ITV

Money to Burn

Money to Burn

Families face record fuel bills after the worst winter in 30 years. Now as gas and electricity suppliers are criticised over excess profits...

We show you how to keep your money out of their pockets and in your own.

Tonight’s programme tells a tale of two households which both need help to cut their energy bills and a third which will pay a big fat zero for their gas and electricity in 2010.

First the Webbs – dad Duncan, mum Lisa and sons Jack, 12, Harry, 9 and Sam, 6 – who make savings of nearly £300 just from lifestyle changes.

Tonight take a thermal image of  the family home and have it analysed – with the help of Infrared Energy Specialists IRT Energy (www.irtenergy.com/).

It shows the Webbs are wasting some £300 worth of heat leaking through their walls and roof.  The problem is that the design of their 3-bedroom house makes cavity wall insulation problematic so their efforts to slash their energy bills will boil down to DIY and lifestyle changes.

We send in Energy Saving Doctor Paula Owen, of the Energy Saving Trust, who enlist the children as “energy detectives” to make sure that the family do not waste gas and electricity by leaving electrical stuff on standby, leaving lights on needlessly, etc. For more energy saving details go to www.energysavingtrust.org.uk.

And Paula is on hand to give advice to Duncan on DIY he can carry out to improve their lot. That includes topping up loft insulation, installing energy saving lights, putting reflector strips behind radiators and improving draught-proofing.

The Webbs are on a fixed energy tariff with British Gas so it isn’t worth them swapping suppliers to save money. But British Gas do install a smart meter in their house at our request which goes from green or amber and to red when they are using too much power.

The effect of the Energy Doctor’s advice, as measured by the smart meter, is that the Webb’s end up using nearly 20% less energy – which amounts to a £275 saving over the year. And Duncan Webb’s DIY saves the family another estimated £100.

Millions of our homes are eligible to have low cost insulation fitted – and we feature estate agent Jill Hughes whose 4 bedroom detached house is in need of work.

After a thermal image of her home, the Marks Group spent a day fitting cavity wall and loft insulation at a cost of £300. According to the Energy Saving Trust the saving in the first year adds up to more than £265 so experts agree that it is pretty cost effective. The Mark Group can be found at www.markgroup.co.uk.

Jill is also able to make a £300 saving on her £2,000 bill by swapping energy suppliers. Swapping through Moneysavingexpert.com means thatincludes a cashback signing on fee. Find more details on www.moneysavingexpert.com

And we feature a family that has no need to worry about their energy bills. John Christophers is an architect who has long harboured a dream to live in a zero carbon house.

Last November that dream turned into a reality when he and his family moved into their new 4 bed home which he had had spent a year converting from a two bed Victorian house.

With state of the art design, insulation and power generation, he is expecting to pay nothing for his fuel this year.  John hopes to provide some inspiration for others by having an open day at his Birmingham home on Sunday 28 March 1.30-4.30pm. For more details visit http://zerocarbonhousebirmingham.org.uk

John’s home features some of  Jake Lever's artwork www.leverarts.com

The programme also profiles a new energy company, At Cost Energy,  which launches as a gas and electricity supplier today.  It’s the brainchild of millionaire Matt Stockdale who says it will supply energy without making a profit. He hopes the move will help drag down energy prices in the way the arrival of low cost airlines led to  cheap flights.  For more details go to www.atcostenergy.com

We would also like to thank Global Action Plan for providing the energy bike which featured in the programme. The environmental charity focuses on people and the important things in life in the expectation that we can live happier, healthier lives that cause less harm to the environment. Go to www.globalactionplan.org.uk

Other helpful organisations include:

•    The National Insulation Association (NIA) which represents the insulation industry in the UK. Members include manufacturers and installers of a wide range of insulation solutions for your home:  www.nationalinsulationassociation.org.uk

•    If you're worried about paying your heating bills or need some help to understand advice on how to save energy, the home heat helpline is on:  http://www.homeheathelpline.org.uk/

We also feature  thermal images of three iconic buildings in London which we show on the programme to illustrate how leaky historic buildings can be in terms of heat loss. The buildings concerned are: 10 Downing Street; the headquarters of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC);  and the Bank of England.

The responses follow:

“Number 10 and 11 Downing Street are both Grade 1 Listed Buildings and all work to them must be approved by English Heritage and Westminster City Council. This can make it challenging to match the energy efficiency standards of new buildings but we believe all homes and businesses can save energy, save money and reduce their carbon footprint. Within No10 we have reduced the energy we use by installing modern condensing boilers and our primary heat source is a district heating scheme which uses efficient combined heat and power. We are introducing energy-saving intelligent lighting in the building and all light bulbs are already energy efficient. In addition we choose the most efficient electrical equipment and routinely ensure that all non-essential lights and equipment are switched off outside office hours. The energy saving measures currently being carried out are expected to deliver an anticipated CO2 saving in excess of 15,000kg per year. Government set stretching targets to reduce emissions across Whitehall departments by 12.5% by 2010/11 (on 1999 baselines), and we are on track to exceed this and expect to reduce them by 17% by 2010/11. In the PBR we also committed to a 10 per cent saving in public sector energy spend by 2012-13, delivering savings of up to £300 million per year. Downing Street continuously seeks new ways to reduce its energy consumption and the office is keen to play its part in tackling dangerous climate change. We will continue to look to reduce our carbon footprint and increase our overall sustainability.”

 

“DECC inherited a grade 2 listed heritage building as its HQ, making it difficult to match the energy efficiency standards of new buildings, however, we have made major changes which have improved the DEC rating of 3 Whitehall Place from a ‘G’ to an ‘F’ despite a rise in occupancy and longer hours of operation due to refurbishment. Between January 2009 and January 2010 we used 66% less gas and 19% less electricity and our emissions have been reduced by 35% compared to last year. We will continue to look for opportunities to reduce our carbon emissions and increase our overall sustainability and are working closely with the Carbon Trust to achieve this.”

 

“The Bank of England tries to minimise its impact through better use of its premises, using increasingly power-efficient equipment. Ten percent of the electricity used in the Bank’s premises is from renewable (green) sources. The building was constructed in the 1930s and has substantial heating and cooling challenges for modern occupation, including high electricity consumption by energy-intensive information technology equipment. Although the Bank’s Head Office building is accredited under the Carbon Trust’s Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme, in 2008 the building received a Display Energy Certificate rating in Band G.”

 
Tonight