Fifty seven homes in Strabane area to benefit from energy scheme

FIFTY-SEVEN homes across Strabane and Sion Mills are due to benefit from a new Housing Executive scheme designed to set households on a ‘low carbon journey’ thanks to a series of ‘retrofit’ measures to be completed by March of next year.

Labelled the ‘300 Low Carbon programme’, the £14m scheme will see houses all across the North benefit from the changes, the largest undertaking of its kind.

As well as Strabane and Sion, Belfast, Dunmurry, Newtonards, Dungannon and Antrim will also benefit from the scheme.

This is in line with the Sustainable Development Strategy designed to reduce carbon emissions and ensure householders live in a sustainable home with a climate-resilient community.

Among the benefits afforded by the Scheme, each house will get improved cavity wall insulation, improved loft insulation, improved ventilation and air tightness measures around windows and doors ensuring a reduction in heat loss and a reduction in energy bills.

In addition, each house will receive a solar photovoltaic system to generate electricity from daylight and an electric battery to store electricity during cheaper night time tariffs and heat pumps, with gas hybrids included in the next phase.

Energy advisors will also be employed to impart complimentary advice to those benefitting from the scheme.

Speaking about the scheme, Housing Executive Chief Executive Grainia Long said, “Our Low Carbon Retrofit Programme will deliver a ‘whole house’ solution with the desired outcome of reducing carbon emissions, lowering householder bills and providing a heathier environment.

A range of interventions will help us achieve this, including improving energy efficiency measures through retrofitting, the introduction of low carbon heating options like air source heat pumps and the use of renewable energy for power generation and electric storage.”