Energy HaleswortH

What can I do to reduce my bills, make my home warmer? Confused how or where to apply for funding? Uncertain if you can apply?  

We symathise. That’s why we have an Energy Champion to help us navigate through new energy systems and funding options. 

William Poulsen, who works part time for Halesworth ASH, is our energy champion. He will be offering open meetings on Tuesday January 27, February 3 and February 10 (venue to be confirmed, but we hope Halesworth Library or Co-Op meeting room). 

This web 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.

If you can, please fill in this form, to help us find your solution. Or contact us email or phone. 

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 Halesworth 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

My EPC, and why EPC is so important

So first, it’s very easy to find your EPC

Use the Government web site here

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is crucial because it rates a property’s energy efficiency (A-G), reveals potential running costs and CO2 emissions, guides owners on saving money through improvements (like insulation, LEDs), and is legally required for selling or renting, helping buyers/tenants compare homes and supporting national net-zero targets. Higher ratings mean lower bills, increased property value, and less environmental impact

 

What if I rent a property? 

You can still find out its EPC and we can support your landlord in helping to increase the EPC by improving the energy efficiency of your home, their building. 

First Steps and resources

2026 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: 

2026 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 Calculators

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: 

 
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). 
 
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. 
 
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 heat 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.
 
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. 
 
Open homes model
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:

  • 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

 

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. These are just examples. Don’t forget –  our Energy Champion can help you. 

 

ECO4 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.

Warm Homes Suffolk 

Warm Homes Suffolk can provide energy efficiency grant funding to eligible households to make them warmer and cheaper to run. They will arrange a home survey to see how your home could be made more energy efficient. They may suggest and provide grants for improvements like:

  • Wall insulation

  • Loft and roof insulation

  • Solar panels

  • Air source heat pumps

  • High heat retention storage heaters

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. 

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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