According to a report in Energy Live News, Gregg Barker the minister promoting DECCs Green Deal policy, has now admitted that savings cannot be guaranteed. Originally his comments were that “savings will be equal to or more than, the cost of the work”, but this now seems a distant memory.
But this is what industry has been telling him for months!
In privately owned property, we pay for the energy we consume, we will find the most competitive way to install those energy saving devices we believe will make a difference to our homes. In other words it is in our interested (as bill payers) to reduce our costs of energy. We don’t need to be forced to make improvements we don’t want like the consequential improvement idea that has thankfully now been scrapped
The problem is that many will find the improvements means that they can enjoy increased warmth at a reduced cost, instead of reducing consumption (and make savings) some people will enjoy being 20% warmer, at the same costs.
None of us like having 10 layers of clothes to keep warm, it restricts movement, we much prefer to to shed a layer of clothes as the temperature increases. Green Deal will change habits, people will remove their jumpers and just wear T shirts and shorts…….but consume the same amount of energy!
Where is the energy efficiency in that?
And has anyone looked at the cost to provide Green Deal windows?
Double glazing companies can today provide very energy efficient windows, A,B or C rated. Consumers don’t need Green Deal to install them, they exist already and have done R’s in 2005. Bear in mind that an A rated window is ENERGY NEUTRAL, it gains as much heat during the spring and Autumn (when the sun is low in the sky) as it loses during the winter months.
But Green Deal (in its current form) is set to destroy the industry.
Imagine the process; you want new windows, you must pay for an EPC (even if they are free someone somewhere pays for it), then there’s the legal fees because the debt is being attached to the house, then there is the provision of the finance. The government has insisted that interest is not interest free, commercial rates will apply, so that easily 5/6/7% over base rates that are set to rise in the next few years. Oh yes, the property needs to be reinspected to ensure the work has been done correctly and you wont have a contract with the installer because the Green Deal PROVIDER takes care of the warranty issues. Scary or what!
The alternative (that already exists) is that you obtain 3 or 4 quotations from local companies of your chosing, they provide their best prices to supply and install the identical, A, B or C rated windows and you either clear the debt upon completion or via a bank loan, or credit agreement. Simples!
You choose the company, the products, the extras. You agree the timetable, the costs and the method of finance. You make the savings as you control the thermostat and if the next owner of your house dislikes your choice of windows, they can change them to suit theirs. No long term issues, no quangos, no bureaucracy, no jobs for the boys or cleaver manipulation of the accounts so that debts are held against the property!
