Pay As You Save Helps UK Homeowners Curb Emissions

Residents across the UK are gearing up for a trial to undergo a complete house energy makeover which will adopt affordable methods of making houses more energy conscious. The counties of Birmingham, Sutton and Stroud in London, and Sunderland will see some 500 of their homeowners test out these environmental and economical ways with the Pay As You Save programme sponsored by the UK government.

The plan aims to allow homeowners to invest in energy-saving devices as well as small, personal green energy generators without incurring the upfront costs of getting them up and running. The £4 million government scheme allows homeowners to repay the green technology over a period of time in which their energy bills will drop lower than the repayments allowing them to use their savings from their energy bills to repay the green technology loans.

However, there are also packages being offered in which residents can opt to pay some of the costs upfront and incur smaller payments down the road. These housewide energy makeovers will use a variety of technologies including small-scale renewable generators such as ground sources for heating and solar panels, or better insulation.

The government will then use these 500 pilot homes to support greater efforts for the Great British Refurb which will aim to improve energy conservation for 22 million existing houses in the UK. Ed Miliband, UK energy and climate change secretary, said that a lot of British homeowners are aiming to reduce their emissions but are having trouble managing the initial start-up costs for things such as solar panels, ground source heating pumps, and better insulation.

However, Pay As You Save offers a new alternative which could allow more homeowners to reduce their emissions and energy bills. Currently a quarter of the UK’s energy is consumed by homes so making a dent in the energy consumption at home would be a good step to reducing the UK’s total carbon emissions.