Energy efficient project: the houses in Marford Road

Corresponding thermal image showing cold patch above kitchen door (probably due to cold bridge through lintel).

A street of hard to heat older council homes has had an eco-makeover aimed at making them warmer, cheaper to run and more environmentally friendly.

The 18 houses in Marford Road, Wheathampstead, were identified as being below standard when it came to keeping warm but now they have been brought up to date with external wall insulation, energy saving double glazing, loft insulation and solar panels.

The St Albans City and District council-owned houses were built in the 1930s without cavity walls, making them hard to insulate and keep warm and prone to mould and condensation problems.

The works should halve residents' heating bills with the solar panels providing up to 55% of the annual hot water needs. Some of the residents have already benefited from being able to use just solar energy this summer.

The council will monitor the effectiveness of the project by comparing heat loss from the properties before and after the work, and by looking at the before and after energy bills.

The renovations have delighted resident Mrs Patsy Cook who has lived in the road since childhood.

"I remember how cold they were when we were kids, there was frost on the inside of the windows. I think this is going to make quite a bit of difference to the heating bills," she said.

Mrs Cook has already seen some of the benefits with all her hot water provided by the solar panels and the wall insulation keeping the house warmer.

"We haven't had to put the hot water on because of the panels and I am sure all the insulation is making the house warmer," she added.

The project was carried out jointly with the Energy Saving Trust, a government-funded body that promotes energy saving measures, and the Building Research Establishment, which will share in the information gained.

Technical info:

• an Alumasc External Wall insulation system was installed on the outside of the house using 70mm thick phenolic foam insulation board and several coats of a polymer modified through colour render
• the aim is to achieve a U-value of 0.35W/m²k - this is the way of measuring the energy transfer through the walls with the heating system on
• all windows will achieve a BFRC rating in bands A B or C - the new standards set for double glazing
• the doors will achieve U-values of ; solid doors (unglazed): 1.0 W/m2K; half glazed doors: 1.5 W/m2K - this measures the energy transfer through the door
• flat plate solar panels were fitted flush to new roofs, butting up to the tiles and finished with a weather tight seal