMT The original energy efficient Eco Kettle is one of the most popular 'eco' products on the market reducing the amount of electricity used to boil water by ensuring that you only boil the water you need when you need it. The next generation Eco Kettle 2 is now on the market (September 2009). The... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Eco-Kettle-2-Chrome.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Eco-Kettle-2-Chrome.htm Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:55:24 GMT If you enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee, but you want to save electricity then look no further than a new eco kettle. The term eco kettle covers a wide range of products which heat water efficiently, only heat the amount of water that you need, and keep boiled water hot for longer. Why Use an E... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Energy-Efficient-Eco-Kettle.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Energy-Efficient-Eco-Kettle.htm Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:55:22 GMT A latching relay is a special kind of relay. While a conventional relay uses power continuously when its internal switch is to be closed (relay energised), a latching relay requires only a brief voltage pulse to change state. This makes latching relays perfect for any situation in which energy savin... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Latching-Relays.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Latching-Relays.htm Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:03:39 GMT There are many applications for which a timer is very useful to turn a device on or off automatically after a preset interval - for example, switching off an irrigation system after 30 minutes of use, turning off a battery charger to prevent overcharging, etc. Timing short intervals of milliseconds... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Timer-Circuits-With-4060B.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Timer-Circuits-With-4060B.htm Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:58:33 GMT In our article Timer Circuits with 4060B we looked at how the 4060B binary counter can be used to make a timer. Such a timer can be used to time intervals lasting from seconds to 24+ hours, but when used as a repeat timer (i.e. toggling between ON and OFF indefinitely) the ON time is equal to the OF... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Repeat-Timer-Circuit.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Repeat-Timer-Circuit.htm Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:58:32 GMT