Home Energy Efficiency
The energy we use in our homes represents over a quarter of nationwide total energy use. We have the worst housing stocks in Europe. Reducing energy used in homes either by reducing demand for energy or by making homes more energy efficient is a national priority.
It is also a householder priority as gas and electricity prices are increasing rapidly and poorer members of society are being faced with a desperate choice between keeping warm or facing massive heating bills. One of our members, Peter Haigh, an energy expert, explains the current crisis click here and here, and describes what can be done to save money, stay warm and reduce carbon emissions by clicking here.
Using funds from a grant provided by Bradford Council we now have equipment we can use to help Addingham residents understand how and where their homes lose heat and how those losses can be reduced.
We have a number of home energy monitors & a box of small energy efficiency demonstration items that can be borrowed and a thermal imaging camera that one of our trained volunteers can bring to your home.
Home energy monitors
A home energy monitor is a simple device that plugs into your home electrical sockets and measures power being consumed by an electrical appliance. If you know the unit cost of your electricity supply it will then calculate the cost of using it. This is the model we have bought, Maxcio KWE-PMB01.
We have six of them bought specifically to lend out to residents. Click here for more details. If you would like to borrow one for a few weeks please contact us at
One of our members has trialled the device and found it very simple and easy to operate. Click here to read his report.
Energy saving demonstration kit
There are many small ways in which energy (and money) can be saved. We’ve put together a box full of small items that you can borrow to check out your home. It includes:
- Thermal leak detector
- Plug-in energy monitor (see above)
- Temperature and humidity meter
- Fridge & Freezer thermometer
- LED bulbs
- Draught excluders
- Radiator key
A guide to the use of the individual items in the box together with more information and links to useful websites can be found here. The box is held at the Hub. Please contact Wendy Green, the Parish Council deputy clerk at
Thermal imaging camera
We have also bought a FLIR C5 thermal imaging camera. One of our zero carbon working group volunteers has now been trained in its use and he can be invited to visit you to carry out a survey both outside and, if you wish, inside to identify where heat is being lost from your home.
The survey might last for one hour and the surveyor will indicate where there are potential heat losses and suggest which small items from our demonstration kit (see above) that could be fitted at little cost.
We should stress that this survey is intended to just to start a conversation and to help choose low-cost energy efficiency measures that could be installed. It is not being offered as professional advice, but we will be able to advise where to obtain such advice if required.