Lancaster University recently teamed up with Cumbria Eco-firm Chimney Sheep Ltd for a collaborative piece of work to calculate the energy savings of the Chimney Sheep. Chimney Sheep Ltd manufacture and sell an innovative energy saving chimney draught excluder. Made of felted sheep wool, the Chimney Sheep® fits snugly into the chimney throat just above the fireplace and prevents warm air from escaping up the chimney when the fire isn’t lit. It also prevents cold air from sinking down. They recently celebrated five years in business, and sales have grown steadily year on year. They had the product tested by BSRIA who demonstrated that it saves around 260kg of CO² per chimney per year.
A Chimney Sheep pays for itself in the first six months of use
Although chimneys are a major source of heat loss in properties, they are largely overlooked by the insulation industry. With expenditure of around £25, a Chimney Sheep will save around £50 a year in heating costs. As owner and inventor Sally Phillips observes, however, the main incentive for purchasing a Chimney Sheep is increased comfort in the home.
“Customers report having warm feet at last! We don’t necessarily notice the warm air escaping up the chimney, but that warm air needs to be replaced and pulls in cold air from around doors and windows, and even right through walls. Somehow it’s the cold draughts at ankle level that are the hardest to banish – until people block the chimney, and that’s when they really notice an increase in the comfort of their homes.”
Keep warm and help the environment with a Chimney Sheep
As part of Lancaster University’s ongoing work with local businesses, the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation team offered to calculate the cumulative energy savings of Chimney Sheep sold over the years. Sales have topped 40,000 but some sheep have been working for 5 years while others have only been in-situ for a matter of months. The results show that not only does fitting a Chimney Sheep make the home more comfortable, they help to do their “bit” for the environment as well.
To date, Chimney Sheep have saved 19,856 tonnes of CO² and have saved households across the UK £2,895,793 (£2.9 million). This total carbon saving is the equivalent to the CO² sequestered by 23,388 acres (36 square miles) of forest in a year – that’s 32 times the area of the City of London, every year!
With nearly 11 million chimneys across the UK the carbon saving potential of a Chimney Sheep is huge!
Read the full report here
