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Anyone involved in Government's Green Deal?

artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

This isn't strictly gardening, but it is to do with ecology.

I am thinking of getting a new boiler using the Government's 'Green Deal'. This was set up because British houses 'leak' more energy than anyone else's in Europe (in Poland they have TRIPLE glazing!) They will also assess what other things can be done to make the house more energy efficient.

Has anyone else any experience of this? Could really do with some info that doesn't involve a Government Dept., or a plumbing firmimage

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    I looked into that a while  ago too art because the boiler here could do with updating. Someone was going to contact me....sigh.....image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    Oh FG, dealing with baurocrats (I can't figure out how to spell it) is a pain in the posterior isn't it? I have spent most of today on Government and private websites and on the phone. Martin's Money Box has a whole thing on Green Deal mythbusters which I found very useful. It seems the best thing is really to run the deal oneself. That means shopping around to find the cheapest 'Assessor'; the guy who came this morning (apart from badly breaking a William the 4th chair because he was so...er...FAT) wanted a cheque immediately for £299 to pay for an assessor. Even the gov dept for energy said that was excessive; when I refused to give him the cheque on the grounds that I wanted to do some research on the deal he became quite shirty. Have now found an assessor for £150, who is coming on Thursday.

  • Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657

    Artjak  iv researched triple glazing against Gas double glazing and the difference in price is not a good deal, the heat it saves is balanced out with the loss of solar heat it stops entering the house due to being a little darker,the end result Triple almost twice the price for no advantage over gas double glazing . im waiting for a friend to email me on boiler deals he uses on his properties he might be able to help with advice if he calls i,ll let you know 

  • BalBal Posts: 93

    Hi artjak we had a bio fuel boiler installed last year, after much research!, We moved here in Nov and had an oil boiler which was very smelly. OH spent ages researching,and had the green deal from British gas. people in to asses the house. They actually assessed us as lower than the estate agent deal. However despite all the hassle we are very pleased with the boiler. it has not however proved as economical as we thought, but is still cheaper than oil, and it doesn't smell. Unfortunately because of the size we needed we had to house it in the garage, so I miss out on the lovely smell of burning wood. hope this helps please feel free to ask any more questions I will get the answers from OH

  • BalBal Posts: 93
    artjak wrote (see)

    Oh FG, dealing with baurocrats (I can't figure out how to spell it) is a pain in the posterior isn't it? I have spent most of today on Government and private websites and on the phone. Martin's Money Box has a whole thing on Green Deal mythbusters which I found very useful. It seems the best thing is really to run the deal oneself. That means shopping around to find the cheapest 'Assessor'; the guy who came this morning (apart from badly breaking a William the 4th chair because he was so...er...FAT) wanted a cheque immediately for £299 to pay for an assessor. Even the gov dept for energy said that was excessive; when I refused to give him the cheque on the grounds that I wanted to do some research on the deal he became quite shirty. Have now found an assessor for £150, who is coming on Thursday.

    British gas charged us £100 last year.

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    The nice horse rider up the road that I get manure from has a bio- boiler. But her house is about twice the size of mine and I always got the impression that bio boilers are for larger areas, perhaps wrongly, mine is only a 2 bed cottage and I spent £840 on heating and hot water last year. I think that is quite good? I don't find my old boiler very smelly.

    What does the bio boiler actually burn? Do you need to keep feeding it 'stuff'?image

    Did you go through with the Green Deal? Or only have the assessment?

    What no one seems to want to mention is that the Green Deal is not an interest free loan; there is a 6.96% interest rate.

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    Bal... I should have started this thread before booking the assessor. The good thing is that the assessor's firm don't install oil boilers, so should get a fairly disinterested assessment on that.

  • BalBal Posts: 93

    We were totally unimpressed with the assessor we had. We have just bought a lovely barn conversion, he said we should have cavity wall insulation, we don't have cavity walls, but the are all dry lined and insulated with thick sheets of polystyrene, he didn't bother to check, or even ask us. He also recommended having the outside of the house clad to insulate it. It did seem a totally farcical assent, having said that we did get a £2000.00 renewable heat premium payment. We paid for the boiler and installation up front ( from the mortgage) we should get the next 7 years fuel more or less paid for once the give meant subsidy kicks in. It was ver expensive as an outlay but over 7 years will mean quite a big saving. we burn wood pellets, which must be bought from an approved company.

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    Thank you for that Balimage

  • BalBal Posts: 93

    We did go with the green deal otherwise you don't get the repayment. And yes we do have to keep feeding it stuff. In the winter with the heating on it gets through about 3 10 kg bags a night, but we do have quite a big house to heat, and I feel the cold.

    you can have an auto feeder installed, that takes about a tonne of pellets an will feed the boiler automatically , plus you do need to clean it out once a week, it produces very little ash, and as it is just wood ash I would like to put it in the compost(was going to ask advice on this) 

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