Energy saving
Why save energy?
Using less energy reduces carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) which is one of the biggest causes of climate change. Insulating your home is a great method of reducing your carbon usage and will also save you money.
Loft insulation - did you know?
A quarter of the heat in your home is lost through the roof. Insulating your loft is a simple and effective way to reduce your heating bills by around £145 per annum.
You will also be reducing your impact on the environment by saving around 730kg of CO2 per annum.
Cavity wall insulation - did you know?
If your home was built from 1920 onwards, the chances are that its external walls are made of two layers with a small gap or 'cavity' between them. This means they are 'cavity walls'.
A third of the heat in your home is lost through the walls so insulating the cavity where possible is an effective way to save energy and money at home potentially reducing your heating bills by around £110 per annum.
Cavity wall insulation can also help to reduce condensation inside the house if it is a problem on external walls.
Remember a well insulated house keeps warmth exactly where you need it, indoors!
What are Brent Housing Partnership currently doing?
Insulation
Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) commenced our current loft and cavity wall and loft insulation programme in May 2009, the first phase of this programme we successfully insulated 998 lofts and 1196 cavity walls. The cost of these works was over £600,000 and was made possible by over £450,000 funding acquired by BHP's Building Services Department leaving a cost to BHP of £150,000.
BHP's Building Services Department has worked hard to acquire further funding due to this and the success of the first phase, BHP has now embarked on a second phase of the insulation programme which consists of predominantly cavity wall insulation and contains over 500 properties.
The second phase is now underway, if you believe you could benefit from loft or cavity wall insulation and have not previously been contacted please contact the Building Services Department for further advice on 020 8937 2547 or by email buildingservices@bhphousing.co.uk
Other projects
In addition to the widespread installation of energy efficient condensing boilers, and the distribution of over 40,000 energy efficient lightbulbs to our residents BHP have also embarked on numerous other energy efficient projects including external insulation and the installation of solar panels to over 90 homes.
The future
Brent Housing Partnership's Building Services are committed to promoting energy efficiency and reducing the carbon usage to our tenant's homes. We are currently in the process of investigating numerous other schemes utilising government funding such as:
- Installing renewable technology (solar panels etc)
- Solid wall insulation
- Specialist high rise cavity insulation
- Flat roof insulation
- Double glazing
Energy Saving Tips
Did you know there are numerous easy methods of saving energy, below are some useful tips for you to try at home (courtesy of the Energy Saving Trust).
Turn your thermostat down. Reducing your room temperature by 1oC could cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent and typically saves around £50 per year. If you have a programmer, set your heating and hot water to come on only when required rather than all the time.
- Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60oC/140oF.
- Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and doors.
- Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
- Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.
- If possible, fill up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishw
asher: one full load uses less energy than two half loads.
- Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an old fashioned electric kettle).
- A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so make sure they're fully turned off!
- Use energy saving light bulbs. They last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs, and using one can save you around £45 over the lifetime of the bulb. This saving could be around £70 over its lifetime if you're replacing a high wattage incandescent bulb.