Siberian swans focus minds on winter insulation

Today's Daily Telegraph carries the picture of Siberian swans who arrived in Britain at the weekend. Their arrival is taken as a sign that we're in for Arctic conditions.

Time to think, then, of heating and home insulation. When you consider we need to retrofit 12,500 homes a week to meet our government targets by 2050 we need to act swiftly and at scale to treat our housing stock.

Gloustershire Warm and Well, have taken the imperative and approached the neediest in the community, offering discounts and even free insulation to those on low incomes. Kirklees council have worked impressively across entire areas engaging community groups and offering cavity wall and loft insulation work. For those with an interest in alternative insulation, Second Nature have developed thermafleece made from sheep’s wool. This innovative product is safer to handle, has a breathable structure and a significantly lower embodied energy. Finally, Kensa Engineering and Geothermal International make it evident that renewable sources of heating, such as through ground source heat pumps, are important counterparts to staying warm through the winter.

Meanwhile, in his latest blog about his own eco-refurbishment, Ashden's UK manager Mike Pepler has wisely just put in the roof insulation. You can read his step-by-step guide here.