The Green Homes Grant is a fantastic opportunity to reduce your household running costs and your greenhouse gas emissions. Homeowners, and landlords, can apply for a voucher for two-thirds of the cost of eligible work, up to a maximum of £5,000. Some low-income homeowners can get 100% funding up to a maximum of £10,000.
Every home is different, but there are some tips that everyone can follow:
- Where is your home wasting energy? Most energy is usually wasted through the building fabric, mainly the walls and roof. For this reason, you should start by using the Green Homes Grant for insulation measures such as roof insulation (including room-in-roof), cavity wall insulation, solid wall insulation, and under-floor heating. These measures are eligible for the Green Homes Grant. Thermal imaging is a good way of identifying how much heat is being lost through the building fabric.
- No insulation without ventilation. Most homes in the UK don’t have adequate ventilation, and this causes problems with air quality, and sometimes condensation and damp. If you are adding insulation to your home, then it’s essential to add ventilation. You can’t fund ventilation through the Green Homes Grant, which is a mistake in my view. Ventilation can include air vents, low-energy extractor fans, or mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) which re-uses the heat from air passing in and out of your home.
- Once you have insulated the walls and roof, then you could consider a form of renewable energy for heating your home, or hot water. Heat pumps provide space heating, and some models can also heat your hot water. Solar thermal is a simple and effective technology that uses the sun’s heat to pre-heat hot water for washing, reducing the amount of gas or electricity you need to use to heat water. Biomass pellet boilers use wood pellets to provide space heating and hot water. All of these measures are eligible for the Green Homes Grant.
- Most homes in the UK are still using heating controls that were designed in the last century. We are now two decades into the 21st Century and there have been great strides made in heating controls, including smart, remote controls that you can control with a smartphone or with household artificial intelligence gadgets. Heating controls, along with thermostats, are eligible for the Green Homes Grant.
- If you have single glazed windows, then you can use the Green Homes Grant for double or triple glazing, or secondary glazing. If you live in a conservation area and you aren’t allowed to install double glazing, then secondary glazing is a good way to increase thermal comfort. This might be an option for people living in the Bournville area of Birmingham, for example, who aren’t allowed to replace their windows.
- Don’t make the mistake of having the same energy saving measures as one of your friends or neighbours. Every home is different, and every household is different. Putting the wrong energy saving measures in the wrong building can be an expensive mistake.
If you need help deciding on how to use the Green Homes Grant, then I can give you impartial and personalised advice on what measures will give you the most cost-effective savings on fuel bills and greenhouse gas emissions for your home. You will get a personalised advice report, and as an option, a thermal imaging report.
If you’re a homeowner then book an energy advice package now so you can get on with your Green Homes Grant application.
If you’re a landlord or property manager then please contact me for a discussion about how I can work with you to decide what’s best for your property portfolio.
