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Two articles in the weekend newspaper caught
my eye. The first, on the front page of the property section,
detailed the ways to achieve a greener home. It listed the usual
things from switching to low-energy bulbs and recycling to the more
expensive options such as fitting a condensing boiler or solar
panels.
The second, in the news section, was an article about recent
research from the chartered surveyors' organization - RICS. It
showed that new owners of a typical three bedroom house who follow
the recommendations made in
energy performance certificates may have to wait a surprisingly
long time for many of the energy saving suggestions to pay for
themselves.
Insulation is the biggest change we can make in reducing a home’s
carbon footprint. But the research says that even a simple thing
like installing loft insulation will take 13 years to pay for
itself. Cavity wall insulation fares a little better at 5 years.
At the other end of the scale, the “going green” article stated
that solar water heating is one of the most cost-effective
technologies, providing 70% of your hot water needs. I think the
author must have been listening to some of the hot air that rises
from some of the solar panel salesmen. This came at the bottom of
the list for cost effectiveness in the RICS research, having a
payback time of a whopping 208 years!
Most of us have no qualms about doing our bit to help combat global
warming. Many of the commonly suggested measures don’t just save us
money (over time) but also add value and make our homes more
comfortable to live in. But as RICS suggests, it’s time the
government started putting its money where its mouth is by
introducing a program of grants which would encourage real change
and also reducing the level of
VAT on energy saving improvements.
17th October 2007
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