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Antony Melville |
What Victorians did for us: left big heating bills
Neighbours can save on insulation if they link up, says expert
A FORMER book publisher turned environmentalist claims he can save owners of Victorian homes in Islington thousands of pounds on energy bills.
Antony Melville is to launch a non-profit-making Green Neighbourhood scheme at next month’s climate change conference and skills share event at Highbury Fields School.
Rather than work on homes on an individual basis, Mr Melville, 56, wants entire streets to sign up for insulation work to help keep costs down.
He believes up to 50 properties at any one time could participate in a scheme to reduce heat wastage and fuel consumption. With a recently gained MSc in environmental technology at Imperial College, he is gathering together a team of experts while sounding out interest among residents’ organisations.
He estimates energy-saving measures could save owners of three-bedroom Victorian homes £800 a year on gas and electricity bills.
Mr Melville, who lives in Highbury, said: “With fuel prices escalating, you can expect to get a return on your outlay for insulation within five to 10 years.”
Grants are available from Islington Council for home insulation, which is also being encouraged as part of a government campaign to reduce the worldwide ravages of climate change, blamed for floods and drought.
“The old Victorian houses many of us live in were built with open fires,” Mr Melville said. “It was a system which did a very good job of drawing cold air into the house and sending the heat up the chimney while leaving a small, hot area to huddle round.
“Even the most basic central heating system is massively more efficient than that, but at least £1 of every £3 we spend on gas is simply thrown away, because without insulation heat is lost through the roof, walls, windows, floor and outside doors.”
Mr Melville can be contacted via the Victorian Terrace Energy Reduction Initiative at antonymelville@dslpipex.com or by calling 7607 1540.
The Climate Change and Me conference, organised by former Friends of the Earth campaigner Nicola Baird, is at Highbury Fields School from 11am to 6pm on Saturday, October 11.
More details from climatechangeandme.blogspot.com |
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