The recent cold weather in the United Kingdom has caused a lot of problems. Not only have many services been slowed or shut down, schools and businesses had to be closed, and sporting events were cancelled or rescheduled. All of this added up to a lot of lost money for the United Kingdom, as businesses were unable to deliver goods, and some stores were completely cut off from supplies. The biggest disruption came in transportation, as many trains were unable to move or come on time, and many airports were forced to close for a short period of time. Now that the weather has gotten a bit warmer, it is time to add up the damages, and some will be shocked to find that the cold snap had a huge effect on their heating costs.
One of the biggest problems with heating homes and businesses in the UK is that many of these structures are not properly sealed or insulated, which leads to a lot of wasted heat and energy. Faithful and Gould, a project management consultancy, did a study to find out the effect of the cold on wasted energy. When buildings leak heat it forces the heating unit to put out more heat and use more energy which puts more carbon into the environment and drives up heating costs. The study illustrates the importance of the government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency plan that will be launched in April. The study estimates that the winter weather has led to more than a billion pounds worth of lost heat.
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