Reduce your carbon emissions and cut household bills

Reduce your carbon footprint as well as household bills while maintaining a warm and comfortable home

The public are being encouraged to make changes to their home in a bid to reduce their energy use and their carbon emissions as energy bills rise.

Petersfield Climate Action Network (PeCAN) is giving homeowners the opportunity to have an assessment on their home to help reduce their carbon footprint as well as their household bills, while maintaining a warm and comfortable home.

The Petersfield Area Super Homes (PASH) project runs across East Hampshire and into West Sussex, including villages outside of Chichester city centre.

There is a cost associated with the project however there are price reductions available depending on the size of your home and your financial circumstances.

The project, which is funded by the National Energy Foundation (NEF) involves having a survey and Whole House Retrofit Plan carried out on your home to enable you to see what changes you could make to reduce your carbon footprint.

PeCAN aims to improve the comfort, health and energy efficiency of your home by guiding you through a series of retrofit measures.

A professional retrofit coordinator will come to your home and carry out an independent, impartial assessment looking at things such as:

- Loft insulation

- Cavity wall insulation

- Floor insulation

- Double glazing

- Ventilation

- Solar panels to generate renewable energy on the roof

- Changing a gas or oil heating system for a low carbon heat system such as a heat pump

Patricia Exley, project officer for PASH, said: “Climate change has hit the headlines in recent months, not just due to the soaring energy bills but the heatwave which saw record temperatures and fires breaking out in some parts of the country.

“Now is the time for change and one of the best ways we can collectively make a difference is by reducing our energy consumption at home.

“Here in the UK we have some of the most poorly insulated and least energy efficient homes in Europe.

“It can be difficult to know where to start, and we want to provide independent advice to help homeowners make the right decisions for their property and their lifestyles.

“Having a survey and an assessment on your home will enable you to make a decision about the best ways to not only reduce your monthly energy bills but your carbon footprint too.”

So, what benefits will you see as a homeowner if you go ahead with a retrofit plan?

You will see greater thermal comfort, improved air quality and a reduction in fuel bills.

Patricia added: “Here at PeCAN, we are working hard to help people lower their carbon footprint to get closer to “net zero”.

“We know people are worried about the future so the best way to prepare is to make your home as carbon efficient as possible. A retrofit plan is an ideal way to assess what work is needed and how to prioritise the work.

“We can also provide information about grants and financial subsidies that are available to help pay for retrofit work, and can help you to make applications to these funds if you need additional support.

“We hope to help make a difference to the planet as well as to your purse and would encourage you to contact us to see how we can help you.”

If you would like to find out more about a Whole House Retrofit Plan and how it can benefit you, email superhomes@petersfieldcan.org or visit www.petersfieldcan.org