Welcome to your whole house assessment!
Thank you for contacting us about your home improvement. Your journey to a warmer home starts with a visit from an accredited Retrofit Assessor. They will complete a whole house assessment of the building, to provide a full understanding of the property and how you use it. The assessment will identify opportunities as well as constraints for any improvements, based on the outcomes you are hoping to achieve.
From start to finish, your improvement project will be carried out in accordance with PAS2035:2019, which is the UK standard for energy efficiency work carried out on a property. This standard delivers a whole house approach to the retrofit process, taking into consideration the building itself, its environment and its occupants, when determining the most suitable measures to install.
What is whole house retrofit?
Retrofit is the term used for introducing new materials and equipment into an existing property with the aim of reducing the energy used in that home. This is important for many reasons including lower bills, creating a comfortable home and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Whole house retrofit focuses on a "fabric first" approach. This simply means to first reduce energy that is lost through the fabric of the building – its walls, roof, floors, doors and windows. Whole house retrofit is the best way for a household to gain control of the energy they use and tackle improvements in a joined-up way. Every home is unique. Carrying out a whole house assessment means each house can be assessed on its own merit and have its own bespoke retrofit plan. The plan does not need to be completed all at once, it can be carried out in stages.
Typical retrofit improvements that can be made
We are a TrustMark registered business
TrustMark, the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme, is an enhanced consumer protection quality mark for domestic retrofit. As a TrustMark registered business, we are committed to working in line with the TrustMark Framework Operating Requirements, Code of Conduct and Customer Charter.
Whole house retrofit delivered by TrustMark Registered Businesses will meet all current requirements and government endorsed standards to make properties more liveable and comfortable to the people who live in them.
You can confirm our teams credentials on the TrustMark website: www.trustmark.org.uk
After any improvements have been installed, we will ask for your feedback on the overall process and how the changes made have met your intended outcomes. If you are not satisfied with the performance of the improvements, further investigation will be carried out. This may require collecting additional data about the building and its performance for the purposes of monitoring and evaluation.
The end to end process:
A whole house assessment of the property will be completed by qualified Retrofit Assessor
This assessment is passed to a dedicated, accredited Retrofit Co-ordinator
The Retrofit Co-ordinator will produce an Improvement Option Evaluation tailored to your home, setting out installation costs and expected energy savings
You confirm the improvements to be made to your home and agree any financial contribution
Your Retrofit Co-ordinator appoints a TrustMark registered installer(s) and provides you with information ahead of the installation taking place
The improvements are installed, tested and commissioned
Your Retrofit Co-ordinator completes a handover with you, providing all relevant documents, manuals and guarantees. All improvements are covered by a minimum 2-year guarantee with financial protection (25 years for wall insulation improvements)
You receive a monitoring questionnaire to record your satisfaction with the process
The importance of adequate ventilation
Whilst insulating your building is important for creating a warm, energy efficient home, it is just as important to make sure that you have enough ventilation throughout the property. Poor ventilation results in poor internal air quality, which can be bad for the health of those living in the building and even the building itself.
Moisture is created in our homes through cooking, showers, boiling kettles - even breathing! On average a family of four will create more than 100 pints of moisture each week. If there is nowhere for it to escape, it will build up on surfaces as condensation and this can lead to damp and mould growth. If allowed to develop this can cause damage to paint and wallpaper, lead to the growth of black mould and ultimately even cause damage to the fabric of the house.
Damp and mouldy conditions can also trigger health conditions such as asthma and eczema. Dust mites thrive in homes with damp air and their airborne debris can cause allergic reactions when inhaled, or if it comes in contact with the skin.
Ways to improve ventilation and your ventilation assessment
There are simple ways you can prevent poor internal air quality from becoming a problem by reducing the moisture you create and increasing ventilation. For example, you can put lids on pans when cooking, avoiding drying clothes indoors, use extractor fans in kitchens and bathrooms and keep window vents open if you have them.
However, it will sometimes be necessary to improve the ventilation in your home through installing window vents or even a mechanical ventilation system. Your Retrofit Assessor will complete a ventilation assessment of the property to identify whether the existing ventilation is adequate. If it needs to be improved this will be explained to you, and if you are planning to make any fabric improvements that will increase the air tightness of the building (wall, roof insulation, glazing etc) the improvements will be included in the package of work.
What is fuel poverty?
Fuel poverty is the term used to describe households that are unable to afford to heat their home to an adequate temperature. It is caused by a combination of factors: low income, poor energy efficiency and high fuel bills. People who are older, babies, young children and those with certain health conditions are typically more vulnerable to the effects of fuel poverty, as living in a cold, damp home can be very damaging to their health. Improving the energy efficiency of the property is one of the means to tackling fuel poverty, by making the home less expensive to heat to an adequate living temperature.
Am I paying too much for my energy?
You might be able to reduce your energy costs by changing your energy supplier. Research by the energy regulator Ofgem has found that comparing and switching energy supplier or energy tariff can make a big difference to your gas and electricity bills. There is more advice on the Ofgem website about changing supplier, including links to their accredited price comparison websites. It is useful to have to hand the following information before you start: your postcode, the name of your current supplier and the name of your current tariff (which should be on your recent energy bill).
Other ways to save energy - Top behaviour changes
There are lots of quick and easy ways to save energy just by changing your behaviour or making low cost changes to your home. Here are some of our favourite tips. You can find more from the Energy Saving Trust https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency/energy-saving-quick-wins
Switch off standby
Fit a water efficient shower head
Draught proof windows and doors
How to make a complaint
We hope that you will be pleased with the service you receive from us. However, if there is anything you are not happy with, please get in touch with us so that we can try to put matters right.