When it comes to heating our homes there are many government schemes and grants available to help households financially. The main ones that the government currently offer are outlined as follows.

The Warm Front Scheme

Re-launched in April this year the warm front scheme involves the provision of heating and insulation home improvements for people who find it difficult to pay their energy bills and for those who live in the most energy inefficient homes. The scheme hopes to help 90,000 households with the availability of up to £3,500 per household for home improvements with the work being carried out for free as long as it doesn’t exceed this limit. Individuals can qualify for the scheme if they are on a benefit such as pension credit, income support or jobseekers allowance. Also, the property that is receiving the grant needs to have a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) rating of 55 or less to prove that it is poorly insulated and an energy inefficient home.

Renewable Energy Grants

The renewable energy grant was launched by the government in August this year and offers households the opportunity to apply for costs towards the installation of renewable heating systems in their homes of up to £1,250. The renewable energy grants will therefore only be available to households who will consider installing biomass boilers, solar panels for heating and air and ground source heat pumps. It is estimated that the grant scheme will help 25,000 households and it is hoped the scheme will attract those homeowners who currently are not on or using a mains gas supply and using fuel such as oil and electric (as these tend to omit higher greenhouse gas emissions).

Microgeneration Grants (also known as the Microgeneration Certification Scheme)

The microgeneration scheme covers both installers of renewable energy as well as households that employ renewable technologies. The scheme offers a ‘feed-in’ tariff to those who use renewable technologies which means households that produce electricity can be provided with guaranteed payments for any additional electricity that they generate if they can put it back into the electricity network. To be part of the feed-in tariff scheme the homeowner would need to ensure that the company who installs their renewable technologies is certified by the scheme.

Priority Services Register

The priority services register is a scheme that is open to pensioners, people with disabilities and those that have a visual or hearing impairment. Once a member of the scheme it means that access is given to a number of free services to help with energy bill payment. The free service includes gas appliance and installation safety checks, help moving a meter if it is in an inconvenient position, help using certain appliances if there is difficulty in doing so and the provision of bills in different formats such as in braille if required.

Winter Fuel Payment

The winter fuel payment scheme is specifically designed for older people who were born before the 5th July 1951. The scheme allows the receiving of a yearly winter fuel payment of between £100 and £300 dependent on the recipient’s age made as a one-off tax-free payment.

Cold Weather Payment

The cold weather payment scheme is a cash supplement that can be received to help towards the cost of energy bills when the weather becomes very cold. The payment is usually £25 per week and is paid when temperatures fall below zero Celsius for seven consecutive days between the dates of the 1st November to the 31st March. To be eligible for the scheme you must be on pension credit, jobseekers allowance or on some type of support allowance.

Government Boiler Scrappage Scheme (Scottish residents only)

The government boiler scrappage scheme in Scotland is still in operation and is aimed at helping householders upgrade their central heating system. The scheme allows homeowners to get up to £400 towards the cost of upgrading from their old boiler to a new energy efficient one.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain

As the winter months approach and the cost of heating your home crosses your mind you may be wondering how to ensure you use your central heating in the most efficient way.

These thoughts are totally justified and affirmed by the Energy Saving Trust as they suggest that using the controls on your central heating system correctly could save you up to 17% on your fuel bills.

However, you may have many questions regarding the operation of your central heating system and how the controls work to ensure you get the most from your boiler and central heating. But don’t worry, advice is at hand and detailed below are a number of useful tips that you can follow to get the most from your central heating system (specifically if you have radiators installed).

Programmer control

A programmer control ensures that you have control over when the heating comes on and goes off in your home. Therefore, it is your decision to decide when you need heating and when you don’t. By having a programmer control it means that you can vary when you want the heating to come on to suit you.

Many people set the heating to come on in the morning, have it off during the day when they are at work and then set it to come on the evening when they get home. By using these controls you can decide how early the boiler needs to come on to achieve your desired temperature. The programmer control used with in conjunction the thermostat control can make a central heating system as efficient as possible.

Thermostat control

Thermostat controls are devices that allow you to have control over the preferred temperature you require within your home. You could have one thermostat control that controls the temperature in the whole house or thermostat controls in each room so that you can regulate the temperature in each room. The principle of the thermostat control is that it will ensure a constant temperature in your home and you won’t be turning the central heating on and off, therefore creating additional start-up and cool-down costs each time you do this.

Last winter we experienced one of the coldest winters on record with temperatures 5.0 °C below average. If we have another cold winter this year then leaving your central heating system on and regulating the temperature through the thermostat will work out cheaper for you in the long-run and maintain a consistent temperature in your home.

It is important to decide what temperature to set the thermostat to. It is recommended by the Energy Saving Trust that the ideal temperature for a living room is 21 °C and a bedroom 18 °C and remember, by reducing the temperature in your home by just 1 °C you could potentially save up to 10% on your energy costs.

Cylinder thermostat control

If your home still uses a hot water tank then it is useful to have a cylinder thermostat control which will regulate the temperature of the hot water. This type of thermostat will need to be attached to your hot water tank and can ensure the hot water doesn’t go above 60 °C which is the most economical and efficient temperature.

Thermostatic radiator valves

Thermostatic radiator valves again allow the temperature to be controlled in each room however the temperature is controlled by regulating the flow of water your radiators receive. Therefore, when your room temperature is at the correct level you can turn down the flow of water to it. This is a good way to heat underused rooms in your home to moderate and reduce damp and condensation while ensuring the most well used rooms in your home get more heat.

If you currently don’t have any of these controls then it is worth considering implementing them in your home to become more energy efficient.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain

Smart energy meters are meters that have been developed to help you keep track of your energy usage in your home as well as eliminating the need for meter readings.

The meters work by collecting and storing information about your energy consumption and therefore you can see in almost real-time how you are using energy. It is hoped that this type of meter will make us more aware of our energy usage and allow us to see how savings can be made by using energy at different times of the day; and because the meter readings will also be more accurate it is felt that our energy bills will also be more accurate.

It is envisaged by the Government that all homes in England, Wales and Scotland will have a smart energy meter installed by 2020 to help people identify ways of saving energy and help the UK become more energy efficient. It is also thought that they will help the country cut its carbon footprint as the environmental impact such as emissions from transport previously used to aid the of reading households meters will be eliminated.

But this type of technology, even with all its benefits, is being questioned as to whether it will actually save energy. The consumer group Which? recently announced concern regarding the installation of these meters. They felt that the top six energy companies would use the installation of smart energy meters as a way to sell more household energy gadgets and tariffs to consumers and were calling upon these companies to “don’t sell, just install”. So, this is something to bear in mind when installation of your smart energy meter occurs. You need to be extra vigilant over the sales persons ‘upsell’ tactics.

There is also concern over the data that is collected and stored in these meters as energy companies will be able to analyse this data and possibly use it to their advantage. This could make it questionable as to how much control people will have over their energy usage and efficiency.

However, it is felt that the smart energy meters will help individuals monitor their household energy usage in the future as the smart meters will ensure that we have a better understanding of our utility and appliance usage. Also, the benefits that are trying to be introduced to the environment is only a positive step forward to a lower-carbon economy and ensuring that we become energy-efficient and savvy towards the long-term needs of the environment.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain

There’s lots of coverage in the news about rising energy bills and times are tough especially for businesses all over the UK. Price hikes hit small businesses very hard and it can be difficult to control costs in the workplace. Employees don’t tend to be as careful about energy as they are when they are perhaps at home.

Here are some simple easy to follow tips for small businesses to reduce bills and be more energy efficient.

Business Energy Efficiency Tips

Offices are often guilty of leaving lighting on after everyone has gone home. You can see it late at night if you drive through any major city. Although, from a distance it can look mesmerizing it wastes lots of electricity.

To ensure staff turn lights off before they leave put up notices and remind them regularly that it is not appreciated if electricity is wasted. Alternatively, you could just install sensor lighting so they automatically turn off when the office is empty. You often find this in toilets and hallways of large office blocks, but they can be installed just about anywhere.

Heating large spaces costs a heap, especially if you don’t have double glazing. A well-known fact is that if you turn down the heat by just 1% you can save up to 8% on your annual bill. For commercial premises this could account for a substantial amount of money.

When you have a workforce to take care of, heating and lighting are essential and costly. You can install sensors and timers for these, but you can’t install sensors to fully shut down computers. Many office workers are guilty of leaving monitors and computers on overnight. If this is done constantly it can really waste a significant amount of electricity. It’s important to regularly remind staff that this behaviour is not appreciated by the company and wastes money. Also ask staff to set their computers to automatically shut down if left idle for more than 15-20 minutes.

Businesses naturally need to look after their bottom lines, so make sure you keep an eye on your fixed-term energy deals. Once they end they general become much more expensive. And if you are billed on a quarterly basis the costs could seriously mount up. So don’t’ get a nasty surprise be ready to compare the market once you know your tariff is up for renewal.

Being overcharged for your electricity and then having to wait for your next reading until you get a rebate can be crippling for some heavy user small businesses. Smart meters are a great to avoid estimated bills. They automatically send readings to your energy supplier which results in far more accurate measurements.

If you are a business owner and you want to install new energy saving equipment to cut costs and carbon emissions there is help at hand. The Energy saving Trust offer loans from £3,000 to £500,000. Contact the energy saving trust for more information.

Guest Article by Louise Goldstein

For many years companies have been trying to invent and create windows that double as solar panels.

What this means is that a window will become able to generate electricity from the suns light that it captures during the day. The window will look the same such as normal windows, however it will be able to harness the power of the suns energy.

Currently, solar panels are made up for solar cells that turn the suns light into energy and these solar panels are not appropriate for use as windows due to their dense and non-transparent nature. Therefore, to create the solar panel windows the whole concept and design of the solar panel has to be changed. This means that the new solar panel windows have to concentrate and retain the light and then this energy would then need to be collected on the edges of the window by solar cells.

It is felt that the solar technology deployed in the windows should not be noticeable and obvious which could affect the aesthetics of your home. The windows should also be able to withstand current weather or window washing conditions without the performance of the window being affected. The only requirement needed for home installation would be some wiring from the window to a voltage controller to ensure the smooth running of the system.

In the past such attempts at creating a solar panel window has resulted in low efficiency and this is a major factor that needs to be overcome if they are to become a viable renewable energy solution for countries like the UK which have low-light conditions. However, new research is looking into chemical formulations that can be used in the solar cells that allows for high visible-light transparency, making them more efficient.

The only other concern over the solar panels windows is the cost of installing these solar cells and windows on houses and buildings. The high costs could mean that it takes years to pay off the outlay made on such an investment.

However, in our pursuit of becoming greener and investing in renewable energy sources there is no denying that solar power is one of the best sources of renewable energy available. So, we should try and utilise it and put investment into inventions such as the solar panel window.

This technology concept has been around for many years with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) being at the forefront of its development. The windows are still in their early stages of development but if the initial teething problems can be overcome and they can be created in a cost-effective manner, they could provide a practicable and renewable energy source for heating our homes in the future.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain