Report on the outcomes of The C.H.E.E.S.E. Project
Jamie Hanlon, April 2020
We have just published our latest report on the outcomes of The C.H.E.E.S.E Project, covering Phases 3 and 4 (winters 2017/18 and 2018/19). The report was written by James Gourlay, a Geography undergraduate at The Univeristy of Bristol, and funded by the University's Q-step Programme.
Read the report here and see our documents page for previous reports.
Executive summary
The C.H.E.E.S.E (Cold Home Energy Efficiency Survey Experts) Project is a not-for-project community interest company (CIC) that aims to tackle both fuel poverty and climate change, by providing low-cost thermal-imaging surveys to make domestic heat losses visible.
This report examines customers feedback from surveys carried out in Phase 3 (2017-2018) and Phase 4 (2018-2019) of the project. The key findings by section are given below:
Remedial action
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66% of households completed remedial action by one month after their survey.
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87% of households completed remedial action by one year after their survey, showing that the vast majority of clients do take some form of action to improve the energy efficiency of their home.
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By one year after the survey, nearly ~50% of householders who paid for the survey reported having completed high cost remedial action (>£250) that will substantially improve the energy efficiency of their home.
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By one year after the survey, 85% of households said their home felt warmer after taking remedial action.
General feedback
- In general, the feedback was extremely positive. For the most recent season, 95%+ of householders agreed that the survey was good value for money and that they would recommend it to a friend or neighbour.
- The feedback scores for the most recent season (Phase 4) were higher than for the previous one (Phase 3), indicating clients had a more favourable view of the survey.
- By one month after the survey, around 50% of households reported changing their behaviour to maximise energy efficiency.
Energy consumption
Analysis of a small set of energy-consumption data, with data points before the survey, and one year after is included in an appendix. This analysis is intended to be illustrative of our data collection and methodology, but, because the sample size is too small given the variability of energy use in households, we do not draw any conclusions.