Nadine Smith and her family are pleased with work designed to improve the energy-efficiency of her home.
The property needed refurbishments so Nadine was excited when she was told her home would be receiving updates through a West of England Combined Authority (WECA) funding bid so she would not have to pay for any of it.
Axbridge in Somerset has been the focus of retrofit works completed by LiveWest which included new doors, windows, heating system and solar panels.
Nadine Smith said: “The house pretty much needed everything updated to it. It’s difficult to know at the moment if the heaters have made a difference but I have used the heating system a few times just to see how much it costs and it is definitely more energy efficient.
“We’ve already noticed a difference with the windows and doors so I’m hoping that’s going to be a big improvement when we get to the winter months.”
This was part of a WECA funding bid, LiveWest was successful in securing more than £8m of government funding to improve the energy performance of our homes under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF).
The South West Energy hub, hosted by West of England Combined Authority (WECA), secured the business the grant of £6.9m and contribute the same amount towards retrofitting nearly 800 homes.
Nadine added: “Personally, for us it’s been amazing because for a while now we’ve been saying our heaters are in need of updating and so old and probably not very energy efficient.
“It was a shame we couldn’t have this done before because some of the houses on the road had more updated heaters, we were told we couldn’t have a new one until ours was broken which was frustrating as it’s been cold in our house, so I’m really pleased it’s been done.
“You won’t believe how much of a difference having new windows and doors makes to the property and the little things like that. The lights make it more modern as the houses were built in the 70s, so it’s made a difference to that.”
Nadine, along with her partner, Shayne and their two sons, have lived in the three-bedroom property for 15 years and heard lots about the specifications of new build homes having to be energy efficient and hoped it would include current homes.
She appreciates the work being completed which will reduce her energy consumption and improve the efficiency of her home.
Nadine added: “My younger son has lived here all his life and so it’s nice for him for it to be a bit warmer and for the home to look nicer as well.
“I think it’s brilliant LiveWest is investing in the older properties and not just focusing on the new stock. We’ve all got to do our part when it comes to Net Zero so it’s amazing there is the aim to reach that and a focus on it.”
Nadine is pleased this will contribute towards homes being better for the environment and having a positive impact where possible.
Nadine said: “So, we try and do our bits with things anyway like with recycling and not wasting things but now having the home being more energy efficiency is definitely a great thing.”
“We do have a smart metre so we can view what we use, and it does seem to be we don’t use much electricity each day but with the solar panels we’re learning how to use them and use things during the day because being on Economy 7, we will try to use things at night-time when it’s cheaper.
“I programme my dishwasher and washing machine to come on during the night so when it’s a sunny day we turn everything on and do it then. So that’s going to have a great impact for us.”