Thermal Imaging - Next Steps

Once you have carried out the surveys and identified those homes or buildings that need improved insulation you can help signpost people to links such as Warm Homes Suffolk, come together as a community to carry out quick DIYs fixes, or look to set up a Community Bulk Buy for insulation materials:

Is the home or community building eligible for a Warm Homes Grant?

Grants to help insulate and make a property more energy efficient are available if they are a home owner or private tenant and the total gross income (from all sources) of everyone in the property is under £30,000. Landlords whose tenants qualify for support can receive up to two-thirds subsidy of costs for improvement work.

The biggest difference can be made improving the least energy efficient properties so they particularly want to hear from people if their home has an EPC rating of D, E, F or G.

Please visit Warm Homes for further information.

Quick, low cost ways to reduce draughts include:

Close the doors of rooms you don’t use.
Close curtains and blinds at dusk, even in rooms you’re not using.
If you have long curtains over a radiator, shorten the curtains or tuck the curtains behind the radiator (so as not to heat the window).
Put foil behind your radiators to reflect the heat back into the room.
Prevent draughts through letter boxes by fitting a cover/brush, and through keyholes by fitting a keyhole cover.
Make a homemade door stop draught excluder.

Methods that cost a little more or require a bit of DIY include:

1. Hang a curtain over your door.
2. Hang thermal liners to your curtains.
3. Flush out radiators that aren’t working properly.
4. Draught proof your door by fitting draught seals.
5. If you have a cat flap, you can fit insulation or a blanket flap.
6. Put lagging on hot water tanks and water pipes.
7. Upgrade windows with secondary glazing film that tightens over the pane when heated with a hairdryer.
8. Install magnetic-strip secondary glazing.
9. Insulate your loft hatch.
10. Insulate your loft or top up the existing insulation. It should be a minimum 270mm.

More cost significant options:

1. 1. Upgrade your windows to double or triple glazing.
  2. Install or top up cavity wall insulation.
  3. Install solid wall insulation if your property was built before the 1920s.

The importance of ventilation:

Air needs to flow in and out of a house so it stays fresh, dry and healthy. Make sure people don’t block or seal any intentional ventilation, including:

Extractor fans – these take out damp air quickly in rooms where lots of moisture is produced (for example, kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms).
Underfloor grilles or airbricks – these help keep wooden beams and floors dry.
Wall vents – which let small amounts of fresh air into rooms.
Trickle vents – modern windows often have small vents above them to let fresh air trickle in.

Additional help and advice

If people are thinking about improving the energy efficiency of their home, how to save on utility bills and become greener – Groundwork East are offering free impartial advice to help them make the right choices for improving their home.

They are able to offer householders free advice over the phone and/or email about renewable energy installations- solar, heat pumps or improving insulation, glazing, heating controls and other changes, tailored to your type of property. Please complete this short survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VDCK2LT so they can help or call them on 01473 350370.

Householder Energy Advice Leaflet

Setting up a Community Bulk Buy scheme:

Bulk buying refers to the purchase of multiple quantities of product in exchange for a lower price per unit.

Benefits

Buying efficiency
Cheaper pricing
Buying according to demand
Discounts
Recurring delivery
Minimises environmental impact on packaging and transporting goods in bulk
Increases buying power

Guide for community buying groups

Further Resources

Please see below a carousel of videos giving practical advice on DIY draughtproofing.

The videos below give advice on installing loft installation:

Please note that the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership does not endorse any product(s) shown in the Youtube videos. All products must be installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Warm Homes Webinar

As part of carrying out community surveys, we encourage you to help those in your community who could be eligible for further support from the Warm Homes scheme. Please watch the video below to learn more.