Tag: Worcestershire

Energy Capital Conference – how can we make the Warm Homes Plan work?

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
Energy Capital conference

Energy confidence

Energy Capital Conference

 

Recently I was asked to appear on a panel at the Energy Capital conference in Birmingham, about the government’s Warm Homes Plan.  (I’m third from the left in the photo).

 

I said that for the Warm Homes Plan to succeed, it needs to end the transactional nature of most energy efficiency schemes, which leave householders confused about what’s best for their homes.

 

Householders need to be able to make decisions about their homes in conditions of psychological safety.  To do this, they need to have agency over the process, instead of having things done to them by funding programmes.  Impartial expert advice is the best way to give self-determination to householders over their own homes.

 

Do you need my help with a Warm Home Plan for your home?

 

Photo credit – WMCA

‘Green Match’ – a brokering service for energy efficiency installers

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
heating engineer

Energy confidence

‘Green Match’ – a brokering service for energy efficiency installers

 

I often get asked if I run a list of recommended installers of energy saving measures.  This would be a thankless task for a small business to undertake on behalf of all householders.  The government backed agency, TrustMark, is meant to be a source of recommended installers.  Unfortunately its reputation has suffered as some of the installers on its list are not reputable.

 

Over recent months I have been keeping an eye on Green Match.  This isn’t a ‘list of recommended installers’, but it is a broker of installers.  Several of my clients have found good installers through it, where they had previously struggled to find them.

 

The only limitation of GreenMatch is that it gives the impression that there are universal grants available to householders.  There aren’t.  If GreenMatch suggests to you that a grant is available, then treat it with caution.  If you’re looking for a crock of gold, you aren’t going to find it on GreenMatch or anywhere.  But if you are looking for installers who are active and looking for customers, then GreenMatch seems to be the best bet at the moment.  So I am happy to signpost people to it. 

 

Does your home need my help with a Warm Home Plan?

Independent ‘retrofit’ quality assurance

Posted on by Phil Beardmore

Energy confidence

Independent ‘retrofit’ quality assurance 

 

In response to the well-publicised low quality standards on publicly funded energy efficiency schemes, a number of local authorities and housing providers have been looking around for solutions to make sure it doesn’t happen.

 

For the first time, we are seeing a new role emerge – independent quality assurance.  I am pleased to have been appointed by one local authority and two housing associations to carry out this role for them, as well as for private householders.

 

If you are managing an energy efficiency scheme aimed at private householders or social housing, then please book a no-obligation meeting with me to see how I could help.

 

I’m also developing a training course to teach groups of staff or volunteers how to undertake quality assurance.  Please contact me to find out more about independent ‘retrofit’ quality assurance, or training.

Helping your business measure and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions

 

 

 

Energy confidence

 

 

I’m now using a piece of software called Carbon-Alt-Delete to measure and monitor greenhouse gas emissions for businesses, and non-profits such as charities.  

 

The benefits of this are:

 

  1. Reduces the amount of time spent by me, and by you as my client, to monitor and update your emissions figures.  I don’t have to use post-it notes or time-consuming spreadsheets any more.
  2. I then use this saved time to advise you on a comprehensive strategy to reduce your emissions.
  3. The data produced for you by Carbon-Alt-Delete is accredited under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.  So you can demonstrate that your emissions data is credible.  

 

Contact me now to discuss how I can help your business or non-profit measure and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

 

    • Scope 1
      – Burning natural gas, LPG, heating oil in your building; for space heating, domestic hot water, industrial processes
      – Burning transport fuels such as diesel and petrol in vehicles that your business owns.
    • Scope 2
      – Is mainly from energy that you buy; e.g. electricity from the grid; heating or cooling from a district energy system.
    • Scope 3
      – Is emissions that you do not cause directly, but which arise from actions in your value chain. The goods and services that you buy in, have scope 3 emissions. Remote working and staff travel are also examples of scope 3 emissions.

Scope 3 emissions are easy to overlook. I can help you to understand and measure your scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Most importantly, I can help you to develop a strategy to manage and reduce your emissions. There is no point understanding your “carbon footprint” for the sake of it.

 

Consumers want to buy goods and services from businesses that are ethical and sustainable.  Understanding and measuring your scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions means you can prove to your customers that you are serious about greening your business.

 

Photo – me helping a business with their scope 1, 2, 3 emissions (credit – Richard Beard).

 

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Your home deserves a warm home plan

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
cosy home

 

Energy confidence

 

Your home deserves a warm home plan. 

 

Here are some of the things that I can include in your warm home plan:

 

  1. Insulation – walls, roofs, floors
  2. Airtightness – reducing unwanted draughts 
  3. Heating controls – start with what you’ve got – how can you make the best use of your existing heating controls?
  4. Is your home suitable for a heat pump?  How would a heat pump work in your home?
  5. Ventilation, condensation and damp 
  6. Renewable energy – what size solar panels and battery do you need?

 

What you’ll get:

 

  1.  Site visit
  2. Comprehensive written report
  3. Guidance on choosing contractors 
  4. Follow-up Zoom meeting to answer questions.

 

Every home deserves a warm home plan.  What are you waiting for?  Book now!  Prices from £549 (frozen until 31 January 2026; prices from £599 after 1 February 2026).

 

book now

 

 

 

Helping you save energy and decarbonise your home and business.  Honest, practical, impartial advice.  Since 1998.

 

 

 

  • Honest, practical expert advice
  • Independent and impartial 
  • Tell me about your home 
  • What are the right measures for you?
  • Site visits, Zoom meetings, thermal imaging
  • Payment by instalments available

 

YOUR GREEN HOME

Do you want to make your home greener but don’t know where to start?  Maybe you are thinking about insulation, solar or a heat pump?  Book one of my energy saving advice packages  for honest, practical and impartial advice on how to make your home greener.  I help you to make big decisions about the energy efficiency of your home in a psychologically safe space.

 

  • Thermal imaging is available depending on the time of year – November-April is best for thermal imaging – if you book outside of these times then I will come back in the winter to do thermal imaging for you.

 

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Are you ready to be energy confident?

We face a Climate Emergency – you can make a difference

 

 

 

Phil with laptop

 

 

 

 

“What do you want to do about climate change?”

YOU’RE READY TO TAKE ACTION.

 

You’re here because you know that government and big business should do more, but you don’t want to wait for them.  You’re committed to do whatever you can.

What will you do next?  What help do you need from me?

Tell me about your home or your business, and I will advise you on a whole-building plan, looking at all the fabric of the building and its appliances.  I will show you how the ways people live, work, sleep, relax, wash, cook and eat in your building cause it to waste energy and water.  I will show you the right things you can do for your home, your family or co-workers, and for the planet.  I will also tell you if you’re doing any of the wrong things, and show you how to make changes.  

 

Working with me will give you:

  • Clarity on where to begin
  • Confidence that you are taking the right actions for your building
  • Cost-effective use of your money and resources
  • Carbon savings by implementing the right measures and monitoring their effectiveness.

Contact me now and let’s get you energy confident.“

Phil Beardmore FRSA AIEMA, Low Carbon Coach and Founder, Energy Confidence 

 

 

Read what my clients say about me on Trustpilot, or leave a review.

My Trustpilot reviews

 

 

 

 

Trustpilot

 

Trustpilot

 

TESTIMONIALS

Nathalie Rush

Nathalie Rush

Phil is truly an expert in his field. I can understand why most people around the West Midlands choose to go to Phil for energy-saving consultancy. Phil has a thorough understanding of energy conservation and sustainable living. Would highly recommend.  Nathalie Rush, MD, Six Star Insulation.

Claire Spencer

Claire Spencer

His knowledge of community-led sustainability is second to none, and his perspective on local and national issues is invaluable to us. He adds value, and is everything a good consultant should be, and I would recommend him to anyone in our field  Claire Spencer, Sustainable Moseley.

Rosemary Coyne

Rosemary Coyne

It has been hugely inspiring to work with Phil.  While others talk, Phil gets on and does it.  Rosemary Coyne, Coordinator, Sustainable Housing Action Partnership

Ray Walker

Ray Walker

In working with Phil I have been impressed by his level of knowledge and enthusiasm. He has a vast array of contacts and has brought us into contact with other stakeholder in the energy business that would have been much more difficult to achieve without him. I am also struck by his commitment to supporting communities and the most vulnerable client groups.

Ray Walker, Disability Resource Centre

Karen McCarthy

Cllr Karen McCarthy

Phil Beardmore has a long association with Localise West Midlands and is a valued associate on environmental, housing and fuel poverty projects. 

He works with us both as an individual practitioner and leading multi-disciplinary teams on larger projects, delivering high quality results on time and on budget.

 Cllr Karen McCarthy, Localise West Midlands 

MY VALUES

WHY I GET OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING

Canal smiling

 

 

You need impartial expert advice on energy saving in your home or business.  I don’t want you to lose opportunities to save energy because you missed out on my expertise.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE EVERY DAY

I am one of life’s doers.  I like to work out what to do next, and then get on and do it.

If I see something that needs to change, I will say it needs changing, and I will change it if I can.

I deliver on my promises, on time and within budget.

COOPERATION OVER COMPETITION

I don’t “chase the money”.

I am not afraid to give bad news.  If I think something isn’t going to work for you, I will tell you, and suggest alternatives.  I want you to get it right.

I prefer cooperation over competition.  I want everyone to win at life.  

 

Sign up for the Energy Confidence newsletter today.

I will send you occasional updates, you can unsubscribe at any time.

 

 

 

AECB

Membership of the AECB – Association of Environmentally Conscious Buildings – enables me to keep my skills up to date

making birmingham green

I won a Making Birmingham Greener Award for Outstanding Personal Achievement.

green leader

I was nominated twice by my peers as one of the top Green Leaders in the West Midlands

RSA

RSA Fellowship connects me with other progressive people doing great work in many fields

 

Some photos on this website by Levitt Bernstein, Elementa, Passivhaus Trust and Etude commissioned by West Oxfordshire, Cotswold and Forest of Dean District Councils, funded by the LGA Housing Advisers Programme under a Creative Commons Licence

Helping a household with an under-performing heat pump

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
heat pump in snow

 

Energy confidence

In December 2022 I was contacted by a household in Coventry who had a heat pump installed in 2010, but it wasn’t performing as well as expected.  The house had a number of insulation measures fitted so they were a bit puzzled as to why it was struggling to heat the home.

I was out of action for a short while in December 2022 as a lorry had ran into us on the motorway (the lorry driver has since admitted responsibility), fortunately our injuries were minor. 

So it was February 2023 before I was able to go see them in Coventry.

By doing a whole-house survey with thermal imaging I was able to advise them that:

  • There were a number of issues with the design of the heat pump, mainly around hot water flow rates and temperatures
  • Some of their insulation and glazing was not performing as expected
  • Their radiators were not ideal for a low temperature heat pump
  • Their heating controls were not as good as the kind of intelligent systems that have emerged in the last decade.  

I was able to recommend a number of low and medium cost measures that could be taken, short of replacing the heat pump.  

They thought about it over the summer and then decided to replace the heat pump, which was coming up to 13 years old, and also because they were thinking of selling the house.

They got a desktop quote from a heat pump installer that had been recommended to them.  They came back to me and we agreed an additional fee for me to do some hand-holding.  

I looked at the desktop quote and was able to advise the householders on:

  • The suitability of the recommended replacement heat pump
  • The heat loss calculation that the installer had carried out
  • The proposal that the installer had made regarding new radiators, heating controls
  • My view on whether the proposed installer had the necessary skills that were needed.

I told the householders that I was happy for them to proceed with getting a full site survey and quote from the installer, and what questions to ask the installer.

I will update this blog when I have heard back from the householders.  Watch this space!

Sadly this is not the only occasion where I have been asked to help a household with an under-performing heat pump.  The good news is that if you get it right then a heat pump is a game-changer for thermal comfort, running costs and greenhouse gas emissions.  Heat pumps do work in the UK climate if you get the design parameters right.

Below you can see videos of two of my clients who are over the moon with their new heat pumps.

First of all, Ben;

Next up, Maggie and Dave (turn your sound up as the sound quality isn’t brilliant, or watch on YouTube and turn the subtitles on).

 

This week has seen good news that the grant available to homeowners and private landlords for replacing a gas boiler with a heat pump has risen to £7,500. 

If you are a householder, landlord or business thinking about major energy saving measures such as a heat pump, insulation, or solar, then please check out my energy saving advice packages.  I’m completely impartial and not tied to any installer or manufacturer.

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What are scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and why do you need my help with them?

Posted on by Phil Beardmore
scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions

 

 

 

Energy confidence

 

 

Your business has three types of greenhouse gas emissions.

    • Scope 1
      – Burning natural gas, LPG, heating oil in your building; for space heating, domestic hot water, industrial processes
      – Burning transport fuels such as diesel and petrol in vehicles that your business owns.
    • Scope 2
      – Is mainly from energy that you buy; e.g. electricity from the grid; heating or cooling from a district energy system.
    • Scope 3
      – Is emissions that you do not cause directly, but which arise from actions in your value chain. The goods and services that you buy in, have scope 3 emissions. Remote working and staff travel are also examples of scope 3 emissions.

Scope 3 emissions are easy to overlook. I can help you to understand and measure your scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Most importantly, I can help you to develop a strategy to manage and reduce your emissions. There is no point understanding your “carbon footprint” for the sake of it.

 

Consumers want to buy goods and services from businesses that are ethical and sustainable.  Understanding and measuring your scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions means you can prove to your customers that you are serious about greening your business.

If you need my help in reducing your business greenhouse gas emissions, please contact me now.  

Photo – me helping a business with their scope 1, 2, 3 emissions (credit – Richard Beard).

 

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