HOME ENERGY SAVINGS PACK

1960’s - 1970’s Houses About 10% of houses in Widcombe are of 1960’s and 70’s construction. These properties are typically of cavity wall construction. They also tend to have shallow pitched roofs with small loft spaces which can be difficult to access for insulating purposes. Generally these properties are fitted with double glazing but some single glazing remains. Open fans and window vents appear to be common. Our survey showed that the residents of this group of houses cover a wide age range, but there are relatively more older people – and relatively fewer younger people. Residents in this group generally rate their houses more energy efficient than others. The older residents particularly tend to perceive their homes to be energy efficient. They are also more likely to keep the heating on through the day. They tend to be happy with the way their house is, and are more likely to be put off introducing energy saving measures by the disruption and the length of payback time.

Types of 1960’s - 1970’s House

Types of 1960’s - 1970’s House There are two types of 1960’s house which are found in the Widcombe area:

Terraced houses make up around 7% of the housing stock in Widcombe, examples of which can be found at Holloway and Carlton Walk

Detached houses make up around 3% of the housing stock in Widcombe. These are often of Bradtone construction and examples can be found at Hayesfield Park and Rosemount Lane

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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



Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

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.

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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. Wherever possible they address issues specific to this family of buildings. Most of these measures could be implemented by a competent DIY-er.

Cavity Wall Insulation Effective, inexpensive or free! - and can be installed from the outside of your house in a day. The only visual evidence is small marks in the mortar, less than the size of a ten pence piece which are usually difficult to see. Some houses of this age may have concrete or metal frame construction, or concrete building features such as lintels. If these bridge the cavity in your wall there is a risk of ‘cold bridging’ if you cavity wall insulate the walls: this means that then the insulated walls get warmer, the ‘cold bridged’ areas remain cold, and can be a focus for condensation leading to condensation problems. Ask your cavity wall insulation installer for advice if you are worried about this.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

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. 1960s and 1970s houses tend to have only one chimney, or none at all, but where they do exist they are usually comparatively small and chimney balloons can easily be removed and replaced, and are fire-resistant.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! ! 4

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

Top up loft insulation The type of 1960s/1970s lofts most common in Widcombe can sometimes be small and inaccessible, but they can still be insulated effectively (if they are not too low inside to access!) 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).

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

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.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

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%. 50W halogen down lights (GU10) are common in most types of house, and can be replaced with LED lights which use just 3 - 7W. Despite costing between £5 and £20 each, they often pay for themselves within 5 years.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

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Draught proofing doors and windows Draught proofing of any remaining original 1960’s-1970s windows is usually fairly easy and can be especially cost effective if done more cheaply by DIY.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

More No-Brainers • Time heating so that it is not on 24 hours. It is a myth that heating needs to be on even if you are out through the day. Timing it to come on just before your return will be effective and cheaper. • Add insulation to un-insulated hot water cylinders • Block passive vents - these are only required if you still have an old-fashioned fire that is not “room sealed”. • 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. • Eco-kettle, if you boil your kettle several times a day the savings from only heating the water you need can really add up.

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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.

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

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

Insulate non-cavity areas of wall Although 1960s and 1970s houses are mainly cavity wall construction, sometimes they also have areas of very poorly insulated wall - timber frame, solid wall, or ‘solid glazing’ (like a window frame but with plywood or similar instead of glass). These areas are often very poorly insulated and can be worth upgrading with internal or external insulation.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

Unlikely

Not applicable

Seal floorboards and skirting boards 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.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

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Upgrade boilers that are less than 70% efficient 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.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

Add a weather compensator to your boiler If you have a new or newish boiler you might be able to fit a weather compensator which stops your boiler working harder than it needs to in the spring and autumn by reducing the temperature of the water in your radiators when it is warmer outside.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

Unlikely

Not applicable

Upgrade heating controls Adding a programmable timer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves to your central heating systems will allow you to control which parts of your house are heated, when they are heated and to what temperature.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Secondary glazing In those 60s houses that still have any single glazed windows; secondary glazing can achieve most of the savings of double glazing but at a fraction of the cost, especially when using some of the simpler systems. It can also be a good draught excluder

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

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Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

Zone heating Savings can be made if you are able to heat part of your house for less hours. The cost is probably the key thing and this depends on whether your existing heating circuit pipes are easy to fit pumps to.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

Unlikely

Not applicable

Unlikely

Not applicable

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.

£ £ £ £ £ ! ! ! ! !

Likely

More Committed saver Measures • Lag pipes between boiler and hot water cylinder • Fit a wood burning stove • Get a dishwasher - 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. • 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.

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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 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 typically has a payback of 30+ years. This is partly because of the cost of raising the floorboards so if your floorboards are up for another reason this measure may be worth considering.

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.

Internal / External Wall Insulation In houses built in the 1960s and 1970s, it is usually not worth doing additional wall insulation apart from the patches of non-cavity wall construction (see earlier), or unless you have a special reason for not wanting or being unable to do cavity wall insulation. If cavity wall insulation is not an option, internal wall insulation may pay for itself in 8-14 years. 10

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. http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/green_deal/green_deal.aspx

Feed in Tariff, FiT The Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) scheme was introduced on 1 April 2010. 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. http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/Renewable_ener/feedin_tariff/ 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. http://www.rhincentive.co.uk/ http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/Renewable_ener/incentive/ incentive.aspx

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NEXT STEPS Want more info? There are loads of websites. Try these for a start: Energy Efficient Widcombe www.energyefficientwidcombe.co.uk

Centre for Sustainable Energy www.cse.org.uk

Energy Saving Trust www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Department for Energy & Climate Change www.decc.gov.uk

BANES Council www.bathnes.gov.uk/environmentandplanning/Sustainability/Pages/default.aspx

Or talk to someone: For more information contact: Ozzie ffield or Catherine Adams on:

T: 07583 693 861 E: [email protected]