THE Meehan family from Raphoe have been selected to take part in the nationwide 'Power of One Street' energy efficiency living competition.
Neil, Mary and thier four sons, Darren (13), Ciaran (12), Gavin (10) and Sean (4) are ready and willing to change the way they use energy in their home in their daily lives. The Power of One Street competition involves eight families around the country and runs over the next six months.
Some 130 applicants applied to the Department of the Communications, Marine and
Natural Resources to take part in the energy 'make over' in thier homes.
Street energy experts and official "coaches" for the project, Aodhan MacPhaidin and Doctor Kirk Shanks have carried out an energy survey of each of the eight homes involved including the Meehan home.
They then determine what changes are needed and which will have the greatest impact on comfort, running costs and environmental benefits.
Aodhan and Kirk have challenged every person in each household to make those changes and to stick to the programme.
Speaking this week Mary Meehan explained that the coaches had already visited their Raphoe home to carry out an audit of their energy consumption.
"They will be back at the end of the month to see how we are doing. We entered the competition because Neil is a Civil Engineering student at LYIT and he is doing a heat and energy project as part of his course.
"We are all looking forward to taking part now that the boys are at a good age and able to understand. Our two mentors will set us energy saving tasks each month and then assess our response a month later. It will be interesting," Mary added.
The Meehan's currently take active steps to monitor temperature throughout their house and practice zoning, closing doors to main living areas to conserve heat.
There are limited curtains particularly on large areas of glazing to the rear of the house. They also currently make use of efficiency settings on washing machines. Neil said they were keenly aware of temperature levels throughout their home and practice the use of internal doors effectively to manage heat in the main living room but are keen to have more consistent comfort across other rooms. The house was built in 2004.
As part of the initiative, an interactive website has been launched where the public are welcome to see how the residents of Power of One Street are getting on.
According to the project leaders the average Irish home is one of the largest users of energy in Ireland. It accounts for almost a quarter of the energy used in the country, more than either transport or industry.
Each monthly challenge will revolve around one of each of the following topics; space heating; water heating; lighting; small power (electronics, small appliances) plus transport and Cooking plus transport.
In the sixth and final month, the Meehans and the other seven householders will be challenged to remember what they have learned in the previous five months. If the eight families can stay motivated and make real progress and savings, they will receive several valuable energy-saving upgrades to their homes, from energy-efficient appliances to technologically-advanced heating controls.
