Home insulation installations have fallen by 60%

[3rdRock]

The installation of measures to help homes save energy has collapsed as a result of government policies, campaigners have said.

The number of energy efficiency measures installed under national programmes fell 60% in the past year, down from a peak of 1.65 million in 2012/13 to 661,000 in 2013/2014, research commissioned by the Energy Bill Revolution campaign showed.

The number of energy efficiency measures, which include cavity wall, solid wall and loft insulation and new boilers, was set to fall again by nearly a quarter (23%) this year, to 507,000.

It would see installation rates at their lowest level for more than a decade, the study by the Association for the Conservation of Energy said.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... k-policies

Westminster is a circus and the clowns are in control.

[RenewableCandy]

Perhaps everybody who needs insulation (and can afford it, and lives in their own place so they can do it) already has it now.

[3rdRock]

Perhaps everybody who needs insulation (and can afford it, and lives in their own place so they can do it) already has it now.

The huge drop was down to the government's decision to axe the "warm front" scheme, the only government-funded energy efficiency programme for poor households, and failures in its other energy saving schemes, the campaigners claimed.

Surely, the ongoing need for mass insulation and energy savings should be at the forefront of the government's list of priorities at this time of shortage.

[biffvernon]

Surely, the ongoing need for mass insulation and energy savings should be at the forefront of the government's list of priorities at this time of shortage.

Surely the one thing we can be sure of is that this government will do precisely the opposite of whatever might be needed.

There's a great rant from Dale Vince of Ecotricity here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/peopl ... 88062.html

What infuriates him is the Government.

“David Cameron has been overheard referring to all this ‘green crap’. Their policy is to end onshore wind. But for the last three years, the Treasury has been against renewable energy, full stop – whether it’s onshore, offshore or solar. We’ve started to see companies go out of business.”

Where’s the argument been lost?

“Ideology. Big business is into nuclear and fossil-fuel power stations. Renewable companies are small. It’s all about big business.”

Planning successes for wind turbines have been “cut in half under this government. It’s the least-green government I’ve ever seen and unashamedly so”.

Look at fracking, he says.

“Two-thirds of the country support wind energy; two-thirds say they don’t want fracking. Yet we’ve created the lowest tax regime in the world for fracking, and we’ve changed the law of trespass so fracking can take place under your house.

“The blip is the Government. They’re out of tune with the electorate. I hope to God they don’t get re-elected.”

[3rdRock]

He doesn't hang back, does he?

[PS_RalphW]

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... plications

Bleh. Left my application too late.

[emordnilap]

Surely the one thing we can be sure of is that this government will do precisely the opposite of whatever might be needed.

The wants of people in power and those of people not in power are opposites.

Sort-of a one-line history of the human race, really.

[adam2]

Perhaps everybody who needs insulation (and can afford it, and lives in their own place so they can do it) already has it now.

I suspect that this is largely true, most of the low hanging fruit has been picked.
Homes that still need insulation probably fall into one of the following groups.

Private rented, why would a landlord want to save the tenants money.

Empty properties awaiting renovation, sale or demolition.

Those owned by older people who cant face the trouble/upheaval and think that they wont live long enough to make it worthwhile.

I expect a gradual improvement in insulation standards as problematic homes change hands or are replaced, but believe that most of the simple and cheap/easy ones have been done.

[biffvernon]

Surely the one thing we can be sure of is that this government will do precisely the opposite of whatever might be needed.

This morning's announcement shows I was correct.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/appl ... fund-close
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/ ... ffect_2356

[Mark]

A tale of two homes: How warm houses change lives:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35414074

John Flynn from Hartlepool is 72. He's paying £180 a month to keep warm this winter in his north-facing end-terraced house. Les Fawcett from nearby Middlesbrough is 76. He's paying just £45 a month to keep his home cosy. What separates the two is not a greedy energy supplier - it's four inches of wall insulation. Both men are owner-occupiers living on pensions. Les had his solid walls clad free of charge under a government scheme, but the public money ran out before John could benefit. John can't afford to insulate his solid walls out of his pension - so he ends up paying extra on his heating bills instead. They both agree insulation is the unspoken factor in the UK's controversy over high fuel bills. "The cladding's been the best thing that's happened round here," Les told me. "It doesn't just keep people warm, it leaves pensioners with a bit of cash in their pockets instead of borrowing from their daughters. It's changed people's lives."

Cheap prices, high bills
The UK overall has some of the cheapest energy prices in Europe - but among the highest bills, because homes are so poorly insulated. This harms people who are fuel-poor and undermines the UK's climate change targets. To achieve its legally-binding emissions cut of 80% by 2050, the UK needs a radical overhaul of existing housing stock - most of which will still be in use by mid-century. The government is promising £640m a year for energy efficiency in homes. It says it's committed to combating fuel poverty and climate change, and aims to upgrade well over 200,000 homes per year.

Continues.....

[clv101]

I was really pleased to hear this on Radio 4 Today this morning. Finally it was stated that UK energy prices are low and the reason our bills are high is that we use so damned much of it. Insulation is the best way to deal with the problem and I think we should be investing billions, say £100bn of public money over 10 years improving the energy efficiency of housing stock.

It'll all be spent in the UK on labour and products manufactured here so all the money stays in the UK. The impact will dramatically cut (say halve) the gas/electricity used for space heating and so will eventually pay for itself in mitigated energy imports.

What's not to like?

[adam2]

Approximate annual expenditure on fuel here.
Electricity £500
Firewood £200
Paraffin £60
No gas.

Very well insulated loft, part double glazing, no wall insulation. No central heating.

Main living room heated to about 24 degrees by wood stove, most of the day. The stove is kept alight 24/7 in very severe weather, but more typical use is 12/14 hours daily.
My room heated to about 20 degrees when needed by paraffin.
Mothers bed room heated all night to about 20 degrees by electricity.
The spare room is heated to 12 degrees only, by a storage heater.
Mother feels the cold, for just myself I would not keep it so warm.
I think that we are fairly prudent considering the age and design of the premises, and the non availability of gas.
Firewood at £200 is an estimate of what it would cost to buy at the going rate, actual expenditure this winter has been nil.

[Lurkalot]

A little story from my own experience. I'm a self employed handyman nowadays and last year a customer asked me to put in extra insulation in her roof . Not being one to take money from people if they could get it free I advised her to inquire about getting it done through the green deal. Some time after she phoned to say that the installation was indeed free but the survey would cost £140 . She'd already priced up the insulation and with that and my time ( not a huge house) in came in a lower than through the green deal , so I did it.

[clv101]

Green Deal is a nice idea in principle, but the last government basically didn't fund it so any major works had significant interest rates attached! At the very least Green Deal financing should have been ~0%. What rate can the Government borrow money at these day anyway?

[raspberry-blower]

Public Finance: Green Deal not value for money

According to the report, DECC’s design and implementation of the Green Deal did not persuade householders that energy efficiency measures are worth paying for. Although the department achieved its target to improve 1 million homes through the Green Deal and ECO, this could not be used as a direct indicator of progress as different types of energy-efficiency measures save different amounts of CO2.

Indeed, the schemes saved substantially less CO2 than previous supplier obligations, mainly because of the initial focus on ‘harder-to-treat’ homes. The department expects the measures installed through ECO up to 31 December 2015 to save 24 megatonnes of carbon dioxide, only around 30% of what the predecessor schemes achieved over similar timescales.

The Green Deal was an ill-thought through policy that was badly implemented. There were a proliferation of "here today, gone tomorrow" companies that "promoted" having home energy surveys done in line for a Green Deal assessment. I went to a "job interview" with one of these so-called companies a few years back now - it was an obvious Ponzi scheme that was only interested in fleecing the public.