Help on hand to beat heating costs
Energy show will provide advice on how to lower bills
AS concerns soar about the cost of fuel this winter, Hungerford is hosting a free home energy show this Saturday.
Independent experts will be on hand to give presentations and to answer questions.
The event, in the town hall, is organised by Hungerford Environmental Action Team (HEAT) and funded by a Lottery Community Fund ‘Together for our Planet’ grant.
A spokeswoman for HEAT, Helen Cukier, said: “Our aim is to enable households in Hungerford and the surrounding areas to work out a tailored energy roadmap for their homes.
“If people can lower their energy consumption and costs and, at the same time, make homes much more climate friendly it’s a winwin situation all round.
“Like water finding holes in a bucket, heat finds all sorts of ways of leaking out of homes – up through the loft and roofs, out through walls and windows and all the gaps around doors and floorboards.
“The solution to stop heat escaping can be found with insulation and draught-proofing and energy costs can be reduced with solar panels and heat pumps.
“All this sounds good in theory but can be daunting to put into practice.
“So this event is a great opportunity to get advice on how to reduce energy bills for your own property or for your clients if you are a tradesperson.”
The expert speaker programme will include Taking a Whole House View, Stopping Energy Waste and Heat Pump Retrofits and is sponsored by Newbury Building Society as part of its Greener Lives initative.
One of the main speakers will be David Hilton, sustainable building expert at Grand Designs live exhibitions for the last 10 years and an authority in sustainable building, with extensive knowledge in building fabrics, heating systems, heat recovery ventilation, emerging technologies and renewables, including heat pump technologies, solar systems, biomass and also conventional heating systems.
HEAT member John Downe will share his personal experiences of improving the carbon emissions of a listed 300-year-old cottage with solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) systems, insulation and draughtproofing and also creating a new energy-efficient, all-electric home from scratch with triple-glazed windows, solar panels with batteries, a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system, underfloor heating throughout and an air source heat pump.
If you have an EPC (energy performance certificate) but aren’t sure what it means or how you can improve the energy rating of your home, EPC assessor Bob Walker will give some pointers and explain the terminology.
Visitors are encouraged to bring a recent energy bill to help the advisors assess their situation.
Citizens Advice West Berkshire will be there to offer help with paying energy bills.
Visitors can also find out how to reduce the energy costs of their cooking with demonstrations of recipes using easy energy-saving techniques and low-energy slow cookers and air fryers.
And draughtbusting experts will cover a range of tips from insulating curtains and even bubblewrap on the window to plugging holes in brickwork.
The event is free and visitors can drop in any time between 10am and 4.30pm.
Talks start at 10.30am and don’t need to be pre-booked; a locally sourced lunch will be available plus a hands-on, solar-powered toy activity table for youngsters.