Green Deal MSE Guide Discussion

jamesd

The Energy Saving Trust has said:

"From October 2012 the Oversight and Registration Body is publishing lists of approved assessors, providers and installers. Customers can now have an assessment carried out – this is the first step in getting a Green Deal."

That started months before 28 January and there has been ample time to carry out a hundred assessments in the time it's been possible to do them.

ifan.goch

The result was from a computer web form, but as my electricity bills are low in comparison to others and we have no gas bills I just don't see how we can make sufficient savings to repay the loan.

As I said in my post, our primary heating system is solid fuel, and without daily stoking it will simply go out so we can't make any savings on coal. We already have double glazing, loft insulation, low energy bulbs and draught proofing so the only thing we really need is the solid wall insulation and we know from neighbours who have already installed it that it costs £10,000+.

To repay just £10,000 without any interest on top we would need to repay £400 per annum over 25 years. That equates to £33 per month we would need to save on our electricity bills of £45 per month. It's just not going to happen, is it?

TheBag

Hi

We had our Green Deal Assessment done by British Gas last week but I'm very disappointed with the outcome of the Assessment.

We live in a chalet style semi with flat roofed dormer windows to the front & rear. The rooms upstairs with Dormer window are very cold in winter. The dormers are also very leaky & have no insulation to the vertical walls, sloping ceilings or flat roofs that I was hoping to get corrected with the Green Deal.

The Assessor checked all the property & inputted all the details into the laptop. The outcome was our property was given a Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that said our property is fairly green (which isn't true). It also didn't recommend any improvements except for Solar Panels & Underfloor Insulation of which we can't have either due to roof size & solid floor.

The Assessor pointed out that the Government software on the laptop didn't have a facility for dormer windows & he couldn't input them as a rooms in a roof (which our house is really) or flat roofs (as that facility is for flat roofed extensions).

As I said at the start I'm very disappointed in the Green Deal as I thought it was going to benefit houses that were difficult to insulate but it clearly isn't. It seems to me if you've already got double glazing, newish boiler, loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, & seals on the doors it won't recommend any improvements really.

newbie032012

I paid for the assessment and have been told that the back boiler would need updating i wasn't aware of having to pay for a deposit of a couple of hundred to have this boiler fitted

blanik

In the MSE artical it was suggested that a free on-line assessment was available.

Section 5 - Do a free speedy home check-up first

This is an external website, who collect your details, and pass them on to an green deal assessor to contact you about a survey.

This is not made clear.

--

I'm also not impressed with the free assessment.

We have a 3yo condensing boiler, with trv on all radiators and programmable room stat - but it still suggested I would save £200 ( which is 40% of my gas bill ) by fitting a new boiler! and £20 by changing the controls.

By playing with the figures, any boiler more than 1 year old suggested that it should be replaced. I don't think boiler efficiency has improved that much in the last year!!!

Cem_Emir

blanik wrote: »

In the MSE artical it was suggested that a free on-line assessment was available.

Section 5 - Do a free speedy home check-up first

This is an external website, who collect your details, and pass them on to an green deal assessor to contact you about a survey.

This is not made clear.

--

I'm also not impressed with the free assessment.

We have a 3yo condensing boiler, with trv on all radiators and programmable room stat - but it still suggested I would save £200 ( which is 40% of my gas bill ) by fitting a new boiler! and £20 by changing the controls.

By playing with the figures, any boiler more than 1 year old suggested that it should be replaced. I don't think boiler efficiency has improved that much in the last year!!!

I notice that as well, this is linked to an accreditation body called 'Stroma' who will obviously be benefiting from this article. I wonder how much Martin is being paid from it.

I'm Back!

Cem_Emir

newbie032012 wrote: »

I paid for the assessment and have been told that the back boiler would need updating i wasn't aware of having to pay for a deposit of a couple of hundred to have this boiler fitted

You are not required to pay any 'deposit' for work to be carried out. They are obviously trying to make more money from you.

Cem_Emir

jamesd wrote: »

The Energy Saving Trust has said:

From October 2012 the Oversight and Registration Body is publishing lists of approved assessors, providers and installers. Customers can now have an assessment carried out – this is the first step in getting a Green Deal.[/URL][/I]"

That started months before 28 January and there has been ample time to carry out a hundred assessments in the time it's been possible to do them.

Firstly there is still yet to be an official list of approved assessors, providers and installers from registration body. Secondly the first green deal assessment was completed early January, however official completion of these documents couldn't be completed until after the 28th as there was no live software made available. The October date was a 'soft launch' meaning it gave green deal assessors and providers time to drum up business and get peoples interest in the green deal registered.

So going back to my original comment which has now been deleted, it is impossible to have completed 100 assessments within a week on your own.

Fordyce

I live in a house built in 1906, with solid walls. Quite large house, 5 bedrooms, on 3 floors. Solidly built. We have had internal insulation in two rooms, which was not a simple job. The house is not entirely straight, having been built back then, and settled over time. Getting the insulation straight, sorting out corners and windows, replacing skirting board, picture rails, curtain rails, radiators etc took a lot of time, care and expertise. Done by our local builder, whom I trust. The job took ages to get all the details right, and cost a lot. I would be very dubious indeed to get in some unknown firm of builders, on a fixed price - with no commitment to me or to the quality of the work. This internal insulation is complex stuff. To get a perfect finish is painstaking.

Fordyce

I live in a house built in 1906, with solid walls. Quite large house, 5 bedrooms, on 3 floors. Solidly built. We have had internal insulation in two rooms, which was not a simple job. The house is not entirely straight, having been built back then, and settled over time. Getting the insulation straight, sorting out corners and windows, replacing skirting board, picture rails, curtain rails, radiators etc took a lot of time, care and expertise. Done by our local builder, whom I trust. The job took ages to get all the details right, and cost a lot. I would be very dubious indeed to get in some unknown firm of builders, on a fixed price - with no commitment to me or to the quality of the work. This internal insulation is complex stuff. To get a perfect finish is painstaking.