Tina Fawcett

Personal Story:

Richard and Tina live in this house with their two children, aged 7 and 9. Tina is a researcher on energy policy and climate change. We both think it is important to try and live in a lower carbon way, and improving our home is part of that.

Motivations:

Concern about climate change and wanting to reduce our fossil fuel usage was the main driver to action, but we also wanted a more thermally comfortable house and needed to solve condensation and mould problems with our solid walls. Our refurbishment has evolved over the years, starting with the basics – loft insulation, draft proofing, new boiler, efficient lights and appliances – in what was originally a very inefficient home. Additional measures have been added over the years when doing conventional building and improvement work and when ‘opportunities’ (such as needing to replace a rotting dining room floor) have arisen.

Property:

The house is a 1900s semi. When Richard first bought it about 14 years ago, it had a very old back boiler, single glazed windows, a very cold downstairs extension for the bathroom and no insulation to speak of.

Measures:

The two most satisfying changes have probably been the solid wall insulation (SWI) and the solar water heating (SWH). The SWI has made a real different to the way the house feels, it’s much more comfortable than before, and has saved a considerable amount of energy. Also it was satisfying to use an ‘eco’ material – wood fibre, Pavatherm – rather than the conventional materials we have used elsewhere in the home. The SWH provides most of our hot water in a summer with some sunshine – and it just feels good to make use of that renewable resource. In terms of carbon / energy saved per £ spent, neither of these measures scored particularly highly compared with a lot of the other things we have installed, but they deliver more benefits than just energy savings!

Read more about Tina Fawcett’s renovation here.

Benefits:

Gas use has about halved from when we first owned the house. Then it was occupied by one person out at work all day. Now it is occupied by a family of four, occupied most days, and is bigger, as it has been extended. It’s a much more comfortable house to live in, and no longer has mould, condensation and damp problems, except for a couple of areas of solid wall, yet to be insulated.

Favourite Feature:

My favourite feature is the solid wall insulation. It has made the house much more comfortable, saved a lot of energy and solved condensation and mould problems everywhere it has been fitted. The internal insulation – front and back walls downstairs – hasn’t disturbed the look of the rooms or made them feel smaller. The external insulation – which you may be able to spot on the side wall in the house picture – is equally unobtrusive.