Energy Efficiency Update

The Green Homes Scheme – new grants to make your home more energy efficient

This is one of a series of articles on energy efficiency in our homes. It’s about the Green Homes Grant scheme introduced in July 2020, and at the time of writing due to be launched in September 2020.

Who? The scheme is aimed at homeowners, and social and private rental landlords. How much? It provides grants (not loans) in the form of vouchers up to £5,000 to help make homes more energy efficient. The scheme will usually cover at least two thirds of the cost, but people on low incomes can claim 100% with a possible maximum of £10,000. What? It covers the following energy-saving improvements:

Primary category • Insulation: Solid wall, cavity wall, under-floor, loft, flat roof, room in roof, park home. • Low carbon heat: Air source heat pump, ground source heat pump, solar thermal where the home has or is installing wall and loft insulation.

Secondary category • Draught proofing. TrustMark and/or Microgeneration Certification Scheme heating and to lower its impact on the environment. For payments from the Smart Export Guarantee Scheme whether you can get a two-thirds or 100% grant.

•Windows and doors: Double/triple glazing (where replacing single glazing), secondary glazing (in addition to single glazing), upgrading to energy efficient doors (where replacing doors installed prior to 2002). • Heating controls and insulation: appliance thermostats, hot water tank thermostats, hot water tank insulation, smart heating controls, zone controls, delayed start thermostat, thermostatic radiator valves. You can’t do work in the secondary category unless How? Advice and support will be available from the Simple Energy Advice Service – https://www. simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/ It will also give details of (MCS) registered tradespeople in our area who can do the work.

Why? The aims are to reduce the costs of home example, if the owner of a semi-detached or end-terrace installed cavity wall and floor insulation costing around £4,000, they would pay £1,320 – with the Government paying £2,680 (and remember a homeowner on low income could claim 100% of the cost). Doing so could save over £200 annually on fuel bills and reduce their carbon footprint by cutting 700kg of CO2 a year. (Thisismoney.co.uk). And home heating is a significant contributor to the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions – 15% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from residential accommodation (2018 UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions).

It seems odd that the Scheme doesn’t include the installation of ordinary (photovoltaic) solar panels – it only includes solar for heating water. It looks like homeowners are on their own on solar panels, although if you install them yourself you can apply for we wrote about last year. Despite the lack of support for photovoltaic solar panels, the Green Homes Grant Scheme looks like a good opportunity to reduce both fuel bills and greenhouse gas emissions. The first step is to contact the Simple Energy Advice Service to see whether the work you want to do is eligible and you also do work in the primary one.

Anne Fletcher, Mary De Pleave, Donna Lonsdale-O’Brien, Lyn Sands