Energy Efficiency and the Green Deal…What is it all about?
Why does energy efficiency matter?
Housing and business premises in the UK are throwing away up to £3 billion of energy every year. Many homes are poorly insulated, our appliances are left on standby, and thermostats are used inefficiently. That means most families and businesses are spending more on gas and electricity than they need to.
Green deal, what’s the deal?
Green deal is in effect a loan to the property and a charge on the meter.
How the Green Deal works
You can make energy-saving improvements to your home or business without having to pay all the costs up front through the Green Deal.
Energy-saving improvements include:
- Insulation – e.g loft or cavity wall insulation
- Heating
- Draught-proofing
- Double Glazing
- Renewable energy technologies – e.g solar panels or wind turbines
What you need to do
- Advisor – Get an assessment of your property to see what improvements you can make and how much you could save on your energy bills.
- Provider – Choose a Green Deal provider to carry out the work. You discuss with them what work you want done and whether the Green Deal is right for you. Assuming that the Golden Rule is satisfied, the Green Deal Provider then secures finance from the specialist finance company and ECO and this enables the Green Deal Plan to be created. In order for finance to be made available, the Green Deal Plan must satisfy the Golden Rule.
- Installer – If you go ahead with the improvements you must sign your Green Deal Plan – this is a contract between you and the provider stating what work will be done and how much it will cost. The provider will then arrange for a Green Deal installer to do the work. Additionally, only authorised installers will be able to identify themselves as ‘Green Deal Installers’ and use the Green Deal Quality Mark
Once the work is done, you’ll pay off the money in installments through your electricity bill. For more information please contact our Residential energy advisors…
Once the work is done, you’ll pay off the money in installments through your electricty bill