The Energy Group
This event takes place annually and involves houses where the owners have taken steps to seriously reduce carbon emissions and also reduce their energy bills. In many cases there have been reductions of 80 or 90%, whilst making houses warmer!
Ten houses are generously opened up to the public for one weekend, to demonstrate at first hand what can be achieved and pass on the benefit of their experience.
What is the Energy group?
It’s a fricassee of high energy individuals who get together to discuss and find ways of reducing the town’s reliance on fossil fuels, re-localising our energy supplies and cutting energy consumption - in response to peak oil and climate change. Local resilience is the way forward.
How can I reduce my reliance on fossil fuels?
Reducing your energy consumption, as a householder or local business, is a great starting point. As a community we need to encourage the use of renewable forms of power, and enable the production of local renewable schemes to generate renewable power. Localising our energy supply is one of our main aims for building a more resilient future.
Welcome to OVESCo
We’ve set up an Industrial Provident Society, OVESCo which has been giving energy advice and administering Lewes District Council’s grants for insulation, heating and renewables. OVESCo is also actively seeking potential roof space to lease for community PV systems, and looking at suitable sites for hydroelectric generation and for wind turbines.
See: Home tips for saving money & helping the environment - it's a good check-list of things to do, most of which are very simple and inexpensive.
Below are a couple of events organised by the Energy group:
The 2010 Lewes Energy Fair – June 2010
The Energy Fair was successfully held for the third year. There was a wide range of stalls run by local installers promoting solar thermal, PV, heat pumps, wood fuel, good insulation for homes and also building or renting an Earthship. OVECSo gave out information on the Lewes District Council’s grants and loans. OVESCo also promoted a home energy advice service, which for a fee includes a home survey for a home report on how make you home more energy efficient.
The Open Energy House Weekend – June 2010
The aim of the Open Energy House weekend was to help people to save money, protect the environment, reduce their carbon footprints and safeguard against future fuel shortages. About 250 people visited 13 open houses in and around Lewes to find out what others are doing, and what they could do themselves to make their houses more energy efficient and cheaper to run - as well as reducing their impact on the environment.
Draughtbusting Day - February 2010
One household
draughtproofed their home, invited people to visit and members of the
Energy Group helped giving advice on methods of draughtproofing. More here...
Future Projects
The Energy group is looking at ways of providing advice on domestic energy efficiency, such as energy surveys or running classes to help people make effective changes to their lifestyles and homes. Another potential project is to investigate the supply of firewood in the district and set up a local depot for the supply and purchase of firewood. Schemes to provide wood based heat and power are also being considered.
If you’re interested in any of these projects or have any ideas of your own, please join us. We meet every 3 weeks or thereabouts and have a wide variety of people who get involved in what we do.
Contact: Chris Rowland or Julia Waterlow
Further Reading
ED Milliband at TT confrence 2009 listen to the interview here
Click here for further details of the 2010 Open house event: ECO-HOUSES
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