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Blewbury

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Energy Initiative

GLOBAL WARMING

Greenhouse gases

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WHAT YOU CAN DO

Save energy

Reduce expense

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Get domestic grants

Install low-energy lighting

Transport issues

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   Transport emissions

   Alternative road fuels

   Hydrogen and fuel cells

Follow other energy advice

   Saving energy

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GREEN ISSUES

Renewable energy

   Offshore wind costs

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BACKGROUND

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Energy assessment

THE INITIATIVE

News & diary of activities

Contacts and aims

Home energy questionnaire

Survey 2009

Much of the activity of the Energy Initiative over its first year was concerned with the promotion of a questionnaire on the energy efficiency of houses. This page provides a little background and contains the advice on completing this questionnaire, which may also be of more general interest. It also discusses the scope of the reports produced as a result.

Home Energy Questionnaire

The Blewbury Energy Initiative offered a free energy survey for any home in Blewbury. Those who filled up a questionnaire received advice on how to lower energy bills, and on the grants and discounts which are available.

Guidance on Filling up the Questionnaire

The information below is intended to provide guidance to those filling in the Home Energy Questionnaire. The paragraph numbers identify the questions for which the guidance is aimed.

If you are still unsure, or have additional questions, please contact the Blewbury Energy Initiative via this website.

3b. A room in the roof is where a loft space has been converted into an additional room, or was built into during the original construction.

7. A simple way to see if a brick wall is of solid brick or cavity construction can be seen in the images below.

    Cavity Wall just shows the sides of each brick, a two brick thick solid wall has slternate bricks end on.

8. If your home is post-war, it will almost certainly have been built with cavity walls, but these may or may not be insulated. If your home was constructed after the mid 1980s, then your cavity walls will be insulated as this became a requirement under Building Regulations at the time.

9. For most post-war houses, if insulation is up to the level of the rafters, as in picture below, this will typically be 100 mm or 4 inches.

     Laying insulation between rafters, wearing a mask.

16. Pictures of modern storage heaters are shown below. Older versions tend to be far larger in size.

     A storage heater        A second Storage Heater

19. Below are pictures of a thermostatic radiator valve, a room thermostat, and a digital programmer. A clock timer, for which there is no picture, switches power on and off under the control of a 24 hour clock mechanism.

Thermostatic Radiator Valve A Room Thermostat A Programmer
Thermostatic radiator valve Room thermostat Programmer

23 & 24. The pictures below illustrate two kinds of insulation for hot-water tanks, a hot-water thermostat, and a second variety of hot-water thermostat in place – this is as fitted on the tank with the rigid foam insulation.

A hot water tank insulated by a detachable jacket. A hot water tank with a rigid jacket and a thermostat. A Hot Water Thermostat A blow up picture of the thermostat in situ
Detachable jacket Rigid jacket Hot-water thermostat Hot-water thermostat in situ with rigid jacket

26. Typical low-energy light bulbs, or compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), are shown below. Fluorescent strip lights also provide low-energy lighting.

     Low Energy Light Bulb 1        Low Energy Light Bulb 2        Low Energy Light Bulb 3

 

Energy Survey Report

The Energy Survey Report is an attempt to estimate the energy likely to be used by the property reported on, and to evaluate a number of the measures that might be taken to save energy. This can only be an approximate exercise, as this kind of analysis can only work on the information gathered in the questionnaire. Energy use can depend on a number of other factors, such as:

  • significant details on construction such as window size,
  • for how much of the week the property is occupied,
  • how many people are living in it,
  • the temperature they like to keep it at, and
  • their usage of appliances, electronics and hot water.

Nevertheless, the individual improvements discussed are likely to be the most appropriate ones to consider.

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