Energy Saving Tips

A Green Deal salesperson should definitely not be saying they are "from the government". Neither should anyone promoting ECO grants - they are not "from the government" they are from energy companies or installation companies. ECO grants are not funded or underwritten by the government. ECO stands for Energy Company Obligation.
It is possible, I think, that some ECO funding schemes could be run by local councils etc, but never "from the government".

I think we may have been targeted in this area by Green Deal bods. A chap knocked at the door a couple of days ago insisting he wasn't selling anything and that he was from the Government (Mmmm, really?). I didn't let him get any further as we're already cavity walled, double glazed, new boilered and insulated as far as we can be. (In fact we're having new replacement windows at the end of the month - not a good time) But I do wonder whether he was kosher.

Another big energy company revealed its price rise today, with a fair bit of blustering about so called "green taxes".
For many years now the big energy companies have had an "obligation" to spend money on helping people who live in energy inefficient houses to save energy. Of course they hate this - they would, wouldn't they because it means the people who get the grants, subsidised boilers etc will be paying lower bills won't they. About half of "green levy" goes on just this - grants to people who need them. (Currently available from energy companies under the ECO scheme)
And the other half goes on supporting renewables - e.g. a secondary school I was involved in was helped to get a wood-chip fuelled heating boiler by EON. Also reducing their energy bills.
This is one of the few ways that the government are trying to reduce CO2 emissions and fossil fuel consumption by the UK - putting this obligation on energy companies.
The energy companies would like to wriggle out of their "obligation" - but we should not be tricked into thinking this is a good thing, by talk of "green taxes" - including by the PM.

There are a lot of mobile home sites in Devon. Apparently the local coucil targetted them deliberately at the time (about 2 years ago) under some sort of Government directive as mobile homes are often at the bottom of the pile when it comes to grants etc. So it was quite a good scheme
while it lasted.
This is a huge site with about 200 homes on it and only ten people were selected for help at that time. I was lucky enough to be one of them.
Talking of which, is there anyone else on Gransnet who lives in a mobile home or park home?

Has anybody had a recent boiler or insulation grant? Or even a Green Deal? It is all new this year and it would be interesting to know how people accessed these grants across the country?

Condenser dryers are a boon. No vent kits to deal with. I don't get condensation from mine, but did from the tumble dryer, even with windows open and the vent hose in use. No messing about and I can just shut the door on it when it's finished. The SmartMeter doesn't register heavily when it's in use, either.

What do you mean by condenser dryer anno ? Do you mean tumble dryer?

My condenser dryer is in the bathroom. When I use it, I leave the window open just a little to let the steam out. And I close the door so that the steam doesn't permeate the house as well.

Use it to flush the loo! Don't have it on often, probably used it more in the evening when I had economy 7. Switch it on for about 10 minutes when I've had a bath or an hour or so if I'm drying some clothes.

Condensation on windows if single glazed is normal in cold weather. I checked my bathroom walls this week after DH's shower. Inner walls - no condensation. Insulated outer walls, cooer, had fine layer.
My MIL had single glazed house that used to get condensation on the windows that caused black mould. She is also a fresh air fiend that has to have open windows all the time. It was the coldness of the glass what dunnit.
Trouble with using a dehumidifier is that it will be cranking up your electricity bill.
Some of them quote their kws e.g. .25kw. So if someone had it running all the time that is the equivalent of leaving a small electric fire on for 6 hours a day.
Recycle the water... What do you do with it?

Had to get a condenser dryer because of the layout of the utility room. The loft door is closed most of the time to keep the rest of the house warmer. All windows are double glazed, loft insulated and wall cavities filled. There's no problem with damp as long as the dehumidifier is used sometimes; that's why I wouldn't be without one. I just turn it on when I think there's to much moisture in the house. And then I recycle the water!

Tegan Do you have single glazing or any wall insulation.

But if your condenser tumble dryer does not vent outside and you have no cooker hood or extractor that vents outside and you dry washing on radiators then you are just overloading the air with water to saturation point so that condensation is bound to form on any available surface.

You perhaps need to think about how to reduce the amount of water you are putting in the air by venting your tumble dryer outside and if possible fitting an external venting extractor fan or cooker hood.

Does your loft room have a window? If so can you open it and finish drying washing by putting it on a laundry rack up there? The mildew will be forming because heavy water laden air is seeping through from below and soaking into wood and plaster. Again, if you have a window up there leave it slightly open to ventilate the room.

The condensation in my house is on the windows mainly, but also the bathroom walls when someone has had a bath/shower. The loft room which is used for storage has no heating and I get some mildew on the walls. I have a condenser tumble dryer which leaves the utility room very damp [same with my daughters] and any cooking causes the kitchen window to steam up [no extractor fan].Also, I sometimes put towels over radiators to dry out. I just find that a dehumidifier helps [I also have it on next to the clothes horse that has clothes airing on it].

That is great henetha that they approached you about the grant.

I had a grant for the extra cladding on my mobile home. But I didn't seek it. Letters were sent out by our local authority inviting us to apply for a grant, so I did and was successful.

Excellent idea, thanks Tegan. I'll start looking at the prices of de-humidifiers and running costs.

Grants - the bad news is that you have to search them out via your energy company or another company advertising that they are running the scheme.

The good news is that if you had a Warm Front grant in the past (for your loft for instance) that does not now count against you - You can have a 100% grant for a new boiler, or for insulation if you fall into one of the target groups. Or target areas.
The other good thing is that if you have a Green Deal assessment the assessor must advise you about any eligibility for grant funding for improvements.

Has anyone had a grant recently and how did you access it?

There is also another grant scheme (equally new and unknown) for insulation (but not boiers) - these grants are available via energy companies (mainly the big ones)
British Gas for instance has a huge spending obligation to spend load of money under this:

"Under the Carbon Saving Community Obligation, energy companies must focus on the provision of insulation measures in geographical areas of low income. This target has a sub-target, which states that at least 15 per cent of each supplier’s Carbon Saving Community Obligation must be achieved by promoting measures to low income and vulnerable households living in rural areas."

So if you live in a "deprived" area and/or a rural area, and you need a loft or
cavity wall insulated try calling B Gas for a start. This one is NOT income dependant.
The one for boilers and insulation is not geographical.
(you think this is complicated? You should try understanding the Green Deal )

Incidentally these grants make up about half of what The PM refers to as "Green Taxes" - they are in fact helping to reduce fuel poverty, cold homes and carbon emissions from those homes.

There are also some CASH grants available for those in fuel arrears/hardship

www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk

There are boiler grants available for people on certain benefits:

www.boilergrants.co.uk/qualify-boiler-grant.php

Yes the EPC is necessarily limited in the complexity it can cope with flicketyb - more complex tools have been developed but there is a limited market for them.

One qualification about surveys. They only work if you have a house of known standard construction. Walls that either are all solid, or cavity or (modern) timber frame. They struggle if you have an older house; part built in solid brick, part with a cavity. Windows need to be all double glazed or all not, at least this applies to the software used to make energy assessments for house selling.

NO! Not the infra-red photo! Sounds alluring but for a long list of reasons does not work well. e.g. cannot capture heat lost through floors.

A qualified person with certified software is the way to go as the software is way, way more precise and sophisticated than the camera thing - can calculate savings via different improvements etc.
My cousin had a boiler man round on the behest of people planning to purchase his house. Man sucked teeth and said that boiler was making a dodgy noise and needed replacing. Cousin pointed out that boiler was not on, that the dishwasher was what was making the noise and asked him to leave. There are some unscrupulous salesmen out there. Always get 3 independent quotes.

Stansngran; I had this problem but found a company that installed a boiler in the same place as the old one. I'll pm their details to you. I was very impressed with them.

Thank you for that. I'm keen on the idea of having an independent survey done. I was thinking of getting an infrared picture of the house to see where there is heat loss .the boiler is old but British gas said they couldn't find anywhere to put a new boiler. At the moment it is in the centre of the house sharing a chimney with the gas fire. Every time they service it the men suck their teeth and try to tell me that there is not enough ventilation or it's out of date etc etc.i keep checking with the official people about ventilation and there is adequate.

Good idea flicketyb - it might be possible to get a free GD survey if you shop around. The GD assessors are under very tight regulation regarding their behaviour (no inappropriate selling, pressure etc etc).
This will give you an up to date independent assessment of the ways in which the house is losing heat and whether any money could be saved by making changes to the property - they use strict criteria which all go into a software program that takes away individual opinions etc.