As the delivery partner for the Mayor of London’s Warmer Homes Fund and experts in the field of delivering ECO grants alongside other available grant funding, despite the challenges this year, at Happy Energy Solutions Ltd, we have carried on helping the most vulnerable households throughout the lockdown period. When an urgent referral came through from one of our referral agencies, Thinking Works, regarding a client with a young disabled child who had been living with no heating or hot water since summer 2019, we knew we had to do our best to help.
The client lived in a 4 bed semi-detached house built in the 1960’s. Standing on a quiet residential street in a leafy neighbourhood of South West London, this seemingly family friendly home was energy inefficient as the boiler was condemned and beyond repair. The family had been relying on one portable electric heater throughout the cold months of winter. Apart from it being ineffective at heating the whole property, plug in electric heaters are expensive to run and increase the risks of fuel poverty.
The client informed us that prior to lockdown, the children had been visiting extended family for showers, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic they were now all in self-isolation, leaving the client and her 2 children stuck at home, heating water with a kettle for bucket washes. She explained that her son’s hands were a blue/purple colour and that she was starting to suffer with arthritis due to living in the cold.
Despite the unusual circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, we were able to carry out a thorough examination of the property with all social distancing measures, COVID risk assessments and relevant PPE in place. Following the survey, we replaced the condemned boiler with a highly efficient Worcester Greenstar 32CDI combi boiler. The works also included a gas pipe upgrade and substantial flue works to meet gas safe standards. This work was fully funded under the Warmer Homes Fund and an ECO grant, enabling us to deliver these works for free to the client.
After following up with the client, we were pleased to hear that they were extremely happy with their new boiler and the way we dealt with their situation every step of the way. And so, we have another happy client!
We are proud to be helping vulnerable households to keep their homes warm and their energy costs down by offering grant funded energy efficiency installations. Did you know that many homes that were built in the 1960’s are losing 3 times more heat than newly built ones, and that about 1/3 of our home's heat is being lost through the walls? If you’re struggling with your home energy efficiency, get in touch with us to see how we can help you!