Green deal is too complicated for saving energy
A Trading Standards expert warns that the government’s green deal initiative will create a few problems
While we clearly all have a responsibility to control our energy usage, there are a number of potential problems with the government’s green deal.
The initiative is designed to help businesses and encourage homeowners to employ more green technologies in their homes. The idea is simple; install them into your property with no upfront outlay. You pay back the costs through your energy bill over a period.
This is unlike a conventional loan, because if you move the bill stays with the property where the savings are occurring, not with the bill payer.
The main “hook” that will be used by sales reps to get consumers interested is the fact that it won’t cost them anything extra – the monthly repayments will be covered by the savings made on your energy bill after the relevant measures have been installed.
This sounds great. But no two households are the same, and no two households have the same pattern of consumption. There are complicated formulas to predict what savings can be made, but there are so many variables – plus continual energy price changes – that it’s almost impossible to work out.
Bear in mind that doorstep selling, where sales reps are paid a commission for signing up consumers, will be one of the main routes to market for green deal providers. This method only operates in the economic interests of businesses, not consumers, and sales reps on commission are often economical with the truth and don’t provide best value for money. Just look at the evidence from the debacle of doorstep energy sales by the “big six”.
Trading standards officers advise consumers to never buy under pressure on the doorstep, and recommend taking time to shop around.
After much lobbying by the Trading Standards Institute, the green deal code of practice contains a requirement for all providers to respect “No cold callers” stickers displayed in homes. If you haven’t got a sticker yet, get one.
In some cases there will also be other work that needs to be done in conjunction with green deal measures, such as repointing of chimney stacks, repairs to the damp-proof course or some electrical rewiring.
But the Department of Energy and Climate Change is wasting the golden opportunity it has to signpost consumers to approved trader schemes such as the local authority-run “Buy With Confidence” , which mainly operates in southern England, or the government-endorsed TrustMark scheme. If ancillary work is carried out by the cowboys, the green deal will be irrevocably tarnished.
There is a great reliance on self-regulation within the new regime. However, I want to see some independent inspection of work that has been carried out to ensure it has been done properly and that the expected energy savings have a greater chance of being realised; rogue operators need to be pinpointed and eliminated very quickly.
Meanwhile, great care is needed to avoid turning homes into hermetically-sealed greenhouses, which might lead to condensation problems and thereby contribute to health issues for householders.
Finally, the notion that green deal plans will be passed on to future buyers of your home is flawed.
The reality is that when you sell your home, a prospective purchaser will probably ask you to pay off the plan in full before they buy from you. I would.
• Steve Playle is investigations and enforcement manager at Surrey Trading Standards
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