Individuals and house holders

As an individual you have the opportunity to save energy both in and out of the home. Energy efficiency in the home is about making sure the energy that goes into heating, lighting and providing power in your home is not wasted. Because energy costs money, it's about not wasting money as well.

Being energy efficient means using common sense to reduce the amount of fuel you use. At the same time you can make your home more comfortable and the bills more affordable.

Leicester City Council's Home Energy Office has been set up to tackle issues around fuel poverty and affordable warmth. They provide advice and assistance to private sector households wishing to implement energy efficient measures into their homes.

They are currently based at:
35 Rowsley Street
Leicester LE5 5JP
Tel: (0116) 221 1170

Services Provided by the Home Energy Office:

  • General advice on energy efficiency and referral to grant-aided schemes for free insulation and heating measures where applicable.
  • Cost illustrations and comparisons - using a schedule of rates to ensure accurate and competitive quotations can be obtained for works.
  • Corgi registered contractors - all heating contractors are Corgi gas registered and provide good customer care and after-sales support.
  • Supervision of works - full specification and contract administration of any works you may wish to carry out.


Energy efficiency schemes currently available:

Energy Sense
Operating across the city, this scheme offers householders a free home visit to provide an energy audit of your property, together with advice, recommendations on measures and product availability, and a tailored information pack with cost illustrations for proposed energy efficiency improvement works.

Health Through Warmth
The Health Through Warmth scheme aims to provide adequate warmth to people who are suffering from a range of cold and damp-related illnesses. Clients can benefit from measures including insulation, heating repairs/upgrades and first-time gas central heating. The scheme funds measures by accessing grants and funds from a range of sources.

Warm Front
The Home Energy Office is a referral agent for the Warm Front scheme, a nationwide government initiative designed to provide low-income families with adequate heating and hot water.

Warm Front Top up
This scheme aims to provide financial assistance to Warm Front clients needing to meet additional costs not covered by funding available through the Warm Front scheme.

Hot Lofts
A project which is being run in conjunction with British Gas to provide free loft and cavity wall insulation measures.

Energy Vision
This scheme provides interest-free loans to help householders pay for energy-efficient improvements.

Leicester Solar Scheme
This new initiative is operating in partnership with Groundwork Leicester and Leicestershire and offers grant funding towards the cost of fitting either solar panels or a solar hot water system to your home. The amount of funding on offer is limited, so if you are interested, please call 0116 222 0228 for further information and details of how to apply. You can also find more information on the Groundwork website.

Call the Home Energy Office on 221 1170 for further information on all these services

Energy Saving Tips

There are many easy no cost and low cost measures that you can take in your house to help keep you warm and save you money on your fuel bills.

  • Reduce the temperature of your room thermostat, if you have one fitted. A reduction of one degree can cut your bills by as much as 10%.
  • Turn off the lights in unoccupied rooms. If possible use low energy light bulbs, these on average use four times less electricity and last eight times longer than a standard bulb.
  • Only fill the kettle with as much water as you need. Heating water is expensive. Boiling a kettle half-full instead of full four times a day could save you enough electricity to run a TV set for four hours.
  • Take a shower instead of a bath. A shower uses only two fifths of the amount of water needed for a bath and less energy to heat the water.
  • When you're cooking, choose the right size of pan for the food and the cooker, and keep lids on when cooking. Don't use more water than you need.
  • Set you water cylinder thermostat to 60°C. For most people this setting of 60°C / 140°F is usually quite adequate for bathing and washing. Savings of around £15 per year can be expected.
  • Use your washing machine efficiently. Wait until you have a full load before using your washing machine, or use the ½ load or economy programme if your machine has one. If you use a 40°C rather than 60°C washing machine cycle then you use a third less electricity.
  • If you have a tumble dryer, avoid filling it with really wet clothes, wring them out or spin-dry them first. The clothes will dry faster and you'll save money in the process.
  • Always fix dripping taps. In just one day a dripping hot water tap can waste enough water to fill a bath and costs you money in fuel costs.
  • Don't leave appliances on stand-by. About 80% of the energy used by a television or video recorder is while it is in stand-by mode.


At the Energy Saving Trust website you can find a lot more no and low cost tips. The site contains a mass of ideas on how to be energy efficient and how to save energy.

As well as making simple changes at no cost and low cost to your daily life, there are higher cost ways that require a greater initial investment, but will pay for themselves quickly and save you larger amounts of money (in fuel bill savings) in the longer term. These measures include:

  • Draught-proofing: Draughts enter your home through gaps around doors, windows and floors, accounting for up to 20% of lost heat.
  • Energy Saving Light-bulbs: By using an energy saving light-bulb rather than a standard bulb you could save over £87 during the lifetime of an energy saving light-bulb (£10.66 per year), and that's by replacing just one bulb!
  • Hot-water tank insulation: If you use electric to heat your water, you can save over 75% heat loss by fitting a thick jacket over your hot water tank.
  • Reflective Radiator Panels: These are very simple panels that reflect heat back into the room that would usually be absorbed by the wall on which the radiator hangs.
  • Loft Insulation: the loft is usually the easiest part of your house to insulate. Loft insulation puts a thick 'blanket' in place to stop heat rising through the ceiling and escaping through the roof.
  • Cavity Wall Insulation: Walls lose more heat than any other part of your home. Without insulation more than £1 in every £3 you spend on heating escapes through the walls.
  • Upgrading heating controls: You could cut central heating costs by up to 17% simply by controlling your heating more effectively. Your heating and hot water system should have thermostats and time clocks fitted to ensure that they run efficiently.
  • Upgrading heating systems: If your boiler is more than 15 years old, it will be significantly less efficient than a modern one. Modern boilers use less fuel to produce the same amount of heat.
  • Double and Secondary Glazing: Almost 25% of heat lost from a home can be through poorly insulated window frames and single glazing.
  • Choosing Home Appliances: Buying an energy efficient recommended appliance - like a new fridge-freezer - could save you up to £450 in running costs over its 10-year life span.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required for all buildings whenever built, rented or sold. If you are buying or selling a home it is now law to have a certificate. They are also required on construction of new buildings and are needed for rented buildings the first time the property is let after 1st October 2008.
The certificate records how energy efficient a property is and provides A-G ratings. These are similar to the labels now provided with domestic appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines.

They are produced using standard methods so that the energy efficiency of one building can easily be compared with another building of the same type. This allows prospective buyers, tenants, owners, occupiers and purchasers to see information on the energy efficiency and carbon emissions from their building so they can consider energy efficiency and fuel costs as part of their investment.

An EPC is always accompanied by a recommendation report that lists cost effective and other measures (such as renewable energy systems) to improve the energy rating. A rating is also given showing what could be achieved if all the recommendations were implemented.

The certificate is important because nearly 50 per cent of the UK's energy consumption and carbon emissions arise from the way our buildings are lit, heated and used. Even comparatively minor changes in energy performance and the way each building is used will have a significant effect in reducing energy consumption. EPCS are produced by accredited energy assessors.

To find an accredited assessor to produce an EPC:

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural sources such as wind, sunlight and tides which are naturally replenished. Renewable Energy encompasses a number of different technologies with each having unique characteristics which influence how and where they are used. Certain types of renewables will be more suited to an urban environment such as Leicester than others.

Renewable energy technologies include:

  • Wind power
  • Solar power - both solar electricity and solar hot water
  • Biomass
  • Hydro-power
  • Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
  • Ground and air source heat pumps (also known as geothermal)
  • Fuel Cells

Renewable energy requires an initial investment to purchase the technology. However, the savings made by the renewable technology should pay for this initial cost over a number of years (the payback period). The cost of the different technologies varies wildly. However, there is usually financial help available for this including grants and loans.

Renewable energy will help lower your energy costs and reduce your carbon footprint. The Leicester Energy Agency can provide help on renewable energy in a number of ways:

  • Provide information, advice and guidance
  • Carry out general Renewable Energy surveys
  • Lend support with Renewable Energy projects
  • Help with planning issues
  • Signposting to funding sources
  • Identification of best practice
  • Searching and identifying consultants for your project


For further information on renewable energy please contact the Leicester Energy Agency on 0116 262 4698 or email info@energyagency.co.uk.

Grants and Assistance

There are various grants, discounts and loans available to householders to help them increase the energy efficiency of their home. The Home Energy Office at Leicester City Council offer assistance to people within the city of Leicester for various measures, see www.leicester.gov.uk for more information.

There are other grants available for energy-related measures such as renewable energy or insulating your house. To see what is available in your area visit www.energysavingtrust.org.uk