Housing

Energy Efficiency

Insulating your home

Insulating your home may not be as expensive as you think, and there are many grants currently available to help you - several of which will provide 100% funding if you qualify under the rules of the scheme.

Ways of improving the insulation of your home:

Cylinder insulation

Fitting a cylinder jacket to your hot water tank will usually pay for itself within 6 months through savings on your fuel bill. You should fit an 80mm thick jacket that has a British Standard approval. Some cylinders are pre-insulated with foam before they are installed - these do not require any more insulation.

You should also insulate hot water pipes in your property. Specially designed pipe insulation is available from most DIY superstores.

Draught proofing

Installing draught strips to your doors and windows is another effective way of improving the comfort of your home. However it is very important that air vents and air bricks are not blocked, especially if there is a gas appliance in the room. Draught proofing your home will usually have a payback period of between 2 and 6 years.

Loft Insulation

Due to heat rising Loft insulation can be the most cost-effective method of preventing heat loss. 25% of the heat in your home can escape through an un-insulated roof space. The latest government guidelines recommend 200mm or 8'' of loft insulation for domestic properties.

You should not insulate underneath any water storage tanks but you should insulate any exposed pipes in the loft area.

Usually it takes around 2 years for savings to cover the cost if you carry out the work yourself, and around 4 years if you have an insulation contractor to carry out the work.

Wall insulation

A house can lose around 35% of its heat through an un-insulated external wall. Effective Cavity Wall Insulation can reduce this by 2 thirds and noticeably cut your heating bills.

You will require a specialist contractor to carry out the installation who will have to notify your local authority of the installation. Even with employing a specialist installer this method of insulation can still pay for itself in as little as 5 years.

If your house has solid walls these can still be insulated but this will be much more expensive - and in turn have a much longer payback period. Solid walls can be insulated either internally or externally. However external insulation changes the look of your property as the external brickwork is covered by a render, and insulating the walls from the inside will require complete redecoration.

Double glazing

Installing double glazing is another way of improving the insulation levels of your property. However it is expensive to install and has very long payback times. Therefore this method is generally only considered when rotten window frames are being replaced.

Grant Information

Grants of up to £2700 are available towards the cost of heating and insulation works for residents in receipt of certain specified benefits.

However, we do not provide these grants. They are provided by a Government Agency called the Eaga Partnership who can be contacted at:

Eaga Partnership Limited

Freepost NEA 12054

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE2 1BR

Tel: 0800 316 6019 or 6011 (Freephone)

Fax: 01912 473 801

Textphone: 0800 072 0156

Email: enquiry@eaga.co.uk|

In addition to the above, grants for a similar range of energy related improvements may be available from the Gas and Electricity Suppliers.

These grants can be subject to change at quite short notice and Council officers can have difficulty in keeping information up to date.

For this reason, if you are interested in receiving more information about their availability please contact:

For council tenants and leaseholders

The Capital Works Group

Tel: 020 8215 3002

Email: capitalworksgroup@lbbd.gov.uk|

For private house owners

The Private Sector Housing Team

Tel: 020 8215 3002

Email: 3000direct@lbbd.gov.uk|

Proactive work

The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and Osborne's are currently working in partnership to help target owner occupiers who are living in housing which is not energy efficient.

Osbornes, an energy consultation company, are visiting homes in areas that have been surveyed and shown to be inefficient in energy use. They are helping to arrange further works and grants for homeowners in these areas.

If you live in one of the areas targeted you will be contacted by Osbornes at some point. However Osbornes are able to offer help to people outside of the designated zones, so if you would like to speak to someone from Osbornes to discuss your own situation please contact them on 0800 389 7286.

Watt does it cost?

Electrical appliances are rated in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW). One kilowatt is the same as 1,000 watts. The higher the rating of the appliance the more electricity it uses.

Units of electricity on your bill are measured in kilowatt hours (kWh) - this is 1,000 watts or 1 kilowatt of electricity used for 1 hour. Therefore a 1,000 watt appliance used for 1 hour uses 1 kWh of electricity which is commonly referred to as 1 unit of electricity.

The following will give you some indication of how much electricity modern everyday appliances use:

Appliance - How long it takes to use 1 unit of electricity (1 kWh) - Number of units used

Cooker (hob) - 1 to 3 hours - 0 units

Cooker (oven) - ½ hour to 1½ hours - 0 units

Cooker (grill) - ½ hour to 1½ hours - 0 units

Microwave - 1 to 2 hours - 0 units

Automatic Washing Machine - 0 hours - 2 units for an average family wash

Tumble Dryer - ½ hour - 2 to 4 units for an average drying load

Fridge - 24 hours - 0 units

Fridge freezer - 12 hours - 0 units

Fan Heater (2kW) - ½ hour - 0 units

Storage Heater (2.5kW) - 0 hours - 45 to 75 units per week in winter

Infra red or single bar fire - 1 hour - 0 units

Immersion Heater - 20 minutes - 0 units

Dishwasher - 0 hours - 2 units for a full load on cold fill

Television - 6 to 9 hours - 0 units

Kettle - ½ hour - 1 unit to boil 12 pints of water

Vacuum cleaner - 2 hours - 0 units

Iron - 1 to 2 hours - 0 units

Double electric blanket - 18 hours - 0 units

15 Energy Saving Tips

If you reduce the temperature of your home by 1 degree it can cut your heating bill by 10%
Boilers operate more efficiently with regular servicing
Only use enough water to cover the food you are cooking and always put a lid on the pan
Always wash a full load of clothes and use the lowest temperature setting you need
Don't use a tumble dryer if you can dry your clothes on a washing line
Don't leave fridge and freezer doors open
Defrost your freezer regularly
Your freezer operates more efficiently when it is full
Compact fluorescent lamps are 5 times more efficient and can last 10 times longer than an ordinary bulb
Turn lights off when you do not need them, but make sure stairs and hallways are adequately lit
Don't cover your radiators with curtains - tuck them behind the radiator
Fit a letter box flap to reduce draughts
A shower uses much less water and energy than running a bath
If you are going on holiday remember to switch your water heating off
Don't leave televisions and videos on standby