- West Dunbartonshire Council awarded £355,600 towards providing new heating and hot water controls for their tenants in 14 multi-storey blocks across Clydebank and Dumbarton.
- The new heating and hot water controls improve tenants' experience with storage heating enabling them to move on to better tariffs where a smart meter is required.
- SP Energy Networks’ Net Zero Fund supports charities and community groups across central and southern Scotland to help accelerate their decarbonisation.
West Dunbartonshire Council has been awarded £355,600 by SP Energy Networks’ Transmission Net Zero Fund towards the installation of Connected Response HeatSage controls into over 850 homes across 14 multi-storey blocks in Clydebank and Dumbarton.
The upgraded controls work with the existing storage heating system in the home and introduce weather-compensated charging which can reduce charging times on milder days and shift water tank charging to off-peak energy windows, helping to reduce energy usage and in turn cost.
To date, the controls have been installed in 80% of eligible homes. Thanks to the funding from SP Energy Networks, the installation programme has been accelerated, bringing the benefits to more tenants faster.
Stephanie Anderson, Head of Regulation and Policy at SP Energy Networks, said: “Our fund is helping the residents of West Dunbartonshire experience significant improvements in their ability to control the heating in their homes through the installation of new technology.
“These upgrades are an important milestone in the nation’s mission to move to more sustainable systems, and we anticipate residents will experience immediate benefits once they are installed in over 850 properties.”
“Our Net Zero Fund is working with a number of projects throughout central and southern Scotland to support local groups to deliver on systemic, long-term benefits for their communities”
West Dunbartonshire Council’s Convener of Housing and Communities, Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal, said: “Our residents will be able to enjoy noticeable benefits from the new Connected Response HeatSage technology, with some already seeing an impact on their bills. The implementation of the heating and hot water controls across 14 blocks is a major step in improving residents’ ability to control both the temperature of their homes and their energy usage.
“We encourage residents to maximise the benefits of their new controls by requesting a smart meter from their energy supplier and moving to an off-peak tariff which can help save on energy bills. Getting a smart meter will also protect tenants from the upcoming Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) switch off from June 30th which may impact on their heating and hot water working properly”
“This support from the Net Zero Fund will make a massive difference to not only those residents receiving new heating and hot water controls, but the wider community with increased education and knowledge sharing on the benefits upgrades like these provide.”
A host of charities and organisations supporting communities across Scotland have been awarded funding from SP Energy Networks’ Net Zero Fund to introduce innovative net zero technology. The groups have received grants to help them decarbonise and reach their net zero targets sooner, with projects ranging from installation of heat pumps and renewable energy solutions to the purchase of electric vehicles and retrofitting listed buildings to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
SP Energy Networks, part of the ScottishPower group, owns and operates the electricity transmission and distribution network in Central and Southern Scotland, delivering power to more than two million homes and businesses. The Net Zero Fund has been established through SP Transmission, a subsidiary of SP Energy Networks, responsible for transmitting high-voltage electricity from power stations and windfarms to the low-voltage network across Central and Southern Scotland.
More information about the Net Zero Fund is available at: www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/netzerofund