Households offered free insulation to keep warmer this winter
A groundbreaking initiative to help thousands of Cornish households keep warmer this winter with free cavity wall and loft insulation has been launched.
Enact Energy, based in Tolvaddon, is offering free insulation to every home across the county(1) in a bid to reduce the damaging impact of rising heating costs.
With an estimated one in five homes in the county already classed as being in fuel poverty, a uSwitch survey has revealed that 89% of the population will go without heating at some point this winter in order to save money on their energy bills. (2)
Recent energy price increases will see Cornish households having to find an additional estimated £20 million annually to cover heating bills, leading to fears that record numbers will be left struggling to keep their homes warm this winter.
Under the new scheme from Enact, thousands of households across the county could benefit from the opportunity.
“Cornwall is one of the counties in the region which has been hit hardest by rising energy prices due to a lack of access to the mains gas network and low incomes.
“Properly insulating a home is one of the most effective ways to not only cut heating bills but also reduce heat loss, which ensures homes stay warmer and save money at the same time. Cavity wall and loft insulation combined can reduce heating bills by up to £310(3) every year,” said John Moores of Enact Energy.
“With the recent energy price rises undoubtedly putting the pressure on more households in Cornwall this winter, we were becoming increasingly concerned at the impact this was likely to have and made the decision to offer free insulation to every property that is eligible for these measures.”
“We would encourage people to get in touch so we can assess if their property can benefit from free cavity wall and loft insulation,” he added.
Since being launched in Cornwall in1996, Enact has undertaken home insulation improvements in more than 250,000 homes across the UK, which has helped to save over 14 million tonnes of CO2 and reduced energy bills by millions of pounds.
To find out if your property is eligible, contact Enact Energy free on 0800 093 40 50.
- The free insulation offer is subject to a suitability assessment. If a property exceeds a maximum meterage (+ £5 per additional m2), requires additional works (scaffolding, roof vents, core vents, walkboards, pipe insulation, water tank insulation, extra wide cavities), or has more than 60mm of existing insulation a contribution fee will be charged. A contribution will be required should a loft have more than 60mm/2.5 inches of existing loft insulation. At the time of the free no obligation suitability assessment, the assessor will confirm if there is a need for an additional contribution due to excess meterage or additional works. Funding is unavailable for under tile insulation or where there is already more than 150mm/6 inches of existing loft insulation.
- http://www.uswitch.com/news/utilities/23-million-to-go-without-heating-at-some-point-this-winter-900003605
- Approximate bill savings are for an average semi-detached 3-bedroom gas heated house and assume a gas price of 4.49kWh. Larger and detached properties could obtain higher savings. Savings published by the Energy Saving Trust (October 2011)
