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Energy advice

If you’re a Newark and Sherwood resident on a low income, we want to help you to heat your home at an affordable cost. The Energy and Home Support team are here to help you find a better quality of life by living in a warm and comfortable home.

We do this by:

  • advising on offers and grants available
  • working with other councils across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in a Local Authority Energy Partnership
  • seeking funding opportunities to support residents with the cost of installing energy efficiency measures

For more information and advice, contact our energy team on 01636 650 000 or send us an email on help4u@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk.

If you are concerned about your energy costs and would like tailored and impartial information about how to improve the energy performance of your home, you can call a new government phoneline service on 0800 098 7950. This is open between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday and between 9am to 12pm on Saturdays. The phoneline service is in addition to the government’s energy advice website which provides recommendations based on your property details.

Free home insulation and air source heat pumps

A new energy efficiency scheme, Connected for Warmth, is offering two schemes to households nationwide. These offers are free for both property owners and landlords. Funding is available on a first come, first served basis.

Connected for Warmth is an awarding-winning programme, managed by AgilityEco in partnership with Affordable Warmth Solutions, and funded by National Grid.

To find out more visit the Connected for Warmth website or call 0800 995 6564 for insulation, or 0121 592 0162 for heat pumps.

Free cavity wall and loft insulation

If your Council Tax Band is A-D, then you could be eligible.

Connected Warmth Free Cavity Wall and Loft Insulation Scheme (PDF File, 1,754kb)

Free Air Source Heat Pumps 

This scheme is also available to households that don’t currently have a central heating system in any Council Tax Band, if your circumstances make you eligible.

Connected Warmth Free Air Source Heat Pumps Scheme (PDF File, 2,146kb)

 

The Home Energy Conservation Act

The Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) required us to prepare a report setting out the energy conservation measures that the authority considers practicable, cost-effective and likely to result in significant improvement in the energy efficiency of residential accommodation in our area.

Read the HECA report (PDF File, 282kb)

This is the starting point for action by central and local government to significantly improve the energy efficiency of residential accommodation across the country. This is important as a legal requirement under the Climate Change Act 2008 and as a key strategy for reducing fuel poverty.

Driving local domestic energy efficiency improvements can bring significant benefits for the Council and our residents including:

  • helping to reduce fuel bills for local residents
  • helping make homes warmer and healthier
  • opportunities for local economic and physical regeneration
  • making a vital contribution to reducing local and national carbon emissions
  • supporting wider local strategic priorities, on issues such as health and poverty

Green Grants

Green Grants is a Government funded scheme which focuses on delivering FREE practical home energy improvements to raise the energy efficiency of poorly insulated homes occupied by low-income households within Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

The home improvements available include:

  • Solid wall insulation
  • Cavity wall insulation
  • Solar electricity panels
  • Room-in-roof insulation

All upgrades are subject to eligibility, availability and survey.

You may be eligible if all of the below apply to you:

  • Your main heating source is not gas
  • You own your home
  • The Energy Performance Certificate of your home is E, F or G (If you are not sure, we can find out for you, and if you do not have an EPC we can complete one free of charge)
  • Your combined annual household income is under £31,000 (gross)

Registrations for this phase of the scheme end on 31 January 2023. Please contact Nottingham Energy Partnership on 0115 947 2207 to apply, or visit https://www.nottenergy.com/ to find out more and apply online.

Latest news

Information from Citizen’s Advice on your energy supply, including how to switch supplier.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme

Heating our homes and workplaces with low carbon heat is one of the best things we can do to help combat climate change. Currently, heating all the buildings in the UK produces almost a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which is a central Government initiative, will provide grants to encourage property owners to replace existing fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon heating systems including air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and, in limited circumstances, biomass boilers. Heating systems can be commissioned any time from 1 April 2022, and applications for grants opens from 23 May 2022. It has £450m funding confirmed over three years. Replacing your current heating system with a heat pump will reduce your carbon footprint.

To make the application for the scheme as simple as possible, it will be led by your chosen installer, with an opportunity for you to give consent that you are happy to proceed with the application.

Finding an installer
Your chosen installer will need to be certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). MCS is a nationally recognised standards organisation that gives you assurance of the quality of your product and competence of your installer. It also means your installer complies with high consumer protection standards.

In line with most home improvements, you may want to obtain a quote from more than one installer. You can find an MCS certified installer in your area here: www.mcscertified.com/
find-an-installer/ 

For more information on the scheme, you can go to the Government website.

Solar Panels

If you are thinking of installing Solar Panels, or have recently had them fitted, the National Energy Action (NEA) website provides useful information that could help you better understand and maximise the benefits of having these.

Optimising your heating

The ‘Let’s Optimise your Heating’ scheme has been funded by Nottinghamshire County Council as part of their Cost of Living support programme.

The scheme aims to encourage households to lower the flow temperature of condensing combi boilers to approximately 60°C to optimise the efficiency of their boilers. This reduces gas consumption resulting in an average of 9% savings on gas bills, which equates to approximately £178 a year – helping to alleviate energy bills during the Cost of Living Crisis. 

The campaign is offering free home visits, where a member of the team visits homes, showing them how to optimise the boiler, make the change and answer any questions they might have. To be eligible for a home visit, households must have a condensing combi boiler and live within the Nottinghamshire County Council district.