Energy (Advice) Team – Project Update

Energy (Advice) Team – Project Update

The last part of 2022 has seen a widespread surge of interest in reducing our home energy bills. Transition Belper’s energy team have received over 20 enquiries during the past two months, and have completed visits for over half of these.  These have included a fascinating range of properties, from an 18th century cottage which has been stripped and is in the course of refurbishment, to recently built apartments where there is very limited scope for reducing heat loss (however, in such situations there is often scope to reduce energy bills by changes in heating controls and the areas of the home which are heated at different times).

Tony Cooper is our team’s founder and most experienced member: Chris Ring, having almost completed retrofitting his own house, has been able to take on more visits, and been busy networking with other agencies, and is now the advice team’s first point of contact.  Recently we’ve been delighted to welcome Alan Hutchinson, who has extensive experience as a professional builder, and is passionate about energy efficiency in Derbyshire’s building stock.  Chris and Alan have been rapidly learning to use Transition Belper’s excellent thermal camera, and interpret the images it provides.

But as there’s lots of advice on energy saving measures for householders, as a Transition Belper member, you probably know about most of these and have put them into practice.  So what can our team offer over and above this? By taking a systematic look at your particular situation, we can help you apply the available advice to your own circumstances.

We look with you at your existing energy use, and expenditure, at your home and its energy efficiency, and the scope for reducing residual heat loss and its carbon footprint.  We can adapt our approach to your needs and interests.  We aim ultimately to (i) help you take greater control over your energy use (ii) be clear about the scope – if any – for greater efficiency, and (iii) suggest practical steps to achieve this, meaning you use less energy and reduce your fuel bills.  And although we aren’t experts, we can introduce you to the main sources of renewable / clean energy which are available to householders, and advise you where to get further more specialised advice.

Transition Belper is delighted to offer this service to its members (and to the wider community), and we welcome new enquiries – especially at this time: contact info@transitionbelper.org (if you put the phrase Home Energy Advice in the subject line, it will speed up its arrival to the team’s in-box).  And although it’s a free service, we welcome donations to Transition Belper which help to fund our costs, such as publicity.

And by the way, although no doubt you would have fully insulated your loft, have you included your loft hatch?  I hadn’t until this weekend – and, looking at the headline image above, see what a difference our thermal  camera shows it’s made (though there’s still a cold strip on the left where the hinges will fit!).

By Chris Ring

Leave a Reply