South Wiltshire Agenda 21

Wiltshire Council is offering a grant for loft and cavity wall insulation, to keep your home warmer and save on heating bills and carbon emissions.
Residents may be able to have the work done for free if they fall into one of these categories:

• Householders over 60 years old.
• Households whose total income is less than œ16,000 per year gross
• Families with children under 16 with an income below œ22,000 per year gross
• Households with an income of below œ30,000 per year gross where a member has been made redundant, lost overtime or taken lower paid work.
• In receipt of benefits

But everyone is entitled to at least a partial grant.

Home owners and private tenants are eligible to apply. Residents of flats are also able to apply provided all in the block are in agreement.

All grant offers are subject to survey, as the grant covers a maximum area of loft or wall, and has a maximum value of œ200 per insulation type.

To register for the scheme, please tel: 0800 512 012 or go to: www.warmandwell.co.uk

Please publicise this scheme to friends and neighbours and other members of your community. Leaflets are available from the Wiltshire Energy Efficiency Officer, Rachel Ross; tel: 01722 434349 or email rachel.ross@wiltshire.gov.uk

“What’s the point of solar if we are going to have summers like this?” 

Think again!  Believe it or not we have had enough sun to turn off our boiler for much of the summer. Read on to find out more about your solar options.

 Solar Water Heating – Exploding the myths

Solar water heating seems to be one of those peculiar things that most people seem to have heard about but few know very much about it, except that they think it costs thousands of pounds, and only works in summer. Having said that there are those who know of someone else who has had it for years and will say that it works very well. It is true that solar water heating has been around for years – it is as we say a ‘mature’ technology, just like bricks and cement are for building.

Read more on Is this the summer for solar?

Eighteen potential sites have been identified, with volunteer Site Champions undertaking to investigate their potential, establish ownership, and make an initial approach to the landowner, to gauge interest.

Wiltshire Community Wind Energy group held its first AGM in Salisbury on April 21 2009.

The group has made good progress since it was started last year by Jack Mason of Trowbridge, attracting local supporters of wind energy from backgrounds ranging from flood defence, archaeology, IT, energy efficiency, aviation technology and education.

Read more on Year one success for wind energy in Wiltshire

The scale of the waste finally became obvious to me after cheap domestic energy monitors appeared on the market.

I run a small computing business from my home in rural south Wiltshire. My home computer network has gradually been growing in size from a single computer and a dialup modem over a decade ago into a large collection of various beige boxes, network equipment and trailing extension leads.

For the techies reading this, there’s a Linux DNS and mailserver, a music server, a couple of Windows boxes for checking website designs work in Internet Explorer, the list goes on…

None of these are of a particularly high specification, being largely salvaged, low-end old machines that aren’t called upon for demanding tasks and don’t need to be blisteringly fast. However, although not everything is always switched on and in use, these machines have been quietly consuming between 60-110W – the same as keeping a traditional lightbulb on day in, day out.

Read more on Saving my money and energy

Wiltshire Community Wind Energy is a voluntary group who believe that appropriately sited wind turbines are part of a solution to climate change. 

Their first meeting will be on: Tuesday 27 May 2008 at 7pm
Bridge House, Stallard Street, Trowbridge BA14 9AE

Download Wiltshire Community Wind Energy

Contact info@wiltshirewind.org.uk

Other information at http://www.wiltshirewind.org.uk