The Labour Government has been reported to be considering a scheme by which a homeowner could fund eco-improvements through a long term loan, possibly provided through the energy companies.

And although an inevitable row has broken out between the political parties as to whose idea it is – both the Tories and Liberal Democrats claim they had the idea first – it is a genuine attempt to help people afford home improvements with the environment in mind.

It has always been a dilemma for anyone contemplating making changes to their house and more energy efficient, is that the pay-back can be decades.

Take double-glazing which undoubtedly makes a property warmer. Although it will save hundreds of pounds off an average energy bill every year, that won’t cover for a long time the actual cost if installation which will cost thousands of pounds.

Even the simpler job of installing loft insulation is not that cheap, especially if a householder cannot do it as a DIY project.

So the Government plan is simple: provide people with access to long term funding so they can make their home more energy efficient.

The crux is of course, can the Government afford such schemes, especially as over the coming years the public purse is going to have to be considerably tightened and home grants will be hit hard? If you look at the welcomed boiler scrappage scheme, this has proved very popular, but the scheme itself has a limited shelf life. It will not continue forever. What’s more, various consumer groups are already complaining that a number of home improvement grant schemes are being withdrawn, or wound-down.

So, it’s perhaps inevitable the Government will want to involve the energy companies in the scheme. Maybe not to wholly bank roll-it, but to act as a clearing house, although you could see the temptation of ministers asking the big energy companies to put their hands in their pockets for people’s house improvements; almost a corporate tax by proxy.

But the cynics might also point out this is the period before the general election, when the Government and opposition parties alike will promise many things which are then conveniently forgotten when they become leaders.

So, it’s a great idea, but don’t hold your breath!

Guest Article by Neil Camp

The Government has just announced that the boiler scrappage scheme, written about in this blog a number of times (see Boiler Scrappage Scheme and Boiler Scrappage Scheme Gains Momentum), is now a reality with firms like British Gas and Baxi wading in with their support.

Now some observers have pointed out that as a new boiler, installed, can cost between £2,000 and £3,000 in total, many might regard the grant as a little miserly. Also, there’s a bit of red tape involved as well. You can’t pop down the council and ask for 400 notes, then promise you’ll have a new boiler as soon as you can get down to B&Q.

There’s a system to follow and its starts by getting an official quote from a heating engineer who’s on the current Gas Safe Register. Because, everyone should remember that only someone on the current Gas Safe Register can work on gas appliances. This is not a DIY job. And the quote has to detail the cost of replacing a Band G boiler, or equivalent, with a Band A boiler. The bands are organised in the SEDBUK (Seasonal Efficiency of Domestic Boilers in the UK) rating scheme and Band G might have been used in the Titanic. A good way to tell quickly if you have an old boiler, is to see if it has a permanent pilot ignition, is it a back boiler, or was it installed before the legislation in 2005 which insisted on only modern, condensing boilers being installed?

The Heating and Hotwater Industry Council (HHIC) reckon that there are still over four million Band G boilers in use in Britain today and they operate only at 70% efficiency, whereas Band A deliver 90% plus efficiency.

Right, once you have a pucker quote you contact the Energy Saving Trust (EST) and, if you qualify, they issue a £400 voucher which lasts for 12 weeks. Once you have paid for the finished installation of your new boiler, you send off the installer’s invoice and the voucher, and the EST send you £400 back. It’s on a first come, first served basis, so don’t hang about.

British Gas, who are never slow on the uptake, have quite cleverly matched the Government’s £400 with £400 of their own, meaning that you lop £800 off your installation bill – a somewhat more meaningful amount.

British Gas has the clout of course, installing around 120,000 new boilers in Britain every year.

The CEO of British Gas owner Centrica, Sam Laidlaw, said:
“If the UK is to meet its tough carbon reduction targets, it is vital that old, inefficient energy technologies are replaced. The Government’s boiler scrappage scheme is, therefore, a very welcome initiative; it will assist the replacement of the country’s four million inefficient domestic boilers with new boilers, which can improve energy efficiency by up to 30% – an important step towards lowering carbon emissions.”

His words were followed up by Phil Bentley, Managing Director of British Gas, who said:
“We want to help customers take advantage of the new boiler scrappage scheme, so we’re offering to match the Government’s £400 allowance, which means customers can cut a total of £800 from the cost of a new boiler from British Gas. As the country’s leading installer of energy efficient boilers, we know that new boilers help lower fuel bills by as much as £235 a year.”

Baxi also welcomed the scheme, with their CEO, Mark Kelly, saying:
“The boiler scrappage scheme gives a real opportunity for households to upgrade their current boiler to the most efficient available. Whilst considerably lowering the carbon footprint of each household it will also save families over £200 per year in fuel costs.

“Baxi is pleased with the timing of this announcement as we have just launched a high efficiency version of the old Baxi Bermuda back boiler, which is one of the G band boilers. Previously, a replacement meant re-siting the boiler, re-routing all the pipe work and redecorating; the new high efficiency model is a genuine, simple replacement which fits into the same place with minimum disruption.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Call British Gas on 0845 074 5994 for your FREE no obligation BOILER SCRAPPAGE quote now:
Open 7 days a week from 7am – 9pm

As winter is upon us, Worcester is one of a number of boiler manufacturers who are offering advice on how to save money.

Worcester is part of the Worcester, Bosch Group and is a manufacturer of a wide range of gas boilers, oil-fired boilers and LPG boilers. In it’s combi boiler product range alone it has ten different models, all with a SEEBUK A rating of plus 90%.

Top of the five main tips from Worcester to help reduce home heating bills is lower your room thermostat to the lowest comfortable temperature. Bear in mind that by turning your thermostat down by just one degree, means you can cut fuel bills by around 10%.

Second tip is to remember that a number of key small measures, can collectively make a significant difference. Such moves as fitting low-energy light bulbs, washing clothes at low temperatures and turning appliances off rather, than leaving them on standby, are easy ways to reduce the amount of wasted home energy.

Tip three is don’t forget solar panels which don’t just need sunny weather to work. They are effective even in cloudy skies and provide useable energy; they can supply up to 60% of your annual hot water. Installation is not cheap, but starting at around £3,000, it needn’t break the bank and some homeowners could also receive a £400 government grant towards the cost.

Fourth tip is a new boiler. Much of course depends on the current boiler’s age and efficiency, but older models are simply not as efficient as more modern examples; a replacement condensing boiler can reduce a home’s carbon dioxide emissions by 15-30%.

It’s sobering to think that if everyone in the UK had a condensing boiler, the country’s annual carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 17.5 million tonnes. This would result in a saving of £1.3 billion on energy bills every year.

Last tip concerns the installation of heat pumps. A ground source heat pump, or an air source heat pump, can be used to harness the energy stored in the ground, or air, and meet a home’s heating and hot water needs. Heat pumps dramatically reduce fuel bills.

Government grants are available for the installation of such technology and costs vary from £1,500 to £2,000 for air to air systems, and between £7,000 and £12,000 for air to water.

Martyn Bridges, director of technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group said:
“Every year, millions of pounds worth of energy is needlessly wasted in our homes. With everyone watching their pennies more than ever, it has never been a better time to think about your home’s heating and hot water provision.

“Around 20% of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions come from domestic heating systems. Householders can reduce these emissions and therefore fuel bills in a variety of ways, from small money saving measures to investing in renewable technologies.

“According to the Energy Saving Trust, each year every household in the UK creates six tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. At Worcester, we are committed to developing environmentally friendly domestic heating systems designed to reduce the amount of energy that is wasted in the home, therefore minimising our impact on the environment.”

Guest Article by Neil Camp 

British Gas is asking for volunteer customers to join a 20-strong panel which will help write a report on how the company is operating. Advertisements were today placed in a number of national newspapers outlining their intentions.

At the same time, and as part of a much publicised move, British Gas is offering its customers the chance to pay accurate energy bills, rather than paying an amount based on an estimated meter reading.

Bills based on estimated readings have been the thorn in the side of many energy companies and research by British Gas has shown that such bills are very unpopular amongst its 16 million customers.

Instead, the energy giant is asking for customers to send their monthly readings either by text, or online. And people who opt for this service will receive a monitor, provided free, which accurately displays their use of electricity on a minute-by-minute basis.

A British Gas spokesperson said:
“Instead of issuing you with a bill we will contact you by email or text and ask you to submit a reading from the normal meter. Estimated bills were seen as a source of frustration by customers as they didn’t accurately reflect the energy they had used.”

British Gas apparently were at pains to point out that the new monitors are different from those currently being recommended by the Government.

The monitors from British Gas are designed to be installed by the user and come in two parts. One gets attached to the house’s existing meter and this communicates, via a wireless link, with the second part, which is the display. This is powered from an ordinary plug socket. And the display not only tells the user how much they are paying for their electricity on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, but also tells them how much C02 they are generating.

Although readers of this blog might remember a story a few weeks back about an Eaglestone pensioner who opted for a free gas meter upgrade found herself with a bill of £168.

And what made matters worse, she was left with no heating, or hot water. The 73-year-old responded to a British Gas offer to update customer’s technology which is part of a countrywide initiative.

An engineer made the visit, fitted the new meter and then tried to relight the pensioner’s boiler. After three attempts he gave up and left, saying it was no longer his responsibility, leaving the boiler unlit and the house cold, and without hot water.

The problem was eventually sorted out and to be fair to British Gas, it appears that the boiler might not have been regularly serviced, which meant that when it came to relighting, it would not operate properly.

But it does alert user’s to the fact that although modern monitors and meters are the future, some care should be taken as to what might happen if, after their installation (and this new one is to monitor electricity, not gas), systems don’t work as before.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

npower have introduced free home energy monitors for new customers. This customer incentive is available for all new Go Fix customers but is not available for signups to npower Juice green energy.

Switch energy provider to npower to claim your FREE Home Energy Monitor:

Recommended retail price: £39.99

Home Energy Monitors are estimated by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to help save up to 15% on your fuel bills.

Features of the Home Energy Monitor are:

• Check and monitor how much energy you are using in real time
• See what your electricity is costing you in Pounds and Pence
• See an instant response when you turn on an appliance – how much energy are your appliances using?
• Compare your usage from one day to the next

How to claim your Home Energy Monitor:
Switch your energy supply to npower online – once your energy supply with npower commences, you will be sent an email to which you’ll need to respond and confirm that you still want to receive your FREE energy monitor.

<< Click here to switch energy supplier to nPower and get your FREE monitor >>

Subject to terms and conditions:
† Maximum of 1 monitor per household. Offer to residents of Great Britain only (not Northern Ireland). This offer is subject to availability. Monitors will be distributed on a first come first served basis. There will be no alternative or cash offer. You will be sent an email once your supply with npower commences to which you will need to respond and confirm that you still wish to receive this offer. Your personal details will be used for cross checking for Ofgem compliance and may be used for marketing purposes. By accepting this npower home energy monitor you agree to receive survey’s from us about your usage of the device.

Article by Alan Potts