Keeping Warm this Winter

The cost of heating, whether it is electric, oil, gas, or solid fuel, keeps on going up. Homes are no less ‘leaky’ in terms of draughts and losing heat than they were last year. And the cost-of-living crisis means that there just is not enough to go round. There is very little advice to help people.

One of the problems is that if you ask a contractor to come and assess your house, say for insulation in the walls or roof, how can you be sure that this is going to address all the heat losses? It could be that for example your doors or windows let more heat out than the roof or walls, and the contractor is not likely to tell you or even know about this.

Although getting the advice for your house can be difficult, it is not impossible. Here are some suggestions.

‘Keep Shropshire Warm’ is a website that is available to give advice and has many suggestions, local suppliers, and grant offers. It also has an advice line that is available to everyone (https://mea.org.uk/our-work/energy-advice-at-home).

Stretton Climate Care offer a weekly drop-in service giving advice on how to keep warm. They also give advice on your home’s efficiency and have lists of local ‘approved contractors’ whose work they have assessed. (https://strettonclimatecare.org.uk/services-for-the-home).

Lightfoot offer a Household Energy Survey in which a trained volunteer surveyor will visit you and go through your energy uses and the type and construction of your home, and your vehicles and modes of transport. Following this you will receive a full and detailed survey which makes low-cost suggestions of the measures you can adopt to reduce energy consumption and stay warm. There is a modest cost for this survey (https://lightfootenterprises.org/household-energy-surveys).

South Shropshire Climate Action have a page on Energy and Buildings dedicated to ways to save energy and keep warm. They also include a carbon calculator. (https://www.southshropshireclimateaction.org/reduce-consumption)

Should I have an Air Source Heat Pump?

Here is an example of just this kind of problem; ‘I would like to switch from oil to a renewable heating method, while keeping costs down, so I asked an installer of heat pumps to come to my relatively well insulated house to assess its suitability for an air source heat pump (ASHP; those exterior fans you see mounted on outside walls).’

After doing a detailed survey (which was not free) and following a further talk, it became clear that spending up to £20k on a heating system was not sensible or possible, because of the cost and the upheaval of new bigger radiators and pipes.

Instead, the water heating system will now integrate hot water from an existing water filled solar panel (thermal), use the electricity produced from a solar panel (pv), and boost the hot water with 100% renewable electricity, which is already used but had not previously been used for heating water.

Sadly, it will be a long time before a sustainable biofuel replacement for kerosene (oil) is available for house heating and there are concerns about some biofuels which are non-sustainable because they are not waste by-products.

If anyone has other examples of dilemmas or how they have solved them, please do share them (chrissie.verduyn@btinternet.com).

Alison Weeks

Energy efficiency

If we make our homes (and other buildings) more energy efficient, by for example, installing insulation and draught proofing, we can gain multiple benefits: warmer, more comfortable and healthier homes, which are cheaper to heat and produce lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, to the benefit of the planet and future generations.

Buying New Appliances

Whenever buying new appliances always make sure they are ‘A’ rated or higher and energy efficiency recommended.  An ‘A’ rated fridge can save £35 a year or over £350 in its lifetime so it is well worth paying more for one.

Appliances which require cooling, such as fridges and computers (which have internal fans), are best placed in cool parts of the building if possible.

If you have difficulty in remembering to switch electrical devices off at the wall socket, invest in ‘powerdown’ devices or standby savers to switch off computers, TVs, and other appliances automatically when they are not needed.

Also see www.carbonfootprint.com/energyconsumption.html for useful information on appliance power consumption.

Energy efficiency

If we make our homes (and other buildings) more energy efficient, by for example, installing insulation and draught proofing, we can gain multiple benefits: warmer, more comfortable and healthier homes, which are cheaper to heat and produce lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, to the benefit of the planet and future generations.

Buying New Appliances

Whenever buying new appliances always make sure they are ‘A’ rated or higher and energy efficiency recommended.  An ‘A’ rated fridge can save £35 a year or over £350 in its lifetime so it is well worth paying more for one.

Appliances which require cooling, such as fridges and computers (which have internal fans), are best placed in cool parts of the building if possible.

If you have difficulty in remembering to switch electrical devices off at the wall socket, invest in ‘powerdown’ devices or standby savers to switch off computers, TVs, and other appliances automatically when they are not needed.

Also see www.carbonfootprint.com/energyconsumption.html for useful information on appliance power consumption.

Renewable energy

If we replace oil-fired or gas-fired systems with, for example solar photo voltaic (P.V.) electricity or ground source or air source heat pumps, we can make big reductions in CO2 emissions

Green Electricity

Transferring to a 100% green electricity tariff can help to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions but should be done in conjunction with other energy saving measures.

It usually requires you to have a standard credit meter, so if you have a prepayment meter this should be replaced if possible with a standard credit meter. Although you may have to pay to switch to a credit meter, the significant savings from meter replacement are likely to be well worth this investment.

Although 100% renewable electricity (from solar, wind, waste, tidal and hydro) can cost more than ‘brown’ electricity (from coal, gas etc), if you implement our other recommendations, you should still end up with lower bills overall. You will also have the benefit of knowing that you are supporting greater production of renewable energy and eliminating part of your carbon footprint.

If you are not on a green tariff at the moment we suggest that you switch to a 100% renewable electricity tariff from an independent electricity supplier.

Good Energy, Ecotricity and others supply electricity which is only sourced from renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydro.

See www.energyhelpline.com or www.simplyswitch.com to switch.

Get in touch with us at info@lightfootenterprises.org for more information or see the Shrewsbury Green Guide: http://www.shrewsburygreenguide.org.uk/

Wood stoves

Modern wood burners are very efficient. Typically, if the stove is used correctly you may attain over 90% efficiency. So, with rising domestic fuel prices more people are turning to a highly efficient, cleaner and cheaper source of heating – the wood stove.

Lightfoot’s ‘Woodstove Guidance’ is due to be updated to bring it into line with the latest research.
For detailed guidance on all aspects of woodstove use, download our guide here . . . Woodstove Guidance

Repair Café Toolkit

Where a variety of items (and they can be pretty well anything) are repaired, if possible, and, when it was possible to hold an actual event, having refreshments available for both owners and repairers creates that ‘Café’ element.

Download Toolkit here >

View website >

Take the JUMP

‘Take the JUMP’ to save the planet and lead a more balanced life. For at least one month, try six shifts in how you eat, travel, shop and how to change the system. This grassroots movement offers the community and the tools to help along the way.

View website >

Carbon Calculators

There are many on-line calculators that measure your carbon footprint they are mainly based on algorithms using average consumption figures, sometimes modified by inputting more precise data, from energy bills for example. However, they do not all work in the same way, or for the same purpose. You need to look carefully at what they are measuring as well as how they measure.

We have reviewed a range of carbon calculators, which you can see by clicking the link below. 

Find out more >

Community Action

Recently Lightfoot has worked on a Powys Transition Low Carbon Communities grant supporting Community Action on transport, food, energy efficiency in the home and biodiversity in the Welsh borders.

The Local Area Action Plan (LEAP) encouraged and helped implemented the following areas: the biodiversity of verges (Presteigne), decarbonising transport (Llandrindod Wells), local food and sustainability (Knighton), energy efficiency in the home (Newtown).

Find out more >

             Shropshire County Council’s ‘Climate Emergency Resource Pack: Shropshire’
The aim of this document is to create a Climate Emergency resource pack or county toolkit that is useful for all stakeholders (public and commercial sector) and community groups. This pack acts as a reference manual for climate change and listed are the measures that can be taken by various parties to mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency. The groups this is intended for are wide ranging:-
• Public Sector: Town and Parish Councils, Social Care and Health
• Education: Universities, Schools and Academy Trusts
• Businesses, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s)
• Community groups
• Charities and not-for-profits
• Homeowners and tenants
• Agriculture and landowners (natural environment section
Download Climate Pack here . . Climate Pack v4.

Tyndall Centre Report

This report gives the Carbon Budget for Shropshire.

View report >

Centre for Alternative Technology

Visit website >

View resources > 

Download the CAT Zero Carbon Britain Report >

We believe that working together is more effective than working alone.  We share this website with community groups who share our aims. 

Please contact us at info@lightfootenterprises.org if you feel we may be able to help.

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