Agricultural science and sustainability

Where are the major areas of energy use on your farm?

Walk around your farm and identify where energy is being used. Remember to check at different times of day, to account for variation between day and evening/night time use. Prepare a checklist and look at lighting, heating systems, ventilation, water heating, and milk cooling and pumps if appropriate. Monitor over a period of a week so that you get accurate average figures

Switching electricity suppliers is one of the quickest ways of reducing your costs.  Ring around or go online to check the deals available from alternative suppliers.

Adding or improving your insulation can have a significant impact on the energy costs and comfort in both homes and farm buildings. For example, upgrading loft insulation in the family home from 100mm to 300mm will save €250 a year on a typical annual bill of €1600. SEAI offers grants to insulate your home, as well as grants to upgrade home heating solutions, see www.seai.ie.  Check on the status of your hot water tank insulation too: upgrading this could save you €130 a year.

Consider getting a new boiler or heat pump if your existing one is old: a modern condensing boiler can reduce energy bills by 25% and save €400 a year in a typical farm house. Alternatively,  regularly servicing your boiler can save as much as €160 on a typical annual heating costs of €1600.

And don't forget the simple things: bleeding radiators, checking boiler timers and setting your heating controls to a comfortable temperature.

There are several different types of heating controllers but essentially they all regulate and help to control the temperature of your heating and ultimately your heating costs. This applies whether it's your farm house, your piggery or poultry house.

You can save up to 80% by picking the right lighting for the job. LEDs are the most efficient. For example, replacing a 500-watt halogen flood light with a 150 LED lamp will save €128 a year, and it lasts 100 times longer.

Better controls, more efficient air movement and less reliance on mechanical systems can all help to save money on ventilation costs. Make sure that fans and ducts are regularly maintained and kept clean to maximise efficiency

Choosing a correctly sized Plate Heat Exchanger can reduce your energy costs for cooling milk by up to 50%, which can give a saving of €9/cow/year.

Use of water to pre-cool the milk before it enters the tank will save about 30% of milk cooling costs - an energy saving of €5/cow/year.

Install a variable speed drive to the vacuum pump in the milking parlour. It can give you a 60% reduction in pump running costs, equivalent to €4/cow/year.

Once you have taken steps to minimise your energy use through energy efficiency measures, the next step is to consider using some renewable energy system e.g. solar panels for water heating or wood chip/pellet boiler for space heating. As well as reducing emissions like CO², they are cheaper to run and offer significant cost savings.

For more information on renewable energy:

• Review the current key renewable energy statistics
• Read the factsheet Energy and Climate Action Use Clean Renewable Energy