We have a seperate page on grants and advice .
"Building Sense"
and
"Future Ready Homes" are initiatives from
Herefordshire Green Network (HGN) to bring
together people, information and professional expertise to help with the challenge of making homes (and workplaces) comfortable year-round in the face of high heating bills and the need to cut carbon emissions.
They have a Youtube channel
with an extensive list of talks on insulating your house and other topics.
The Net Zero Retrofit Guide from Herefordshire Council is an introductory guide for those wishing to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon in their building schemes. It has some great hints and tips on how to insulate walls and heat pumps.
A Bristolian's guide to Solid Wall Insulation looks in detail on how to insulate solid walls with great tips on what makes good and bad practise.
There is lots of information on the web, but a good first port of call is Energy Saving Trust for information on energy saving measures and their cost benefits.
Tips for simple ways to keep warm can be found at the Centre for Sustainable Energy.
The most cost effective action is to make sure your roof insulation is adequate and that draughts are minimized. Centre for Sustainable Energy has some simple fixes for the most common sources of draughts.
Energy Tracers are a local firm which will give a detailed scientific investigation into how your home is using (and wasting) energy. .
Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) panels generate electricity from the sun. They are usually placed on the roof, though they can be mounted on the ground. Planning permission is not required for the roof mounted panels unless you are in Colwall's Conservation Area. See Malvern Halls AONB Guidance on Solar Panels. You receive money for the Smart Export Guarentee (SEG) for any electricity that is exported to the National Grid.
If you have an old boiler, now may the time to look at a replacement. Energy Efficient boilers will not only help the planet, but reduce your running costs.
Air Source Heat Pumps can replace your old boiler if your house if well insulated. You may be eligible for a grant to make the switch. Ground Source Heat Pumps are more efficient, but more expensive and need more space.