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Published 20 Jul 2019

Chimney Sheep Press 2013

2013! What did we get up to in 2013? This was going to be our first full year of trading, the second calendar year the Chimney Sheep had been on the market

My Weekend!

The first article of 2013 wasn’t directly about the Chimney Sheep itself – but it did tell us more about the creator – Sally Phillips.

Our local Times and Star ran an article covering what local people got up to on the weekend.

Here Sally expressed her love for the outdoors and the environment – enjoying activities such as sailing, mountain biking, hiking and tree planting.

There were a few small Chimney Sheep plugs – mentioning she fulfils orders every weekday and even Saturdays – it sounded like Chimney Sheep sales were growing, as if she ”takes a few days off work the orders really start to accumulate” ”we even had an order on Christmas day!”.

Throughout 2013 we had many articles in various newspapers, magazines and online blogs including a fantastic review on Radio 2’s blog page – surmising that the Chimney Sheep was a ”lovely simple solution and well executed”

Green Innovation goes up the Chimney , Chimney Sheep LTD Plugging an Energy Gap and the Chimney Sheep!

Three different articles in three different house and home magazines – these little articles gave readers an insight into how the Chimney Sheep had grown as a product – our product size range had almost doubled in size and we had reached over 2,000 sales – the product was slowly being recognised as being both an energy saver and cash saving device!

 

But 2013 was a year where we achieved big!

Our first big break came with the European Low Carbon Incubator Program 2013.

Innovation Birmingham Enrols Low Carbon Start-Ups!

Chimney Sheep was one of 11 business chosen to participate in a structured program of business planning, networking and mentoring to help improve their business outlook. As well as the opportunity to bid for up to £17,000 to help grow their company.

Sally is all fired up for place on programme!

Sally was incredibly excited as she saw this programme as a way to improve the company, boost sales and improve her business knowledge.

This was a brilliant opportunity as Sally ”had never done any business studies and sometimes felt like she was making it up as she went along”.

”She had an excellent winter, selling more than 2,000 Chimney Sheeps, but it would be great to get some mentoring, help, and advice in scaling up the business ready for next winter”

This program provided Chimney Sheep with a ”real step forward” – providing us with a chance to expand to wider markets and network with policy directors.

Our biggest achievement of 2013 was our Green Economy Award

Winner: End Green Economy Awards – Energy Efficiency

Late 2013 saw the Chimney Sheep nominated for a Green Economy Award in Energy Efficiency

We were lucky enough to win the award and with it recognition that energy loss via chimneys is a real ongoing problem!

It was noted that around 2/3 of UK homes have open chimneys -a large proportion of which are left open year round. On average one of these homes will lose 520 kilowatt-hours of energy through heat loss up the chimney. Equating to 185 Kilograms of carbon dioxide ( fuel dependant).

The Energy Efficiency Category was even sponsored by the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

This was a brilliant opportunity to shout about the importance of heat loss via the chimney – with the chimney sheep being shown as an innovative, cheap and effective solution to a more energy efficient home.

Award for insulation innovation!

Another great article from our local Times and Star!

This piece aptly celebrated our success in winning the our Green Economy Award in Energy Efficiency. It was noted that we were the smallest company nominated – up against some of the UK’s largest businesses including Sainsbury’s and the Co-operative Group!

This was another opportunity to spread the importance of Chimney Draught exclusion and its significant energy and money saving effects.

The Baa-bargain that can reduce energy loss and cut heating bills

This was a great mention in the Independent – a well followed national newspaper – this article actually led to a small direct increase in our December 2013 sales!!

The Chimney Sheep was shown to be an award winning simple solution to reducing energy bills in the home – it was noted that compared to other energy saving measures such as double glazing or a more efficient boiler the Chimney Sheep was incredibly cheap (starting at £15.00) with the products on average taking approximately 6 months to pay themselves off in bill savings. This was a delightful plug highlighting that you don’t always have to invest significant amounts of money to ensure your home is more energy efficient.

Herdwick Solution to chimney heat loss

A funny article in our local Times and Star all about the Chimney Sheep again! This time it stated useful facts and figures showing how useful the chimney sheep really is – helping to prevent over 40 cubic metres of air escaping up the chimney per hour!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sally Phillips

Inventor of Chimney Sheep

press
PlanetCare Microfibre Filter Starter Kit

PlanetCare Microfibre Filter Starter Kit

44.00 GBP

How does it work?

This ingenious washing machine microfibre filter kit uses cartridges to physically catch and retain the fibres that come loose when you wash your laundry. Each cartridge will last around 15-20 loads of laundry and is easily replaceable in just a couple of minutes.

Fibre retention is based solely on physical retention with the help of clever patent-pending technology.

You can also send the used cartridges back to us and we'll forward them on to PlanetCare. They will ensure that they are reused or recycled.  This ‘closed loop’ system ensures that there is minimum wastage throughout the whole process.

Something to think about:

Doing the laundry can have a huge environmental impact, whether that be using tonnes of energy running the washing machine and tumble drier - or the pollutants that are released from the products you use. Using a microfiber filter is just one way of reducing that impact. Why not make a few more changes - we've tonnes of handy tips in our blog.

 

What's in the box?

You'll get everything you need to fit your PlanetCare washing machine filter with these handy starter kits, meaning you can get it in place and start catching microfibers straight away.

The Mini Starter Kit includes:

  • 1 housing top with a cup, 1 holder, 4 screws, 1 tube (1.5m), 1 silicone lubricant, 1 counter, and 3 filter replacement cartridges.
  •  3 cartridges. These can last up to 60 washes.

The XL Starter Kit includes:

  • 1 housing top with a cup, 1 holder, 4 screws, 1 tube (1.5m), 1 silicone lubricant, 1 counter, and 3 filter replacement cartridges.
  • 13 cartridges. These can last up to 260 washes.

    Note: All the filter cartridges are 100% recycled and refurbished for use again and again via a closed-loop service.

       

      Is it easy to install?

      The microfiber filter is very easy to install. In fact, for most washing machines this process takes less than 10 minutes. The filters are compatible with all types of washing machines.

      There's actually a handy how-to video and a useful installation guide  you can take a peek at if you need a little bit more guidance.

      It’s a good idea to position it high enough above the floor/surface so the cover can be removed to change the filter and position the device so that it is easy to screw the cover back after each filter change.

      Please note: you will need 13 cm on the side of the washing machine and approx. 60 cm in height clearance so that you will be able to easily unscrew the housing and change the filter comfortably.

      The filter must be placed outside the washing machine on the drain hose. It should not be raised above the height of the drain hose exiting the washing machine. The hose length should be held to a minimum. Raising the filter and a long drain hose will both reduce the efficiency of pumping and filtering and should be avoided.

       

      What are the dimensions of the filter housing?

      The filter housing alone, without any attachments, measures the following:

      • height 325 mm, width (hose attachment direction) 122 mm, and depth 130 mm.

       

      Is the microfiber filter easy to use?

      For the first load, just make sure the filter cover is replaced correctly and screwed tight before using the washing machine. Try a short wash and make sure all connections and covers are fixed and watertight.

      It’s also a good idea to hold the top of the device when replacing the filter cover to avoid putting pressure on the bracket fixings when unscrewing the cover.

      After that, you do not need to do anything until the cartridge is full.

      >Easy!

       

      How does the closed-loop system work?

      When your cartridge is full you can send it back to us directly, simply go onto the delivery website Parcel2Go and produce a label to send the cartridges to us, don't forget to include your order details as we'll refund you the postage cost. We then send these off to PlanetCare who disassemble the cartridge and remove the fibres and filtering medium.  This is done in a controlled environment, ensuring that caught fibres do not pollute water or the environment.

       

      What does Planetcare do with the fibres?

      >At the moment PlanetCare is safely storing the used filtered materials. Once they have sufficient quantity, they will reuse/recycle it all. At the moment they are planning to reuse the materials by converting them into insulation mats. But, they're always on the lookout for viable solutions and will choose the best available option to reuse/ recycle the fibres.

      The waste will never be burned or sent to a landfill!

      The remainder of the cartridge is cleaned, and fitted with a new filtering medium ready to be used again.

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