Update on the Home Energy Survey. (2014)
SeSaME joined forces with Wychavon District Council and Act on Energy to conduct a survey of our village’s energy needs. This helped us to utilise any potential funding resources that were available, such as the new Energy Company Obligation* and the Green Deal**.
By the end of September that year we anticipated that most householders would have filled in a home energy survey form. This form would enable us to see what energy efficiency measures villagers could benefit from, and ultimately the level of funding available.
Click on “Sedgeberrow Energy Scene”, in the right hand column opposite, to view the full results of the survey.
How did work?
Once all the information had been gathered, the data was collated and assessed to see what levels of funding could be achieved and what sort of measures could be offered. A report on the collected data was delivered door to door in the village.
What was on offer?
Detailed assessment/ survey of your house.
Potential to access funding for assisting work on some properties.
An information event organised at the Village Hall, where villagers could see what is on offer and talk through their needs.
A chance to meet local traders and organisations. They were invited to the public event in the village, offering
solutions to the energy needs that your survey has revealed.
Villagers could make contact there with approved traders, see what types of measures could be installed and decide what could be done for them.
What we were hoping to achieve?
Help villagers invest profitably in their homes by reducing energy costs.
Improve villagers joint buying of energy and thus reduce purchasing costs.
Create cost effective work for local traders in projects that reduce energy costs.
Reduce our villages’ carbon footprint.
Link insulation with flood protection in affected properties.
Who did the survey work?
A team of 15 village volunteers, complete with a survey form and information about the reasons for the questions to be asked, did the legwork. All completed forms helped, even though the results may not have helped a personal housing situation. Having first hand information for the whole village helped our efforts to reduce the heating costs of many residents: especially those with a history of old housing stock, built with poor insulation and heating sources.
Mary Unwin from Wychavon District Council provided the printed forms, together with all the related paperwork needed to ensure all our efforts are recorded and collated properly. The scope of the questions was jointly decided by all the three parties and Act On Energy created the master copy for Wychavon District Council to print the final copies.
*The Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) – designed to reduce Britain’s energy consumption by funding home improvements worth around £1.3 billion every year until 2015. Particularly significant for houses with no access to mains gas. The funding came from the big energy suppliers.
**The Green Deal was the policy which allowed households to receive energy efficiency measures at no upfront cost and the repayments for the works are paid back via the energy savings made from the newly installed measures.