The good news is that grants for loft insulation and cavity wall insulation are secure for the immediate future, but homeowners and private tenants are being urged to apply for their grant now whilst funding is still available.

An estimated 1 million eligible homes have still not taken advantage of grants for home insulation, which could see them save up to £220 a year off their energy bill. Free insulation is available to those over 70 or on certain benefits, and for everyone else a grant of between 40-70% is available.

More good news came yesterday when the Government dispelled rumours they would cut the solar feed in tariff and pledged to leave the current rate unchanged until the next review.

Further discussions will focus on the new Green Deal scheme, whereby homes can borrow money to improve their energy efficiency and pay it back through savings in their energy bill. Details are sketchy and this is not due to be launched for another two years.

The study, led by EDF Energy, found that over 70% of households in the UK have now installed energy saving measures such as <a href=”http://www.insulationgrants.info”>home insulation</a>.

This represents a significant increase over the last three years, with many homes taking advantage of government grants available increase their energy efficiency.

We are, however, still falling behind our European neighbours when it comes to using sustainable methods for generating energy.

Spain came out top, with more of its energy generating from sustainable sources (the UK ranked 6th).

COO of EDF Energy, Eva Eisenschimmel, suggests that Briton’s should take advantage of funding available for microgeneration, and avoid wasting energy within the home:

“Make choices about whether your home is powered by renewable energy sources and low carbon electricity, as well as choices around the management of appliances in your home – making sure that you don’t waste electricity through leaving things switched on when they’re no longer used or on stand-by overnight.”

With the recent introduction of <a href=”http://www.solar-feed-in-tariffs.co.uk”>solar feed in tariffs</a>, and the announcement of the first stage of the microgeneration initiative being launched, using renewable sources of energy should become more accessible over the next 12 months.

Whilst many homes have taken advantage of insulation grants available towards cavity wall and loft insulation, nearly 2 million households have yet to make the move.

The average saving on a two bedrooms home is around £160 after insulating cavity walls and loft. Those on benefits or over 60 could also qualify to have the work done for free. For everyone else, the cost is around £400 for both cavity wall and loft insulation, making the payback time less than 3 years.

Most houses built between 1930 and 1980 will have a cavity between the two outer layers that make up an external wall. An insulation installer will drill a series of small holes into the wall and pump insulation material into the holes, therefore preventing valuable heat from escaping. For most houses, the job takes less than 2 hours to complete.

The government is to make further funds available for insulation grants, in line with their target to reduce carbon emissions by 29% by 2020.

If you haven’t already taken advantage of these grants available, simply fill in the 3 step form at the top of this page and we’ll tell you exactly how much you could qualify for.

The loan would be linked to your property, rather than to you, and is designed to help spread the cost of energy saving improvements by allowing households to pay back the loan from the energy savings made each year.

The ‘save-as-you-pay’ initiative is part of the Governments plan to cut emissions from all 22 million UK households by 29% by 2020.

Installing solar panels can reduce energy bills by up to 80%, and can even earn money from selling energy back to the grid. But many are unable to fund the initial cost of installing such measures, which can amount to around £7000-£10,000.

Whilst this new scheme would help to reduce this initial investment, critics argue that new home owners could be forced to pay for the previous owners loans, and could lead to problems selling a home in the first place.

“I think it could have a detrimental effect on the housing market. Just the principle of attaching a loan to the property complicates things unnecessarily and it interferes with the free market value of the house,”  Gary Smith, President of the National Association of Estate Agents says.

However, Ed Miliband argues that the improvements made to the home, and therefore the energy savings, would far outweigh any loan attached to the property:  “You’ll find that the energy bills are significantly lower so, say, you’ll be having a few hundred pounds off your energy bills and offsetting that you’ll have a couple of hundred pounds in payments.”

The Conservatives argue that any loan paypack should be linked to household energy bill, allowing greater transparency: “It would not be a debt attached to the home, we would pay it off over time through the electricity bill,” Greg Clark, the Conservatives energy spokesman.

The Goverment is due to launch a new Feed in Tariff for solar panels and wind turbines in April, allowing homes to sell energy back to the grid in return for tax-free cash. This is coupled with existing grants available towards the cost of cavity wall and loft insulation.

Whatever your view, it seems evironmental policy, and specifically how to encourage households to cut emmissions, will be a popular point of discussion in the run up to this year’s general election.

In a joint project between 15 local councils and the Energy Saving Trust, planes will fly above Lancashire and detect the amount of heat escaping from local homes, in order to assess their energy efficiency.

Houses deemed to be amongst the least energy efficient will be told of their low efficiency rating, and given advice on how to improve it. The cabinet member for environment and planning at Lancashire Country Council, Councillor Tim Ashton said: “In the current economic climate anything we can do to help families and firms to cut costs is very welcome. By undertaking this high-tech approach, we will make sure that future work and grants are targeted effectively.”

Whilst it is not known how much this project will cost (the sky’s the limit), it is a further example of the lengths the government will go in order to increase the energy efficiency of homes in Britain, and reduce the amount of heat escaping through walls and roofs.

The government has already pumped millions into insulation grants to help home owners, landlords and tenants to insulate their homes and help retain valuable heat within their four walls. According to the Energy Saving Trust, the average UK home could save around £115 off their energy bill every year by insulating their walls.

To find out how much you could be eligible for, use the form at the top of this page.

(In case you were wondering, the carbon emmitted from these flights will be off-set by a donation to the Lancashire-Gulu Carbon Compensation Scheme).

Households in nine London boroughs will be offered energy saving light bulbs, stand-by switches, as well as free cavity wall and loft insulation to help contain heat within their home.

The campaign hopes to visit 1.2 million homes in London before 2015,  and it is hoped that by supplying energy saving equipment, as well as cavity wall and loft insulation, carbon emissions could be cut by around 1.5 million tonnes a year.

David Kenington, Head of Energy Saving Trust London, said ‘We are very pleased to see the introduction of this programme, in particular the focus on delivering cost effective carbon reduction measures such as loft and cavity wall insulation.

The Mayor has pumped an initial £9.5 into the campaign, with further investment expected. There are currently various different organisations working on the initiative, and the Mayor is developing a single scheme to encompass them all.

Those boroughs taking part in the scheme will receive a letter inviting a visit from a qualified energy assessor, who will assess what measures could be used to reduce their energy usage.

For non-Londoners, grants are available for cavity wall and loft insulation, but recent statistics suggest that many households are not taking advantage of the free grants available to them. You can calculate how much you could claim by using our free insulation grants calculator.

Lord Smith  is backing the plan, and says that only those who lead extravagant lifestyles would be affected. The scheme would also involve a rebate if credits are left unused, meaning those who forgoe the car in favour of a bike, or who use renewalable forms of energy to heat their home, could get money back.

Small business owners argue that they will be forced to buy extra credits, at a time when many businesses are already finding it difficult to pay existing taxes imposed by the Government.

If the plan does go ahead, it will place an even greater emphasis on ensuring that houses are well insulated, and any heat lost through lofts, windows and wall is minimised.

What do you think about this new plan announced by Lord Smith? Should the public be forced to pay a ‘green tax’ at a time when the country is also already struggling to meet the increasing cost of energy bills?