HOME ENERGY SAVINGS PACK

Transcription

1 HOME ENERGY SAVINGS PACK Victorian Houses About 70% of houses in Widcombe are of a Victorian vintage. These are houses of solid wall (no cavity) construction built after about 1860, and we are also including 20th century houses up to about Houses in this group have solid stone or stone-faced brick walls which typically lose seven times more heat than the walls in new homes. Also they would usually have been built with sash windows, multiple chimneys and suspended wooden floors with under floor vents which all make draughts a significant problem. Many residents in Victorian houses in Widcombe report their homes to be draughty, poorly insulated and energy inefficient.

2 Types of Victorian House Types of Victorian House There are four types of Victorian house which are found in the Widcombe area: Smaller Victorian Terraces make up around 20% of the housing stock in Widcombe, examples of which can be found at Magdalen Avenue, Lorne Road and Excelsior Street Medium sized end terraces and semis make up around 22% of the housing stock in Widcombe, examples of which can be found at Forefield Terrace and Lower Oldfield Park Larger semis make up around 9% of the housing stock in Widcombe, examples of which can be found at Southville Terrace and St Mark s Road Many Victorian houses have also been converted into flats which make up 10% of the Widcombe housing stock. 2

3 HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE Options You can discover a range of things to do for your Widcombe home. We ve sorted them into three groups: No-Brainers Measures which are cheap (or free) and easy to carry out Committed Saver Measures which cost a bit more. These measures are the next logical steps following completion of the no brainers. Some of these measures may qualify for a loan under the Green Deal. NB: page 11 gives a brief introduction to the Green Deal. Red Herrings things which are unlikely to be suitable for your Widcombe home You will be able to choose which suit you in terms of cost, disruption, energy savings and payback period. Key These measures are compared through the following ratings which range from between 0 and 5: Cost Disruption DIY Difficulty Energy Savings Payback period Green Deal Eligibility Health Warning! Your energy bill does indeed depend on the changes you make to your home. BUT, how you actually use energy in your house can make a huge difference up to 4 times! This means how high your central heating is, how much you use the tumble drier, whether you leave lights on and the TV on standby and so on. 3

4 NO-BRAINERS No-Brainers are energy saving measures which will typically cost less than 500 each, cause little or no disruption to implement and will pay for themselves within 5 years. Most of these measures could be implemented by a competent DIY-er. Replace traditional bulbs with energy saving bulbs Energy saving light bulbs (LED & Compact Florescent Lighting) are usually a straight swap for traditional light bulbs and can reduce energy consumption by between 30% and 80%. Many Victorian houses have been updated with 50W halogen down lights (GU10). You can replace these with LED lights which use just 3-7W. Despite costing between 5 and 20 each, they often pay for themselves within 5 years. Block redundant passive vents These are only required if you still have an old-fashioned fire that is not room sealed. Typically found in kitchens, sitting rooms and bathrooms to provide ventilation for Victorian heaters and stoves. Victorian houses tend to be poorly sealed anyway so should have more than adequate ventilation without them. If you are not happy blocking these up altogether, perhaps cover them with a closable slatted cover, or replace with louvred fans so you can control your ventilation. 4

5 Top up loft insulation Victorian lofts are usually large and easy to access for insulating. They are often L-shaped with a small and difficult to access area at the back, and it s worth checking that the existing insulation extends into all the hard to reach parts, especially small lofts over the back parts of the house. Latest best practice is ~12 of mineral wool and you may be surprised that it can be as cheap to get someone in to do the work as it is to do it DIY. In spaces where there is already 4 to 6 of insulation the payback period will be considerably longer. There are also considerable energy savings to be made from insulating and draught proofing the loft hatch and small areas of insulation that might have been lifted (e.g. to install lighting). There are also solid insulation products which provide the same level of insulation whilst still allowing the space to be boarded out and used for storage. Replace electric heating (fans & convectors) with gas (or oil) On peak electricity is about three times more expensive than most other fuels, and results in about 3 times more CO2. Gas central heating might be expensive to install but can be significantly cheaper to operate and tends to increase the value of the property. 5

6 Add louvres to fans that are open when not in use If a fan has no louvres the wind can blow in all the time. A louvred outlet can be bought for about 10 and fitted externally as a DIY measure. Block open chimneys with chimney balloons when not in use Chimneys are designed to remove heat from rooms. As they don t let cold air in they may not feel cold, but they are well worth blocking. Victorian chimneys are usually comparatively small and chimney balloons can easily be removed and replaced, and are fire-resistant. More No-Brainers Time heating so that it is not on 24 hours Add insulation to un-insulated hot water cylinders 6

7 COMMITTED SAVER Committed Saver measures may cost a little more than the No-Brainers, but they are still likely to pay for themselves within 5-20 years. Some are expected to be eligible for a Green Deal loan while others may not be. Draught proofing doors and windows Draught proofing can be especially cost effective if done more cheaply by DIY and might even be considered a no-brainer. Draught proofing loose sash windows can appear a daunting job Professional draught proofing of sash windows can be significantly cheaper than fitting replacement windows and provides a noticeable increase in comfort. Replacing kitchen and bathroom fans with heat recovery fans Heat recovery fans are amazingly up to 95% efficient at taking heat out of the outgoing air, and using it to warm the incoming air. Upgrade boilers that are less than 80% efficient Very old boilers (20 to 25 years) can be less than 55% efficient and even some boilers manufactured after 2000 are less than 80% efficient whereas a modern condensing boiler is around 91% efficient. As with most heating measures the savings are greatest if you have long heating hours; you may be amazed at how much a new boiler might save you. In Victorian houses as you might expect some very old boilers are found. Giveaways that your boiler is very inefficient include: permanent pilot lights, and back boilers. 7

8 Internal solid wall insulation Internal solid wall insulation can be surprisingly cost effective; while it can be disruptive to install, it can be done on a room by room basis as the opportunity presents and it will often pay for itself in 8-12 years. Coving and picture rails in Victorian houses can make this measure more complicated. External solid wall insulation If you can get a cheap quote and planning restrictions make it possible in your area, external solid wall insulation is also worth considering. Even in conservation areas it may be possible to externally insulate the rear of your house. Often people choose external insulation on the type of rear outsets often found in Victorian houses. These can be especially cold with two or three exposed walls and have small rooms that might be made even smaller by internal insulation. Large side walls typical in Victorian end-terraces can be another good candidate for external insulation. Replace fridges and freezers that are more than 10 years old Replace with A rated models or better. A++ models are slightly more efficient but much more expensive, so are sometimes less cost effective than A rated. 8

9 Seal floorboards and skirting boards Most Victorian houses have suspended floors through most of the house. If you have a suspended floor, the space below needs to be well ventilated, so seal it away from the living space to reduce draughts. A top rated dishwasher instead of washing up by hand It may seem surprising, but new top rated dishwashers (used with full loads) tend to use so much less energy than washing up by hand that they will pay for themselves in 5-10 years, especially if you currently wash up by hand more than once a day. Solar PV panels While the Feed In Tariff rate is less good than it used to be, solar panels are also getting cheaper every month and well-designed systems still deliver good returns as well as low carbon electricity. More Committed saver Measures Lag pipes between boiler and hot water cylinder Secondary glazing, especially use of simpler and cheaper systems Upgrade heating controls: add a programmable timer, room thermostat and Thermostatic Radiator Valves Zoning allows different parts of houses to be controlled on independent heating circuits: savings can be made if you are able to heat part of your house for fewer hours 9

10 RED HERRINGS Red Herrings are energy saving measures which would not normally be appropriate for this type of housing. Double Glazing Although single glazed windows, and especially large draughty and wobbly sash windows, are often draughty and feel cold, they are also expensive to replace so the payback is typically more than 50 years and often 100+ years. The most cost effective savings are to be made by draught proofing old windows or installing secondary glazing. Under floor insulation suspended floors This measure may possibly fall into the Some consideration package, but actually more typically has a payback of 30+ years. This is partly because of the cost of raising floorboards, so if your floorboards are up for another reason consider this measure at the same time. If your house has an unheated cellar it will probably be worth insulating the easily accessible floor above. Heat Pumps These usually give good CO2 savings - but lower financial savings compared with modern gas boilers. They are generally costly enough that they are not cost effective if you have gas heating or gas available- as is the case in most of Widcombe Watch the Renewable Heat Incentive, RHI, for Ground source - though probably not Air Source Under Floor Heating There are small efficiencies to be gained from under floor heating - but your house will also heat up slower, and the measure is costly, so it is usually not cost effective. Solar Hot Water If you have several people having daily showers or baths this measure may pay for itself in 35 years, otherwise it will probably be longer. The upcoming Renewable Heat Incentive may make this measure more cost effective. 10

11 GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES The Green Deal The Energy Act 2011 includes provisions for the new Green Deal, which intends to reduce carbon emissions cost effectively by revolutionising the energy efficiency of British properties. The new innovative Green Deal financial mechanism eliminates the need to pay upfront for energy efficiency measures and instead provides reassurances that the cost of the measures should be covered by savings on the electricity bill. Feed in Tariff, FiT The Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) scheme was introduced on 1 April Through the use of FITs, DECC hopes to encourage deployment of small-scale (less than 5MW) low-carbon electricity generation, particularly by organisations, businesses, communities and individuals that have not traditionally engaged in the electricity market. feedin_tariff.aspx Renewable Heat Incentive, RHI The Renewable Heat Incentive is a new Government-backed measure being introduced to make it worth your while to produce renewable heat. Get paid for the renewable heat you produce. You earn a fixed income for every kilowatt hour of heat you produce. This is likely to be used in your own property, but if you are lucky enough to be connected to a heat network you might be able to get an additional payment for exporting surplus heat. incentive.aspx 11

12 NEXT STEPS Want more info? There are loads of websites. Try these for a start: Energy Efficient Widcombe Centre for Sustainable Energy Energy Saving Trust Department for Energy & Climate Change BANES Council Or talk to someone: For more information contact: Ozzie ffield or Catherine Adams on: T: E: e.e.widcombe@gmail.com