As fuel prices go up it gets harder for people to pay their fuel bills and afford to heat their homes adequately. To help with these problems the George Street area has been identified as our first Warm Zone in Aberdeen.

In the Warm Zone we aim to help as many households as possible to reduce heating bills by improving the energy efficiency of all homes, and, to make sure everyone in that area is receiving any benefits they are entitled to.

A team of Warm Zone surveyors will be calling on all the homes in the George Street area between July and October 2008. They will be carrying out a simple survey to identify households who may gain additional income through having a confidential benefit entitlement check, and, those who could reduce their fuel bills by having improved insulation or more efficient heating in their home.

To arrange a visit and find out more ring 01224 538063.

Most of the homes in the Warm Zone area were built in Victorian times. Many are hard to heat and so fuel costs can be high. In particular in the George Street area:

• the tenement flats and houses in the area all have solid granite walls
• each tenement has a communal loft and stairway
• many of the tenements have shops and other commercial buildings on the ground floor
• many people living in the area do not have English as their first language , and,
• a high proportion of the homes in the area are privately rented.

We have a range of energy saving measures available through the Warm Zone including:

• loft insulation for £99
• free draughtproofing of communal front and back doors in the tenements
• free hot water tank jackets
• free radiator panels that fit behind radiators to reflect the heat back into the room
• free low energy light bulbs
• draughtproofing of front doors to flats from communal stairways for £35 

And to help with the cost of installing an efficient heating system:

• a cashback grant of £200 towards the cost of installing efficient heating
• fixed prices from local companies available through a local Trusted Trader scheme for installing a new efficient heating system.

If you want to make an appointment with one of the Warm Zone surveyors please telephone 538053 on Monday to Friday between 9.00 and 5.00. A Warm Zone surveyor can arrange to see you during the day or in the evening if that would suit you better.

The Aberdeen Warm Zone is funded by Aberdeen City Council and ScottishPower. It is also supported by the Cash-In-Your-Pocket Network, Aberdeen Care & Repair, and SCARF (Save Cash & Reduce Fuel).

We plan to use the Warm Zone approach in other similar areas of Aberdeen in the months and years to come.

If you want to know more about home energy efficiency in Aberdeen, click here.