David Garrity, managing director of Heat Electric, looks at the crucial role social housing has to play within the new government strategy for household energy management.
The recent publication of Warm Homes, Greener Homes, the long-awaited government strategy for household energy management - underlines social housing's continued role at the forefront of environmental performance, paving the way for the widespread adoption of new eco-technologies and improvement of the UK's building stock.
A new obligation on energy companies to help householders save energy will see a partnership approach between such organisations and both local authorities and the third sector to identify vulnerable households on low incomes and to encourage improvements, where possible, to entire housing blocks.
Key to the success of the new strategy will be the trust between a housing association and its tenants enabling it to market the proposed improvements to an audience which may be unfamiliar with the technology on offer and its long term benefits to them in terms of warmer homes and reduced fuel bills.
Need to work closely
While we support this new partnership approach we would also urge such organisations to invite heating manufacturers to work closely with them on such schemes from the earliest planning stages because of the wide variety of housing stock in the UK. By providing decision makers with access to experts who have been commissioned to provide heating solutions for similar properties in the past, an informed assessment of the options available can be made while also helping to identify systems that will cause tenants the least disruption and upheaval.
Simply fix to the wall and plug in
Post installation, housing associations can also work with manufacturers to ensure tenants are equipped with the information they need to use their new heating system in a cost effective and efficient manner, thereby reducing their fuel bills and helping to fulfil the government's aim of reducing emissions from social housing by at least half by 2020.
Investment in new technology alone will not bring about the results the government desires - education and the resulting changes in behaviour are equally as crucial.
Controls have a vital role to play in preventing energy wastage, while ensuring tenants achieve maximum thermal comfort. However, despite it being widely acknowledged, improvements to controls can reduce carbon emissions from heating and hot water by more than 20 per cent, the strategy focuses its attention on more complex and costly solutions such as solid wall insulation and district heating systems.
The latest generation of electric heating offers fingertip time and temperature control on whole house, pre-defined zones and individual rooms enabling the creation of a bespoke heating schedule for that particular property. As a result, the systems are not only 100 per cent efficient, turning every £1 spent on fuel into actual heat but also 100 per cent effective - ensuring heat is only delivered when and where it is needed.
Modified behaviour
Controls also encourage occupants to modify their behaviour ie by turning the thermostat down or programming radiators tocome on only in certain rooms at certain times.
The importance of empowering the end user to reduce their carbon footprint and fuel bills was recognised in the recent Code for Sustainable Homes consultation with the proposal to reward developments that incorporate a way for residents to clearly see, understand and monitor their energy usage for heat and hot water with an additional three credits.
We would therefore urge housing associations to look beyond the issues raised in this latest report and to also consider the vital role of controllability when seeking to reduce fuel bills, lower carbon emissions and ensure their tenants' ongoing thermal comfort.
We also welcome the new version of SAP which reflects the cost savings associated with running electric heating on the Economy 10 tariff which provides reduced rate electricity between 12am and 5am, 1pm and 4pm and 8pm and 10pm. Previously, no off-peak allowance was made for the tariff with 100 per cent of running costs taken at peak rate but, from this autumn, 50% of these will now be taken at the off-peak rate when performing energy calculations.
One organisation already embracing the benefits of the Heat Electric range of electric water filled radiators is Prospect Community Housing, a leading Scottish Housing Associations.
More economical
'We hadn't been happy with our night storage heaters for some time and, after looking into the Heat Electric system, we could see it would be considerably more economical, particularly when running on Economy 10,' explains Steven McDiarmid, estates service officer. 'With low cost of installation because they're simply wall mounted and plugged in, there is also no mess or disruption.
'The bonus for our tenants is that the heat is completely controllable and can be altered according to their needs.
'We have just completed three pilots in 100 properties and the result is we now install the Heat Electric radiators when and where they are needed with a view to rolling them out and into all of our properties.
'It is therefore the ability of electric heating systems to deliver heat in highly focused areas of a property at specific times of day that make them the ultimate energy saving heating solution both now, and in the future.