[Closed] Green Homes Grant

As mentioned on that Martin Money Matters website (or whatever it's called), the concern is going to be that installers simply increase their prices more - the household *thinks* they are getting a great contribution to the cost so they want to take advantage of it. Then of course all the installers will be silly busy so they may end up doing quick/crap installs to maximise their orders/profits.

I looked yesterday and I couldn't find a recommended installer within 15 miles of my home (Harrogate) and none of them I had heard of. Had I recognised a business and knew of their reputation, I might feel differently.

Damn thats annoying, we really need our doors replacing but nearest installers are 60+ miles away

Had I recognised a business and knew of their reputation, I might feel differently.

If the ones local (within 40 miles) of me are anything to go by you wouldn’t. I was interested in this first time round but the advice they gave me was bloody awful (would have created condensation and cold bridging problems). I was hoping that the vouchers could be used by local builders as long as they obtained building control sign off but its seems like another scheme to give out money to companies doing half a job.

We spoke to a local guy who gave us a quote and I think registered for the scheme. May be worth asking someone local and see if they can register?
We found a few quotes but they were astronomical.

Doors, I think from what I've read come under the second category don't they? You need a cat 1 improvement carried out to qualify for a cat2.

Doors, I think from what I’ve read come under the second category don’t they? You need a cat 1 improvement carried out to qualify for a cat2.

Yup. I was hoping for a new door and some under floor insulation, but whilst the grant will pay for the door and underfloor, 1. I'd need to find someone to do both and 2. I'd need to rip up the existing floor for them to do it.

Doors, I think from what I’ve read come under the second category don’t they? You need a cat 1 improvement carried out to qualify for a cat2.

yeah just read that

oh well!

I wouldnt mind under floor insulation tbh

i also wouldnt mind all the old stuff ripping out of the loft and new putting in but i doubt i would get a grant to help with that?

I need a new boiler we’ve still got a back boiler so it’s terribly inefficient. I looked at the scheme again this am, I’m can get air heating at a cost of 6 to 10k.

I think I’ll just pay for a gas one.

Andy, can you just take out some of the insulation, then get someone round to quote?

Andy, can you just take out some of the insulation, then get someone round to quote?

If the current depth isn't up to current recommendations you are covered I believe.

I am just going to buy some rolls of insulation and do it myself.

i was hoping that it would be cheaper to get someone else to do it with the grant etc

Won’t even recognise my bloody postcode.

Careful folks. This is ripe for rip-off.

Apparently since the green homes initiative was announced over 70 new companies have been registered with "green homes" in the title.

We had a guy come round to talk to us about underfloor insulation, one of the conditions was that if our boiler was 5+ years old we would have have that changed out too but have to make a contribution for the boiler. I asked for me details on the boiler, they couldn't give any.
Our floors are stripped and polished and asked how they would get under the floor, by cutting holes big enough to get a guy under in the boards. We are not having the work done.

If the current depth isn’t up to current recommendations you are covered I believe.

Yeah. If you go through the wizard it asks a yes / no question as to whether you already have loft insulation. If you say yes it doesn't offer you the option; if you answer no then it specifies later on about less-than-whatever-it-is qualifying.

Apparently since the green homes initiative was announced over 70 new companies have been registered with “green homes” in the title.

They have to have specific accreditations to qualify, so it doesn't matter what they call themselves.

As mentioned on that Martin Money Matters website (or whatever it’s called), the concern is going to be that installers simply increase their prices more – the household *thinks* they are getting a great contribution to the cost so they want to take advantage of it. Then of course all the installers will be silly busy so they may end up doing quick/crap installs to maximise their orders/profits.

I looked yesterday and I couldn’t find a recommended installer within 15 miles of my home (Harrogate) and none of them I had heard of. Had I recognised a business and knew of their reputation, I might feel differently.

Yeah, it's a known problem in the trade. When there is a lot of free money available like this the cowboys and fly-by-nights move in. The same thing happened with mass fill cavity wall insulation and has resulted in a lot of defects and damaged homes.

Our floors are stripped and polished and asked how they would get under the floor, by cutting holes big enough to get a guy under in the boards. We are not having the work done.

How is your floor constructed?

My period terrace has a suspended timber floor and requires decent passive airflow around the joists to prevent rot. Throwing insulation down into the void would be a bad idea. Treating drafts by sealing up gaps between my square cut boards would have a good cost-benefit ratio but don't forget that the floor only accounts for about 10% heat loss in a home away.

Andy, can you just take out some of the insulation, then get someone round to quote?

My ground floor extension is cold as **** with some crappy insulation in the roof space. Just a bit of thin glass wool from what I can see.

I was thinking about that myself LMAO. What if all my insulation was suddenly removed as if it had never been there? Who would know?

MSE link. Updating as more is known.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/green-homes-grant/

What if all my insulation was suddenly removed as if it had never been there?

Nothing whatsoever.

I really want to like this scheme, but seems like more something for politic points scoring than actual practical support.

I Am in a very cold 1930s, generally sits about 7 degrees warmer than outside, in proper winter, down south, it can struggle to remain comfortable even with the heating on.

Cavity wall everyone says don’t do it, floor, don’t do it. So that leaves exterior cladding, mega bucks, or just suck it up. Pretty concerned as it cost approx £1 per hour to heat and we will be working from home this winter. Have purchased some more oil rads

About the only thing we could take advantage of is replacing a couple of original hall windows with double glazing but the wife likes the character

@i_scoff_cake

Our floors are much like yours. The procedure is as best as I could get out of them, is they would fit chicken wire between the joists and the insulation would be packed in the resulting space.

I think these companies use the same selling method as the cold calling double glazing companies. The guy who came round and did the sales patter was an out of work engineer. Being an engineer myself we struck up a conversation over the merits of the installation method and U values we could expect. A couple of weeks later he emailed me and said that he would advise me not to go through with it. He wouldn't elaborate further, but I suspect he didn't like the hard sale method he was expected to use. He left the company.

The 'chicken wire' method 😀 isn't something I've heard off. I can't say for sure that it's a bad idea but issues of adequate ventilation around the timber joists would concern me. Plus as I implied, the floor isn't where I'd be looking for 'low hanging' energy-saving fruit anyway.

About the only thing we could take advantage of is replacing a couple of original hall windows with double glazing but the wife likes the character

Can you double up? Keep the existing windows and install double-glazed units behind them?

I can't remember exactly what it is but I'm sure there's some sort of solution or workaround for this scenario.

Anyone got any leads on solar thermal installers in the North West, struggling to get anyone, also glazing only one co on the gov website in South Wales!

I thought solar thermal had been superceded, pv panels have made them irrelevant.

Wouldn't bother with the green deal myself unless you can find a reputable local installer who has signed up, they'll be to many cowboys jumping on the bandwagon with inflated prices.

Not if you're on oil.

There are no local signed up installers, that I can find, hence the question

Throw me a bone here, people?

Does anyone have any reputable suppliers for solar PV.

Now we are working from.home for the next for ever......I'd like to get some panels .

Google provides plenty of shadey installers and plenty of dodgy looking panels.

How do you decide what's good ?