From cutting bills to cutting carbon, every home has room to improve. With the right plan, your home could be made warmer, more comfortable to live in, cheaper to run and better for the planet. Ideas on how to achieve these objectives at a cost and pace that suits your budget in houses typical of Charlbury -and Oxfordshire more generally- are set out in a new report (see below for a link).
‘The real challenge isn’t knowing that homes can improve – it’s knowing where to start without wasting money or making changes that don’t work together’, the report says. The findings are based on ten case studies of real homes in Charlbury, each one representative of house types commonly found in the town. The sample included houses built before 1900 ranging through to the 1970s.
Whole House Plans
In each case, experts drew up a Whole House Plan showing which improvements would make the biggest difference, what they might cost, and how to phase them sensibly. While every home has unique features, the aim of the survey is to provide tips and guidance on what is possible in a broad span of property types. The report also gives information on where to go for grants, advice and other resources available to reduce the cost of making homes more comfortable and energy-efficient.
The case studies were carried out by Cosy Homes Oxfordshire, a non-profit retrofit service that provides practical support and independent advice on making buildings energy-efficient. The work was funded by a grant from the Evenlode Foundation which was administered by Sustainable Charlbury. The results are published on the Cosy Homes website as part of a project entitled ‘A House Like Mine’ which also includes case studies of homes in Oxford.
Big energy savings
Huge potential gains in energy efficiency were identified. For example, carbon emissions could be cut to almost zero with the annual fuel bill dropping from more than £1500 to less than £150 a year in a 1960s mid-terraced house in Woodfield Drive, Charlbury. By way of comparison, in a pre-1900s home in Park Street there was potential to cut carbon emissions by more than 90 per cent, reducing fuel bills by more than one thousand pounds a year. Similarly spectacular results were possible in the other properties surveyed, including a mid-terraced pre 1900s house in Sheep Street, a 1950s terrace in Nine Acres Lane and 1970s detached homes in Lee Close and The Green.
Improvements can be phased
While achieving maximum improvement may require costly expenditure on solar panels and heat pumps, there are numerous things people can do to cut energy bills, make their homes nicer to live in and limit the environmental impact without massive strain on household finances. It’s important to note that improvements don’t have to be done all at once – with careful planning they can be phased to fit the budget and keep disruption to a minimum.
This link takes you to the A House Like Mine report on the Cosy Homes website: https://cosyhomesoxfordshire.org/a-house-like-mine/
To read the Charlbury case studies, choose Charlbury in the filter by location menu near the bottom of the page.
