The architect has been traveling around the country to help families discover how green energy can work for their homes.
13:28, 22 May 2026
TV’s George Clarke shares money-saving tips(Image: Scottish Power)
TV homes expert George Clarke is sharing his money-saving tips with Scots amid a huge surge in interest in green tech.
The architect has been traveling around the country to help families discover how green energy can work for their homes.
His Great Green Challenge, with Scottish Power, comes as the 100% renewable energy firm reveals that enquiries for electric vehicle chargers have doubled in the last year, while calls about solar energy have near tripled – up around 180%.
The television presenter, best known for his work on programmes like The Restoration Man and George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, has been sent to mystery locations to show families how small changes, like shifting your energy use, adopting smart meters, solar panels, heat pumps and home EV charging can make a difference to bills.
The 51-year-old dad-of-two shared his tips with the Record on how we can all make our homes more energy efficient, greener and save on bills – whether we choose to invest in the tech or not.
As his tour took him to Edinburgh yesterday, George said: “For me, it’s a really exciting time that people are becoming not just more aware of green energy but more comfortable adopting the technology. I think they’re realising that, genuinely, the technology works.
“With all the pressures that people have got with the cost of living, paying their mortgage, interest rates have gone up, food prices have gone up, there’s a lot of people who are not going to think about buying green technology.
But even if you can’t do that let’s try and make your home a little bit warmer and cosier, let’s try and make you aware of flexible tariffs so even if you’re not paying for the tech you’re still using the least amount of energy for the maximum amount of comfort in your home at the most affordable cost.”
George’s first tip on saving money is to do your research into flexible energy tariffs – which can help you save by shifting usage to off-peak hours – and tackle basic mistakes in the home which can pump up bills.
He said: “Find out how you can improve the level of comfort in your home. Do a little bit of research into flexible tariffs.
“Get rid of drafts. Is there a way to put excluders on keyholes and the bottom of doors.
“Bleed your radiators. If you don’t, they’re not running efficiently and you’re using lots of energy and not getting the most efficient output.”
The presenter said a big tip is to make sure you get your heat pump or boiler regularly serviced.
He said: “What I’ve discovered in this country is that people will wait until their boiler completely dies before replacing it.
“Make sure it’s regularly serviced and working properly.
“Start doing research looking at alternatives and renewable options and how economic that is for you so you can weight that up.”
George, who is a big ambassador for air source heat pumps, said you can get an assessment for your home at no cost.
He said: “There is an air source heat pump for virtually every home. But it’s about how efficient it is and how much it’s going to cost you.
“At no cost to you, you can get an approved installer, properly certified, to come out to your house, assess the property, design a system for you and price it and you can take a view and look at getting the boiler upgrade scheme. Then you can make a choice whether you want to invest, without spending any money.”
Another top tip is to do boiler work and upgrades in the summer months.
He said: “Don’t wait until winter and your boiler breaks and you’re struggling to get an installer, because you may end up going for the quicker, easier option.”
The dad said his biggest tip is to look into investing in an electric vehicle as soon as you’re able.
He said: “We should all be driving EV cars. I don’t care what anyone says. The rise in EV cars is going through the roof. Yes there’s a debate about batteries, I get it. But it’s got to be a good thing for the air quality in our towns and cities.
“They are more affordable and I’m genuinely amazed now at the price of EV cars coming down.”
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