More energy-efficient homes in London

As I live in a flat the idea of a system turning on the washing machine during quieter times sounds worrying. According to my smart meter my washing machine uses just a small amount of electricity. What would need to be installed and run for little advantage and saving.

I have heard that heat pumps are not only large and unsightly and very expensive but were designed to back-up a central heating system, not to be relied on completely as they take around 24 hours to heat a home. 

We are told to get a smart meter to help reduce our use of electricity then encouraged to buy electric vehicles. These mixed messages do not encourage trust. The whole thing feels rushed and desperate, like ULEZ.

It feels that the rush to be "carbon neutral" could be to the disadvantage of many, especially for someone like me who lives in an flat in an older building. Any plans should put people first and improve their lives, not put a burden of cost and possibly less efficient system that cannot be individually controlled.

Living in council owned flat on a medium sized estate my opinion would be of minimal weight in any decision but I would strongly prefer a local heat network as this would provide the best option for carbon reduction if green electricity and storage batteries were the chosen fuel. The benefit would be shared across the whole community and it would be possible to compel leaseholders to comply and pay towards costs.

Section L of the London plan includes energy efficiency standards.  These standards could further be tightened by improving shade from wide balconies, the eaves of roofs and thicker wall and roof insulation of half a metre.  Underfloor insulation is already there in my home but for new homes there is no excuse but to put the maximum amount because the long term benefits would be greater.  New builds should also reduce the amount of heat bridges for instance post boxes, locks, door-knockers, and copper pipes.  Heat bridges are part of the design of homes so I am hopeful that new builds will have the most energy efficient design.  The only reason we are even having this conversation is because of the work of Green Party members of the London Assembly over 20 years ago.

Heat pumps batteries and insulation and solar panels are nothing to be scared of. They are here and they work, but expensive. I’m only at stage 1 (insulation) because I can’t afford to rip out gas central heating that still works and the roof is wrong for solar. There’s a way to add a heat pump if you’ve got the space so you only burn gas for a top up. I don’t have the space. would I  like to help save the planet because I am old and probably in two generations time it will be extreme weather, climate refugees and conflict such that we have not seen. I will miss all that. Good luck kids.

The survey is completely flawed because it does not really address the huge costs involved and limitations of existing technology.

Solar PV cannot be installed on dormer lofts and don't work effectively on most pitched roofs.

Heat pumps don't work effectively on uninsulated homes with solid brick walls (the majority of London houses) so, you have to completely strip your home to insulate and fit new radiators. Fit underfloor heating and insulation. Then give up space for a hot water cylinder, and a pump room for the heat pump system itself. Probably have to lift floors and tiles to replumb everything, make good and redecorate. You are looking at costs of 25-30k before you are done. That's not going to work. We need to stop pretending a tiny grant for the heat pump itself is going to cut it. Maybe it will for the lucky ones who have a modern build.

We need a solution that can effectively replace a combi boiler.

Battery and a smart service 

We are aleady thinking about this issue as we have an old gas boiler. We are considering a heat pump but it seems that they are not very reliable or are expensive. We stayed in ac ottage heate  by one and the owner  was not all that pleased with his system.

As we live in a ground floor flat in a conservatio area we cannot have solar panels.

We already  run our washing machine etc  when our electricity supplier tells us to.

I think that building standards need to think more about this. Triple glazing on new builds should be compulsory as should be glassed in balconies with  the glass being reactive to heat. 

The survey strangely had no questions about the length of time a return on investment would take. Some technologies clearly have a quicker ROI than others. It is obvious that if the ROI was less than 6 months the take up would be much stronger than an ROI of 20 years! ROI for householders is important so why no questions relating to it?
On a related point I didn't know I didn't have cavity wall insulation until recently. When I discovered I didn't I moved quickly to have it installed. I am sure I am not alone. The question about CWI is always yes/no but should also include don't know!
Like most householders I don't want to be a Guinea pig. PV and solar heating are mature technologies but I doubt that hydrogen boilers are. A question about perception of the maturity of each technology should have been included. 
I was expecting a "catch all" question at the end asking if there was any other comments that the person might want to add - but strangely there wasn't one. Why not? 

For existing housing stock it has to be "insulate first".  For new stock it is build to highly insulated and airtight standards and install low carbon energy sources.

Once insulated properly, then you can address low carbon energy provision.  Air source heat pumps are great but need a footprint or cradle on the outside of buildings so do not easily work with flats.  Batteries are good in principle in charging up on low cost energy but take space and that is at a premium in many flats.

The technology is just not there yet. Heat pumps provide less heat, cost more, take up more space, are noisy - and fitting of such would also require redecoration of the immediate area. There’s always a lot of hot air from the Mayors personal office, so perhaps that could be rigged up to supply heating for Londoners!

I would really like some form of pergola or sunlight reflecting covers installed on my windows which are triple glazed and cover almost the entirety of my east facing new-build flat. Although wonderful at remaining warm in winter, during summer my entire flat feels like like I am living under a magnifying glass and despite both of the flat's main rooms having balcony doors, even after these are opened once the sun moves across at about 3pm, if the temperature outside remains high, I am unable to cool the flat at all during continuous hot weather. I suffer from epilepsy which is aggravated by extremely hot weather and have been forced to purchase and use a small portable air-conditioner to return the flat to a bearable temperature during a heatwave but, even if I was able bodied I would be unable to bear the temperatures of well over 30C the flat remains at until the hot weather finally breaks. I am certain many east facing new-build flats without sunshields experience exactly the same problem, something that will only get worse as global warming continues.

The cost of installing a new system as we are a pensioner house hold. 

I have been though the process of installing an air source heat pump for my 60sqm flat in Lambeth as part of a renovation which included wall and floor insulation and installation of double and triple glazing. It required so much motivation and commitment as it feels that everything (regulation, maket maturity, customer protection) is against  those who want to make any positive change, despite the progress with government grants. Issues/ paradoxesI had to face:

• As someone who doesn't own a car (and therefore doesn't occupy a parking space all year round), I had to pay over £3,000 in parking tickets for trades. While I support measures that discourage car journeys, it felt like a paradox to have to pay so much to make home improvements that make my flat more sustainable, while people who own a car pay far less to keep it parked most of the time on public land.
• As the outdoor space available in my property is very limited, I needed planning permission to install the heat pump and access government grants. This was a lengthy and costly process, comparable to applying for a side return extension and took months to complete.
• The company I originally used to install the heat pump went bust and consumer protection bodies weren't able to help recover the advance payments made. 

I think the GLA and local authorities should look at the whole journey that people g through when trying to make their homes more sustainable and focus on the key points where they have influence. The parking cost paradox I described is one example and the unrealistic planning permission process are two examples.

Any provision that offers grants must be much more generous and wide-ranging than anything that has been offered to date and the application process must be much simpler, bearing in mind London's diversity and the fact that many people do not have English as a first language.  Your survey was much too complicated for the community members I know and included unexplained complicated phrases such as solar photovoltaic panels.

Our residential block of 51 private flats would benefit from smart meters.  But the flats have various energy suppliers, requiring mutliple visits by electricians.  The freeholder quite properly requires a fire safety certificate for every visit.  That isn't going to happen, so no smart meters.

Heat networks are not the way forward- they will simply be another over budget, late project which causes insufferable traffic disruption on top of the existing shambolic management of roadworks in London. Heat networks in new-build communities could work, but I do not trust energy companies to run them in the interests of people. The first step in reducing emissions is reducing consumption through insulation and better thermostat systems in homes which would allow only the rooms being used to be heated- too many homes have the thermostat in the hallway which does not reflect the mean temperature of the home. I think that the future is hydrogen and this needs to be pushed- surely the existing gas network can be used to distribute hydrogen without having to dig up everything at huge cost and hassle?  I like the idea of local co-operatives running their own local energy infrastructure and would strongly support this model if it was on a hydrogen/geothermal system.

I think special consideration needs to be given to blocks of leasehold flats.  We have a communal heating system in the basement (gas-powered) that I suspect has its own inefficiencies, e.g. in the heat lost distributing the hot water throughout the building.  Moreover, we're all forced to use that so have no option to switch to other suppliers or types of heating for example.

I think our building would be ideal to have solar panels on the roof as well, but the chances of us getting the freeholder / management company to do that are slim, and they would probably take most of the income themselves.

It would be great to have legislation forcing freeholders of suitable buildings to allow energy-efficiency schemes and pass the savings onto leaseholders.