How a home energy audit can help you create an energy efficient home
THE PROJECT
Getting expert sustainability advice, tailored to your specific needs is critical to ensure that you build or improve your home in a way that is right for you and your family. A CLPM home energy audit can help you boost your building’s energy performance and create a more comfortable, greener home too.
THE CHALLENGE
Our Wiltshire-based clients were planning to refurbish and improve a large 19th century farmhouse and were looking for guidance on how to create an energy efficient home for their family.
They wanted to determine the best way to improve their building’s energy performance and wanted independent heating advice to help them choose the correct size and type of heating and hot water system for their needs. They were also interested in whether or not a PV array might be an appropriate addition to their plans.
THE SOLUTION
Our first step was to understand the needs of our clients by discussing the issues they had and how they lived in their property and what plans they had for the future. As the building was poorly insulated and using oil and was not served by gas, a number of insulation and green technology options were then looked into. The CLPM sustainability team looked at the current construction of the house and determined its current energy performance. We then looked at the best ways of enhancing its insulation package and proposed the best range of actions, room by room and area by area.
THE RESULT
The recommendations included insulating the solid ground floor prior to them being re-laid, increasing the loft insulation, adding insulated plasterboard to internal walls of the house where practically possible. We also proposed deleting the trickle vents from the double glazing specification and instead installing a mechanical heat recovery system.
Our clients had their own supply of wood and so for heating, we recommended the installation of a bio-mass boiler. We also proposed that an under-floor and radiator combined heating system be run off it, as well as highly energy efficient wood burning stoves. It was suggested that the best location for a PV array was on an outbuilding adjacent to the house. This was specified, and we helped give approximate costs and payback figures to allow our clients to decide their course of action.
CLPM Services used by our client:-
Energy and heating consultancy.
The service was very helpful and friendly
Mrs R, Wiltshire