The United Kingdom government has made a commitment to reduce Carbon dioxide emissions and give home owners and private rented tenants’ grants for cavity wall insulation and grants for loft insulation.
Among the main contributors of CO2 is energy wasted in family properties. By insulating the home, significantly less energy is wasted, this helps to make a cleaner environment. It also helps the consumer who benefits by having reduced energy bills. Good insulation can reduce energy bills by about 25%
The program which offers these grants is known as CERT (Carbon Emission Reduction Target). The job is done using a local company who then puts in a claim to be repaid for the work. Grants as high as 100% are offered. Almost all people on a means tested benefit or aged over 70 would normally be eligible to have the work done absolutely free. You can obtain a grant for cavity wall insulation in Bedford and other towns in the county. Grants for loft insulation in Bedford and other towns are also available.
The procedure to obtain a grant is easy. The customer needs to contact a local contractor or surveying agency who is taking part in this program. To see if the property is suitable, a Home Assessor will have to visit the property. The Home Assessor will then advise of the insulation improvements are necessary and also will confirm with you the amount of grant aid you eligible for.
The recommended standard of loft insulation is 270mm (11 inches). Think about improving the depth of insulation if you have not had your loft topped up within the last 15 years.
If you accept the offer, your registered contractor will schedule a date with you to undertake the work. It only takes around half a day to do most jobs. A 25 year guarantee is issued on cavity wall installations.
As this is a government backed initiative, there is a high degree of quality inspections once the work is actually done. This makes sure that customers receive high quality workmanship. Any installer that fails to meet these quality standards are taken off the program.
Different companies have differing procedures to install the insulation. The homeowner can chose to have a surveying agency perform the initial inspection. The surveying firm will then advise on the best company in that area to carry out the job. Because a surveying organisation is invariably independent, the householder will receive the best recommended product and a local qualified firm best suited to their home. You can search on the web for grants for home insulation in your area.
These grant subsidies are soon to be superceded with a innovative government project called Green Deal. The new Green Deal program will cover a wider range of energy saving measures, such as boilers, external wall insulation and renewable technologies for instance solar pv, solar thermal, bio mass, ground source heat pumps. Any grants provided under Green Deal will be repayable by way of the customer’s electricity bills. Grants issued under CERT will never be repayable.
Up to March 2012 over 3,000,000 properties had benefited by having loft insulation or cavity wall insulation says the official report from The Energy Savings Trust.