Findings, just published from an energy saving home improvement trial, indicate that homeowners are not only motivated by immediate financial savings on their energy bills. Motivating factors also included making their home more comfortable, improving its appearance and taking the hassle out of the improvements by having an expert come in and do the whole installation.
The pilot was carried out by a partnership of BioRegional, B&Q and Sutton Council and explored one approach to retrofitting homes for improved energy efficiency and reduced fuel bills and CO2 emissions. The 67-home pilot, is one of five DECC funded Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) pilots around the country designed to inform next year’s Government’s Green Deal for helping householders. The Sutton homes were retrofitted by B&Q with energy efficiency measures such as insulation, draught proofing, boiler upgrades and solar photovoltaics. The average capital spending per household was around £13,000, funded from a 40% grant and a 60% interest-free loan from the council. Households should see a predicted 26% average reduction in the CO2 emissions of their property.
Key findings
- Whilst participants were generally interested in the financial benefits that the loan offered – for example the removal of upfront capital costs, the grant and the energy savings, the majority of homeowners believed the long term savings were lower than expected. This was one of the key reasons for nearly half of the audited homes later declining the retrofit offer.
- With 28% of homeowners within the pilot choosing the shortest loan payback option over immediate savings, and 33% of those taking the 25-year loan choosing measures that meant the repayments were higher than the fuel bill savings, immediate financial savings were not found to be the top driver. In fact 41% of all surveyed participants cited reasons for taking part other than financial, such as increasing comfort and using a professional installation service.
- Retrofit installers need to understand from the outset that every home is unique and that there won’t be a one size fits all energy retrofit solution. This implies that additional costs and time need to be allowed for from the outset of the project.
- Finally, the householder needs to be informed not only about the combination of measures that will make the biggest difference to their home in terms of fuel bill savings, but also on the changes in behaviour that will maximise the benefit of these improvements. In addition, clear communication is needed on the timescales and the level of disruption involved in the installation.
Sue Riddlestone, Executive Director of BioRegional, emphasised the last lesson: “The CO2 savings from the retrofit are a good start but we need to complete the picture by making sure that the Green Deal makes behaviour change towards using less energy a priority too. Turning down the thermostat is free and it’s going to be persuasive if consumers are told about the cost and carbon savings of that next to those of an expensive solar panel!”
Download the full report ‘Helping to inform the Green Deal : Green Shoots from Pay As You Save’ from BioRegional’s website.
