Energy Bills Set to Rise By A Third By 2010

If your home is poorly insulated, then you could find that your energy bills rise by as much as 35% by 2010, according to the latest Which? report.

The report has found that average energy bills for a three-bedroom semi-detached home could end up as high as £2,600 over the next ten years. Living in a detached house could cost you £4,000 a year.

These price increases are a result of a mixture of higher wholesale prices, dependence on imported energy as well as investment into renewable energy.

What Can You Do About Future Price Increases?

There are ways to help reduce the impact that these increases will have. Whilst the steps you will need to take can cost around £5,000 for an average three bedroom semi, they will take around six years to pay for themselves due to the savings on energy bills as a result.

Which? reviewed a number of energy saving appliances, bulbs and home upgrades to reduce the energy you use in your home.

Which? editor, Martyn Hocking, states that ‘energy is going to get a lot more expensive over the next decade so the only way to avoid bigger bills is to use less of it.’

Which? have recommended three key measures for reducing the energy you use in the home: replacing your boiler, replacing your windows with double glazing, and installing insulation around the home.

Of 825 bill-paying adults surveyed about the prospect of a third increase in energy prices, 73% stated that they would be worried about whether they could afford the increase, and 28% said they were worried about paying their current bills.

Conservative Plans to Boost Energy Efficiency

The Conservative party have announced plans to bring in loans worth up to £6,500 to help people make their existing homes more energy efficient.

The plans were welcomed, to a degree, by the National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) who called the plan ‘very worthwhile’.

However, the director of the NHIC, Andrew Leech, also added that the Conservatives may struggle with their plan simply because of the amount of money it would require to put into action.

The Conservative plans, known as the Green Deal, are designed to enhance the energy efficiency of residential properties in the UK. Every household across the country would have a right to £6,500 loans to upgrade their home in various ways that would make it more ‘green’.

The scheme is made even more affordable to homeowners due to the fact that the money for the work is paid back over a period of 25 years, after money saved on energy bills.

Work that the loan could pay for includes double glazing in windows, wall and loft insulation, and more – all designed to keep the heat inside the home and reduce money spent on heating bills.

Leech stated that the fact that repayments are made over the long term may put some homeowners off taking up the scheme. However, loans will be linked to individual properties rather than the people who use them, meaning that they will only be repayable when occupants are continuing to save money on energy bills.

Over £10m Spent on Social Housing in Monmouthshire

Improvements to homes in Monmouthshire have recently started, with over £10million worth of work being carried out since the transfer of the housing stock.

Refurbishment work is aimed at improving the insulation of homes, with the help of double glazing in the windows, as well as new, more energy efficient, boilers being installed.

The ex-council housing stock is now managed my Monmouthshire Housing Association, who already have £190million worth of further improvements planned throughout the next three decades.

In total, the Association manages and looks after 3,600 homes as well as 290 leasehold properties, and other land in the estate.

Aims include helping homes to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by the year 2012. This will be done through energy efficient materials and measures, amongst others.

The transfer of housing stock has created more than 170 new jobs for electricians, painters, plumbers and other tradesmen.

One apprentice plumber for the association, Jessica Davies, said that “Being offered the apprenticeship was like a dream come true and totally unexpected.”

The Housing Association’s Chief Executive, John Keegan, said that the association is committed to helping local employment wherever possible.

PBR Criticised for Discouraging Green Homes

The pre-budget report was announced last week on December 9th. However, it has been criticised fro not meeting government ambitions regarding energy efficiency in homes across the UK – according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

A key decision by chancellor Alistair Darling was to raise the VAT rate back from 15% to 17.5% on January 1st. The head of FMB external affairs, Brian Berry, has claimed that this will be a ‘serious blow’ to builders as well as residential property owners who want to make green improvements to their home (both as a way of saving money on energy bills and helping the environment).

Berry added that ‘given the government’s stated commitment to refurbish every single home by 2030, it is very disappointing that the Chancellor has decided to increase the VAT rate’.

However, it was also announced that public spending is set to grow by 2.2 percent in 2010-11, which could help to support a number of jobs in the building industry.

Despite the fact that the VAT rate will rise, green building upgrades are still a huge investment for your home, helping to save a total of hundreds of pounds off your energy bills each and every year.

Double glazing, for example, helps to keep your home naturally warmer, allowing you to turn down the thermostat – saving an average of £135 each year.

Customers Are Owed £174 Million By Gas Suppliers

Recent research carried out by moneysupermarket.com has shown that over five million residential property owners in the UK are owed money by their gas supplier.

The comparison website said that the average household that is in credit with their supplier and is owed just under £90. This means that consumers have paid a total of £454 million extra.

Around 80 percent of customers who are in credit with their gas supplier have not asked for their money to be refunded, and around £363 million is unclaimed.

On the flip side, around 1.8 million home owners are in debt to their gas supplier – totalling £280 million (£151 on average per person), which means the gas companies are still holding onto an extra £174 million.

How to Reduce Your Gas Costs

Utilities manager at moneysupermarket.com, Scott Byrom, states that many homeowners who are signed up to direct debit pay over the odds simply because their direct debit is not changed when lower tariffs come into effect.

The recommendation is to review your direct debit payments every six months to ensure they are taking a fair amount according to how much you use.

You can reduce your actual expenditure by installing measures such as double glazing to keep your home naturally warmer. Comparing energy suppliers also means you could find a better deal than you are currently on.

Barnet Home Recognised Nationally for Its Eco Measures

A project, set up to demonstrate how older properties can be retrofitted to improve on energy efficiency, has now been recognised by the National Home Improvement Council (NHIC).

The scheme was funded by Barnet Homes, and supported by the Apollo Group.

The work was done on a mid-terrace house, dating back earlier than the 1920s, located in Berkeley Crescent. All the included changes were designed to cut energy bills in half within the period of just a year.

Some of the measures included using natural insulation from sheep’s wool under the floor, installing double glazing in the windows, installing solar panels to heat water, and bringing natural light into the landing with a sun pipe.

All of the appliances installed in the home are A-rated for energy efficiency, including the boiler which converts 90 percent of the energy it uses into heat.

The garden is even eco friendly, with a water butt included to collect rainwater – and recycle it – and a composter to reuse any waste, as well as flow limiters on taps to save water.

The Barnet scheme recently won second place in the Big Green Home Improvement category of the National Home Improvement Council Awards.

The cabinet member for community services in Barnet, councillor Richard Cornelius, stated that he is ‘delighted’ that the eco friendly house has been recognised nationally.

How to Keep Warm This Winter

The head of Age Concern and Help the Aged has recently released a cold weather statement, advising older residents how they should keep warm through the forecast cold weather:

1. Keep Active: Exercising is a good way to generate more heat and stay warm, and simple tasks such as housework can make a lot of difference.

2. Claim Benefits: Millions of pensioners don’t realise that they are missing out on a portion of £5 billion worth of benefits. If you are eligible then you will receive money to help you out with your energy bills.

3. Get the Flu Jab: Those over the age of 65 are more vulnerable to the flu, which is why it’s important to ensure that you stay protected throughout the winter and get your free flu jab.

4. Eat Well: You can gain a lot of warmth and energy from hot food and drink, so try to eat at least one hot meal every day and have a hot drink before you go to bed each night. Additionally, wearing extra layers of clothing will help you to stay warm.

5. Improve Your Home: Making your home more energy efficient will mean it’s not only warmer, but your bills will be cheaper. Warm Front grants are available to help pay for improvements, and changes such as double glazing, insulation and draught-proofing can make a huge difference.

6. Find the Best Supplier: Shopping around for the best priced energy supplier can lead to big savings, and there may even be discounted tariffs available to you.

More Homeowners Personalising Their Property With DIY

According to recent reports from Kingfisher, an increasing number of homeowners in the UK are carrying out DIY projects to make their homes more comfortable, rather than for financial reasons.

Typically, homeowners choose to install new features and measures DIY to help save money – however, recent reports suggest that the reasons behind the recent trend are down to the fact that homeowners want their houses to be more personal.

Measures range from the small to the large, such as double glazing and insulation to help make homes more energy efficient.

In a quarterly trading update, the home improvement store B&Q reported that it had seen a 6.3 percent increase in sales during the third quarter of 2009. Improvements to make homes more comfortable, including double glazing, were seen to be especially popular.

Chief executive of Kingfisher, Ian Fisher, stated that these figures show that many Brits, who are not able to move home, and trying to customize their properties with various home improvement measures.

Fisher added that people are ‘using their houses as a home rather than as a financial instrument’, referring to the fact that homeowners are less influenced by financial factors.

Measures such as installing double glazing in windows will add financial value to homes – however, they are also the perfect way to give your home an upgrade, looking smart and helping it to feel more comfortable inside.

Get £400 Towards A New Boiler

A new plan has recently been announced that could help up to 125,000 homes benefit from greater energy efficiency, by having G-rated boilers replaced with A-rated models.

New boilers typically cost around £2,000, which is why many people simple choose to keep their old boiler until it breaks down.

However, this new ‘bucks for boilers’ plan – which is based on the car scrappage scheme – will help to solve the cost problem, and will also give a boost to Britain’s manufacturing industry.

At present, there are over 4 million G rated gas boilers being used in homes across the UK, all of which are responsible for harmful carbon emissions. By replacing these with A rated models, this will also help the environment.

Chancellor Alistair Darling also claims that households should be able to save around £200 a year on energy bills, as well as reducing carbon emissions.

Commenting on the plans, Gary Dunion from Reheat Britain, said ‘it looks like we’ve got a great result for bill payers, for the economy and for the environment’.

However, critics have claimed that consumers would have been far more likely to take advantage of the car scrappage scheme than they will be to opt for a new boiler.

As well as replacing your old boiler, there are a number of ways you can improve your home to make it more energy efficient as well as cheaper to run. Double glazing will dramatically reduce the heat lost through windows to ensure your home is naturally warmer and heating can be turned on less often.

Hips Helping to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Homes

A new survey has revealed that 65 percent of consumers have found Home Information Packs (Hips) to be useful – and, as a result, energy efficiency may have improved among residential property owners.

The survey was carried out by the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (Ahipp), showing that 85 percent of people, when choosing whether or not to put their home up for sale, were not influenced by the need to obtain a Hip.

Director-general of Ahipp, Mike Ockenden, said that 30 percent of buyers and sellers have implemented one of the recommendations given within the energy performance certificate.

This could include installing more efficient boilers, taking a look at the current heating system, or installing double glazing windows to help keep the heat inside of the home.

Ockenden said, ‘that to me says that Hips are actually helping to reduce carbon emissions’.

Hips have recently been criticised publicly by the Conservatives, who claim that Hips are costing consumers into the millions of pounds. It was also claimed that Hips have raised £94 million for the government.

However, Mr Ockenden argued that this misses many of the benefits of using Hips in the first place.

Many homeowners are unsure where to start with green home improvements, despite the fact that they can help them enjoy cheaper energy bills long into the future.