A CAMPAIGN has been launched with the aim of saving money, energy, and lives by making Dorking's beautiful yet often inefficient historic homes more cosy.
Environment group Transition Dorking has teamed up with Mole Valley District Council to create the Dorking Warm Homes Campaign to tackle the problems experienced by many people living in the area's older houses.
Group member Jacquetta Fewster said improving insulation, installing draught proofing measures and making heating more efficient would bring benefits for people's health and finances, as well as being more environmentally friendly.
"Homes built in the early 19th century or before are often difficult and expensive to keep warm, and residents may experience severe health problems such as hypothermia," she said.
"Research shows that an older home with no cavity wall or loft insulation is likely to cost over £300 more to keep warm every year than a modern home.
"Because the walls have no cavities and original windows are often ill-fitting and draughty, heating an older home is likely to generate more greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change."
Mrs Fewster added that the 2012 Surrey Health Profile revealed that 554 deaths across the county were directly attributable to the cold.
The Warm Homes Campaign – launched at Transition Dorking's Eco Day event in St Martin's Walk on Saturday – will initially take the form of a competition in which householders can apply to win a free energy survey worth £290 to be carried out by a firm of environmental experts.
They will identify the most important and cost-effective measures to keep a typical older Dorking home warm and use the information to create a booklet on how local people can improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
Mrs Fewster said: "We're looking for the sort of house that doesn't have cavity walls, but does have the original wooden windows, chimneys and floorboards.
"We're going to ask people to explain what improvements they have done so we can narrow it down to the people in the coldest and draughtiest houses, so when the surveyors go in they will see a house that has had nothing done at all.
"We're likely to do the survey in mid May and hope to launch the booklet in the autumn."
Councillor James Friend, Mole Valley's portfolio holder for environment, said: "It is essential that people keep warm during the winter months and that can be a significant challenge in the older houses that are home to many Dorking residents.
"This is a great initiative to help local resident access the energy saving services they need."
Once completed, the information booklet will be available from council offices.
- Residents should send the following details to transitiondorking@googlemail.com or to Graeme Kane at Mole Valley District Council, Pippbrook, Reigate Road, Dorking RH4 1SJ by April 12. Name, address, e-mail address, phone number, description of improvements made (e.g. double-glazing, loft insulation, cladding etc), the year the house was built, the number of rooms in the house. Information based on the results will be distributed to others, although no information that would identify the property will be released without the householder's consent. One Dorking home will be selected by May 12 to have the free survey, worth £290.
