Council support scheme to improve household insulation

A revolutionary new energy efficiency detecting system delivered by a fleet of bespoke vehicles is set to hit the road in Reigate & Banstead early in the new year.

The unique new Heatseekers vehicle – developed and mobilised by the Energy Saving Partnership – has the ability to assess over 1,000 properties an hour by automatically detecting and determining the insulation condition of a property. Operating at night, during the heating season, the thermal-imaging technology inside a specially adapted vehicle determines the address of each property and produces an energy efficiency verdict which is attached to a thermal image.

The project in Reigate & Banstead is being carried out in partnership with Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, to improve energy efficiency measures in homes throughout the borough.

Once the property has been scanned, a dedicated team of Energy Advisors will visit householders to show them the thermal image scan of their homes. The advisors will explain the results and how the householder can take action to reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint.

The surveys will take place in Jan/Feb 2010 and surveyors will approach targeted householders in May/June 2010 to offer them insulation in mitigation of the issues raised by the surveys.

Before surveyors actually approach any households there will be letters to residents explaining what the project is and how it can help them. There will be a simple way of opting out of visits from surveyors and data will of course be confidential.

Councillor Mark Brunt, explains: “I am delighted the council is able to support this initiative to offer this much needed assistance to the residents of the Borough. With fuel prices escalating there is no better time to help residents insulate their homes.”

The image produced from these surveys are not a photographs, they simply shows which parts of the building are hot and cold. No people or details of the homes will show on the survey.  The images resulting from the project will also remain entirely confidential and will not be published in the public domain.