At last - I received a visit from a Home Renewables Adviser from the Energy Saving Scotland advice centre, following the request I first made in November last year. With only two people to provide advice in homes in the whole of the south of Scotland, I am surprised I didn't have to wait for longer - it must be hard to drive up energy saving and renewables take-up with that number of staff.
The visit lasted about an hour and included a brief inspection of all 3 floors of the house (but not the attic where I was dying to get comments on the sufficiency of my insulation and the cupola draft-proofing), measurement of ceiling heights and a brief inspection of the roof from ground level to see if there was enough space to site solar collecting plates. Further data was taken and a report of some sort was promised, but I think the unspoken response was that anyone (particularly only two people) was crazy to live in such a house if they were really committed to keeping warm and using not much energy.
The main discussion, as expected, was about solar renewables, and the pros and cons of flat plate versus evacuated tubes and although I was disappointed not to get more categorical feedback about whether I had the necessary room to instal plates or tubes on the roof, and whether the necessary pipe runs inside would be prohibitively expensive, I can see this information is best left to be provided by potential contractors. The adviser certainly provided information to support and encourage one on to this stage, including lengthy lists of accredited suppliers and full information about the grant and loan situation - grants OK, loans backlog, future uncertain for both. As the house is in a conservation area, there are also the planners to consider in terms of permission to mount panels on the roof. Plenty to get on with.
Tuesday 4 May 2010
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