Despite a strong presence in Leith of environmentally focused organisations, residents here have been the slowest in Edinburgh to take up home insulation grants.
The Edinburgh Energy Coop is now encouraging locals to take up deals offering discounted or even free insulation. (For their purposes, Leith includes large swathes of Broughton.)
They say that householders paying to install loft insulation would generally recoup the cost in energy bill savings within 6 months. Cavity wall insulation would pay for itself within 10 months, and modern loft insulation within 3 years. Most post-1930s properties would benefit, and even ground-floor tenement dwellers notice a 5–10 percent improvement after insulating attics.
At present, the EEC estimate 'Leithers' waste £913,825 every year by letting warmth escape from their homes to places it isn't needed.
Spurtle asked EEC Sustainable Futures Manager Stuart Hay to explain the slow take-up of money-saving alternatives. He puts it down partly to the high density of rented accommodation, with absent landlords unaware of what is on offer. And partly to the number of tenements locally, where neighbours have to agree and coordinate arrangements.
'Some folk think insulation involves a lot of hassle,' he says, but in most cases it doesn't. Usually it's quick and straightforward, with the most nuisance coming from tidying out your loft – which is probably something you'd want to do now and again anyway.
'People should act now so they don’t miss out on the best insulation deals for years, which will change later in the year. A community like Leith could really benefit from the money saved by people insulating their homes.'
To book a free no-obligation survey and find out more, text WARM to 81025 or email advice@se.energysavingscotland.org.uk
----- Reactions on Facebook -----
Neil Inglis Looked into it (I'm in a top floor flat in McDonald Road) but they said I'd have to clear a skipload worth of stuff from the roofspace first that had been let by previous tenants. If the council offered a service to clear that I'd be all over it but I don't fancy going up into the roof and clearing it out myself ...
Nicholas O'Regan [Re picture below] Or, there is a massive cannabis farm in the attic!? Dead give away ... #cashintheattic
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