- Improving insulation to reduce your energy consumption for heating
- Generating your own electricity with photovoltaics (PV) on your roof (or other location)
- Solar thermal panels on your roof to directly heat hot water
- An induction hob for cooking
- Installing a heat pump in place of a gas or oil boiler to supply hot water and heating
Energy HaleswortH
What can I do today in my home, that will make a difference, to me and our climate?
An estimated seventy percent of global climate pollution can be traced to household consumption decisions. These include mobility (cars and planes), diet (for example meat and dairy) and housing (heating and cooling). The remaining emissions come from government spending infrastructure.
We can affect our climate and reduce emissions by our individual and collective actions in both our private and professional lives. While industrial and governmental action is crucial, individual lifestyle changes in areas like diet, transportation, and home energy use are essential for meeting global climate goals.
De-carbonising electricity and heat production in our homes is a first necessary step. And it will save us money.
This page offers practical resources: how to change your energy system, government policy, grants, funding and how to access it, steps you can take and how we – Halesworth ASH or other organisations within Halesworth – can support you.
We have an ENERGY CHAMPION! William works with us 2 days a month to support our community to de-carbonise. If you would like to become an energy champion and work with us, let us know.
We have a BASELINE study – commissioned by Opergy – to help us find a clear pathway as well as measure our steps to 2030.
We have the full support of our Town Council and work closely with Blyth Valley Churches. We have Green Councillors, District and County, who support us.
2025 Halesworth's Baseline Study by Opergy
The summary report from Opergy is here
Some highlights of our baseline:
- There are around 2,700 homes in Halesworth,
2,094 homes have Energy Performance Certificates.
1,118 (more than 50%) are rated D efficiency or below
1% of homes heated by oil; 82% gas, 17% electric
The ~600 homes without EPCs are likely to be older and less efficient - There are ~300 rateable non-domestic properties in Halesworth
146 have Energy Performance Certificates
86 (59%) are rated D efficiency or below - There are 3,698 vehicles registered in Halesworth
Out of 2,879 cars, only 63 (~2%) are electric
…
The parameters for the study are: – Buildings – Domestic, Non-Domestic and Commercial – Transport – Cars, Motorbikes. Vans, Lorries etc – Agriculture / Land Use – Farming Land and Green Spaces
:
First Steps and resources
What’s your home EPC rating? Find out here from the government web site.
2025 Jan – Energy Efficient Assessment
An Energy Efficiency Assessment – sometimes known as a retrofit assessment – is the crucial first step to fixing this. Suffolk councils are offering free or funded access to the assessment as part of the Warm Homes Suffolk campaign. This voucher can help you and your household reduce your fuel bill and your carbon footprint, helping drive the change towards a Net Zero Suffolk.
Local Retroft organisation based in Norwich:
2025 Thermal Imaging Camera
Halesworth are hosting a Thermal Imaging camera from November to March 2026. Registration to use it from Jess Miller at East Suffolk. It can be collected from Halesworth Town Council.
Which? Home energy planning service
An impressive resource which not only finds your EPC but also discrete information about your home and assesses areas you can improve your heating and save yourself money. Highly recommended
Carbon Calclators
One of the ways we can start looking at our impact on the planet is to use a carbon calculator. There are many different ones, some very easy to use, some more complex, but they all help identify the areas we could work on, enabling us to tread more lightly.
Here’s a brief list of a few that we think are worth a try:
- ClimateHero
- Carbon Independent
- Earth Hero (app)
- Giki Zero (app and website – note that this website may not work with Apple Safari browser)
Impact tool
For understanding the carbon footprint of your community at a high level, you can use the Impact Tool which gives you per person and parish wide footprints for what we call Consumption (the climate impact of your activity no matter where the emissions are released) and Territorial (the emissions incurred locally).
For understanding the carbon footprint of your community at a high level, you can use the Impact Tool which gives you per person and parish wide footprints for what we call Consumption (the climate impact of your activity no matter where the emissions are released) and Territorial (the emissions incurred locally).
Legacy Calculator
For a more detailed look at the Town/Parish – the legacy calculator is a map based tool that combines energy, housing, transport, consumption into one big visual carbon tool – you can search for Halesworth and then there are different layers and geographies you can set.
For a more detailed look at the Town/Parish – the legacy calculator is a map based tool that combines energy, housing, transport, consumption into one big visual carbon tool – you can search for Halesworth and then there are different layers and geographies you can set.
There are also a set of new tools (all free and updated) including the retrofit explorer, which again are map based, and you can look at energy performance of properties in the parish etc.
Solar Wizard is a nice tool, free to use, which generates a model of what size solar PV system you could get on your property, how much it might cost, how much it would generate and pay back etc. Great starting point for building interest in solar. A good one to do a demo with people at an event
Get a hear pump
Does what it says a tin – a place to go if you are thinking about getting a heat pump! There are some good forums as well, but they can get into technical things quickly.
Does what it says a tin – a place to go if you are thinking about getting a heat pump! There are some good forums as well, but they can get into technical things quickly.
Visit a Heat Pump
This is an open homes network just for heat pumps run by NESTA. There aren’t any registered in Halesworth properties on here yet. Nearest is Peasenhall.
This is an open homes network just for heat pumps run by NESTA. There aren’t any registered in Halesworth properties on here yet. Nearest is Peasenhall.
Open homes model
Running in Cambridge. Can we do one in Halesworth?
Running in Cambridge. Can we do one in Halesworth?
Our Power community Energy Energy champion model
Energy Saving Trust – good impartial advice
Centre of Sustainable Energy has a lot of great resources, but especially around community energy:
National Grid Live – shows how the UK generates electricity per day. Fascinating charts and statistics
Low carbon energy options for your home
If you are looking for low carbon energy improvements for your home, options to consider include:
ECO grants
UK government’s Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme is a government energy efficiency scheme in Great Britain designed to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce carbon emissions. It requires larger energy suppliers to help households improve their home’s energy efficiency by funding energy efficiency improvements, such as insulation or new heating systems, for eligible, low-income and vulnerable households.
Insulation, Insulation Insulation…
The most effective action you can take is to ensure your home is insulated. You will use less energy to heat it. There are state of the art (NASA standard!) materials that are very effective insulation. Typically, 30-35% of the heat will be lost through uninsulated walls, 20-25% through the roof and 10% through the floor. Insulating your loft, attic or flat roof is a simple and effective way to reduce heat loss and reduce your heating bills.
Electric radiators
New technology for electric heaters is far more efficient and like LED lighting, costs less money to run. Various systems exist, for example HeatCore technology allows individual temperature settings in each room, giving homeowners complete autonomy over their comfort and energy usage.
Solar energy generation
Various solar systems for roofs, or ground mounted. With or without batteries.
Air Sourced Heat Pumps
Working with insulation and solar, these are most effective economically as they need insulation and use electricity. Government grants of £7500 are available for Air Source Heat Pumps for properties with an EPC of C or above
Grants and funding
Beware of scams, of misleading information, of commercial organisations that do not tell you about grants available. If in doubt, contact us and our Energy Champion.
Criterior: Different funding options have different criterior. For example, if you are on benefits, if your income is below £30,000, if you have a life inhibiting illness, if you have an EPC of F or below, if you are using oil for heating.
ECO4 Grants
Links to funding schemes for residential homes
Energy briefing – background to political vision and policy
Energy Which? report
Energy Solar Suffolk
Past Energy Meetings
Jan 2024 – Home Energy Solutions and challenges
green-energy-meeting-27-january-2024pdf
hash-energy-report-for-community-news
Report here of our first use of Thermal Imaging camera around Halesworth residents.
Insulation resources