To retrofit your home means to improve it to make it warmer, cheaper to heat and more energy efficient.
Around 28% of emissions in Camden come from heating and powering our homes. Upgrading the energy efficiency of your home through home retrofit can help cut energy costs and help to tackle the climate crisis.
Before considering retrofitting your home, see these low or no cost tips on how you can reduce energy bills and make your home more energy efficient.
There are lots of things you can do to improve household energy efficiency and reduce your energy bills. Such as:
Insulation
Good insulation is one of the most effective measures at reducing the amount of energy used in your home. It can help to cut fuel bills and carbon emissions.
Find out more about insulating your home
Upgrading your heating and hot water systems
By replacing your boiler with a high efficiency condensing boiler or an air source heat pump you could reduce your carbon emissions and save money.
Find out more about heating and hot water
Solar power
Solar power captures energy from the sun to power items around your home. The two main types currently used are:
Ground source heat pumps (GSHP)
Ground source heat pumps use heat from the ground to heat the home. You will need to have a garden if you are considering a GSHP.
Find out more about ground source heat pumps.
Air source heat pumps
Air source heat pumps work by taking warm air from the atmosphere and compressing it to provide heat.
Find out more about air source heat pumps.
Getting started with home retrofit
There are lots of things you can do to improve your living conditions while reducing energy demand from your home:
get recommendations for home improvements on the Government website
if you have a valid EPC, check your EPC certificate as it can provide an overview of proposed improvements
watch Camden’s webinar series to help residents and businesses make their home or business more efficient
Camden recommends a taking a ‘whole house’ approach to home retrofit, which considers how the whole house will be impacted by making home improvements.
Ecofurb provides a complete retrofit support scheme from making recommendations for your home through to arranging an installer
TrustMark is a government endorsed search engine that can help you find a suitably qualified contractor to design and deliver your home improvements
Energy grants and incentives
Find out if you could benefit from financial assistance to help make your home more energy efficient.
Renewable energy grants and incentives
Check if you need planning permission
You may need planning permission to make upgrades to your home.
Take a look at our home planning guidance to learn more about making home improvements in Camden, and check if you need planning permission.