Home retrofit might sound scary but it doesn’t need to be. When it comes to home health the main thing is that you understand what your home needs to make it more energy efficient and comfortable in the first place.
A recent YouGov poll showed that 60% of people in the UK don’t know what retrofit is, so the most important thing is that you have a handle on where there's room for improvement in your house, what your home actually needs and the return on investment upgrades bring.
And in case you’re part of that 60%, home retrofit means: making changes to existing buildings so that energy consumption and emissions are reduced. This means lower bills and a warmer, more comfortable home.
Read: Property Development Finance Options 101
That’s why we set up Furbnow, to show you exactly what improvements you can make to your home whether that’s retrofitting underfloor heating, a heat pump or just some loft insulation. We can then give you a plan and the contractors required for the job and project manage the work for you.
But the main thing is that the choice is yours with how you move forward once you have a plan from us.
The process of improving your home looks a bit like this:
- You book an assessment.
- The surveyor visits your home on your chosen date. They’ll assess your home energy efficiency and write a report.
- We’ll compile it into an easy to read plan that lays out what you need, how much each job comes to, the benefits it will bring and how long it will take.
- You can then chat to us about how you want to move forward.
Read: 7 signs your home isn’t energy efficient
Contents:
- Getting a home assessment
- Getting a plan
- Using your own contractors
- Carrying out the work with us
- Holding onto the plan for later
1. Getting a home assessment
You can read the full details of what happens during a home assessment on our blog.
A home assessment has two stages to it:
- The session kicks off with a chat about your home and your aspirations for it. This is also a chance for you to ask questions from the surveyor about the work that can be done to improve your home’s energy efficiency.
- They’ll then carry out the inspection of your home inline with retrofit regs. Which means inspecting the property and the rooms to see where heat escapes, they’ll inspect ventilation and look at how much energy you’re using to reach a certain temperature.
Read: From heat-pumps to insulation: 5 ways I can reduce my bills for good
2. Getting a plan
Soon after you’ve had the home assessment we’ll send you your home energy passport. The passport is a dashboard that gives you a detailed analysis of your home’s current energy performance, how much it costs, and its value. We then compare this data with what it could be after having work done.
Along with this you’ll also receive your plan. The plan brings together all the information you need to have your house retrofitted. You home retrofit plan includes:
- Jobs required to improve your EPC rating
- A timeline for these jobs to take place
- The costs of these jobs
- The opportunity to book the jobs through us
- The opportunity to have a project manager take care of the rest
Read: What could a whole house retrofit do for you
3. Using your own contractors
Once you have the plan you’re more than welcome to seek out your own contractors to carry out the home renovations and energy efficiency upgrades. It may be that you only want some of the jobs outlined carried out.
The benefit of the plan and energy passport is you should have a benchmark to understand the costs involved in home upgrades and can see how contractors stand along that price.
If you need any help with this we can help point you in the right direction. You just want to make sure you use accredited contractors.Too often we’ve seen homes that need work done all over again because it wasn’t done correctly in the first instance.
Read: How to improve the energy performance certificate of your home and reduce your bills
4. Carrying out the work with us
Hurrah! If you choose us to carry out your retrofit work then you can book a quick chat with us by hitting the button at the end of your plan.
Here we can discuss in more detail the ins and outs of the jobs and work out when’s best for you and how you’d like it to be organised. If you only want some of the jobs carried out, or if you’re already having work done and want the jobs to work around each other we can personalise the details for you.
We will then go to our network of accredited installers and suppliers and organise for them to come in and do the work as you wish.
You can be as involved as you wish. We can either do full project management so that it all runs like clockwork (while keeping you in the loop), or you can be involved in the process with us and manage it all too.
Read: The benefits of a warm, healthy home
5. Holding on to the plan for later
If you feel like on reflection you’re not ready to commit to any work then that’s fine too. The plan will remain accurate until you get any work done, so it’s helpful to be in the know about your house health and what work is required to improve it.
Book a home assessment and start your journey to a healthier home with Furbnow.
