Warm Zone Energy Efficiency Scheme Project Update

The Council, through their energy conservation programme, have improved the energy efficiency of some of the worst performing houses in Denbighshire.

The energy efficiency of a home and the cost of fuel bills can mean the difference between being comfortable in your own home or being able to afford to eat. Energy inefficient housing creates excessively high fuel bills that can have negative impacts on people’s health and wellbeing.

The private rented sector has some of the lowest energy efficiency ratings in dwellings across Denbighshire. This will has serious implications from April 2018. The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 state that all private rented houses with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of F and G are ‘substandard’ and cannot be let. A criminal record, substantial fines and a property that cannot be let may be some of the consequences.

Some of the most inefficient houses are located in West Rhyl which is where our last energy conservation project was.

Considerable regeneration work is ongoing around the Gerddi Heulwen area in West Rhyl. As part of this regeneration work 36 dwellings in the area have had their energy efficiency improved from band E, F’s and G’s to band C on the EPC. Many of these houses had been disconnected from the gas main and put onto electric heaters that create excessively high fuel bills and give a poor energy efficiency performance.

Our latest project has improved these properties by reconnecting them to the gas main and replacing the inefficient and expensive electric heating systems with modern and energy efficient gas central heating systems. The work was funded through a successful application to Welsh Government and Warm Zone as part of the Warm homes Programme.

The project brought in over £100,000 of external funding to fund the costs of installation and bring the residents out of fuel poverty. Now many of the remaining houses in the immediate proximity of the regeneration area have good levels of energy efficiency. Each house will now have annual fuel bills reduced by hundreds of pounds.

As part of this project we also worked with Communities First and Citizens Advice Denbighshire. They were able to support training opportunities for local people. CAD provided a bi-lingual Freephone phone line to register properties for the project and were able to offer household visits and provide advice on energy efficiency, income maximisation, reducing debt, managing money and assisting with energy grant applications.