In June MEA's Low Carbon Community team ran a workshop in Codsall as part of a wider range of energy efficiency awareness activities being delivered in South Staffs.

Mandy, a Council employee, attended the workshop (see photograph)and as a result has reduced her CO2 emissions by 57%.

By attending the workshop, Mandy discovered that her electricity consumption was twice as high as the average for her house size, with bills to match!

Her 4 bed semi-detached house was on economy 7 to feed storage heaters, and had an immersion heater.

With the help of the LCC Project Manager, she drew up an action plan and agreed to track her energy consumption pattern via a smart meter, and to take regular meter readings. It quickly transpired that the immersion heater needed re-setting, leading to a first lot of savings.

It then became clear that the storage heaters were defective. At this point, Mandy decided to have gas central heating installed, with a 90%+ energy efficient condensing boiler, which led to another set of savings.

Not only has Mandy reduced her carbon footprint, but she has also made net annual savings of £420.

In her own words : "I'm so glad we have got it sorted out and every time I turn the central heating on I can relax knowing that it's not going to cost us a fortune! Thanks so much for your help "

For further information on the workshop offer from the Low Carbon Community team, please contact sylvia@mea.org.uk