The Ovesco team has been out and about in Barcombe quite a bit of late. We had our event at the village hall in June, and our stall at the Barcombe Bonfire event in July. We even did a spot of door knocking! We’ve delivered questionnaires to every home in the village. If you’ve returned yours already, thank you! If you haven’t had a chance, please do take a few minutes to do. We included an envelope to return it in, or you can drop it off at the village shop. Or you can do it online at www.communiheat.com. You can also still have a free home energy assessment!

It’s been great to talk to so many people. There’s definitely plenty of appetite for the CommuniHeat project, and almost everyone recognises that it’s essential to transition away from fossil fuel heating, and quickly. There have been plenty of questions too – which is just as it should be. And one of the most frequent questions is – how’s it going to be paid for?

This issue is so fundamental to the CommuniHeat project and to the transition as a whole. How can it be made achievable and affordable for all? It’s been great to see it in the news recently, with experts calling for poorer UK households to receive free heat pumps, and the Prime Minister acknowledging to the Commons Liaison Committee that there are challenges that must be met around affordability.

Well, we have some welcome news ourselves on this front! We’ve been made aware of a new source of funding for green home improvements for homes in East Sussex, worth up to £10,000 per household. These improvements could include better insulation, heat pumps, solar PV or thermal, and much else besides. This particular funding is designed for people on lower incomes living in homes which have a below average standard of energy performance, so it’s not a complete solution. But if you qualify, we would definitely recommend looking into it.

To be eligible you need to have:

1. A gross (before tax) household income of under £30,000 p.a. OR a net household income of less than £20,000 after tax, NI, mortgage or rent and council tax. (Please note that disability benefits aren’t counted as income.)
2. A current EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of D, E, F or G.

Applications need to be submitted by 30th September 2021. If you think you qualify, feel free to contact us on communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or 01273 472405. If you think you might be eligible, but you aren’t sure, get in touch anyway and we’ll help you figure it out.

As the move towards decarbonising heat gathers momentum, other funding will become available. Rest assured we’ll also be keeping a very close eye out, and as soon as we hear of any, we’ll let you know!

I’m writing this month’s piece with my resident’s hat perched firmly on my head.

If you were at the event at the Village Hall on 25th June, it was great to see you. It’s so good to talk about CommuniHeat in 3D rather than on screens! If you’re planning to go to the Barcombe Bonfire Society event that’s scheduled for 4th July, I hope to see you there.

If you did come in June you’ll have seen the launch of “Our Energy: Barcombe.” This initiative is all about how we Barcombe residents can join together to make decisions around the future of our energy, based on the results of CommuniHeat. Because that’s what community energy is about, in a nutshell – ownership, resilience and empowerment for communities. By the end of the year we should know what some of the options are to take Barcombe towards Net Zero, and we’ll need to work together to decide what to do next. It’s about being prepared, and having a plan that everyone can have a say in.

So – what’s the best way to do that? Well, Ovesco suggests that a steering committee would be a good start, and this was one of the things that was introduced at the June event.

A steering committee would generally consist of a number of residents, with a broad range of skills. You might have prior experience of leadership – perhaps from chairing a local group or something similar. You could be skilled in marketing, engineering, law or finance. You might have experience of renewable energy and/or energy efficiency. But this isn’t an exhaustive list. Each and every one of you will have valuable skills, ideas and opinions they can bring, and no one should feel unable to participate. Remember, it’s Our Energy! And Ovesco is a community organisation based on cooperative principles, and is here to support and guide, not impose anything on the village. You might have a better idea of how to go about it – if so, the Ovesco team would love to hear about it. It’s up to all of us and we can all have a say.

Finally, if you haven’t yet signed up for a heat loss survey, please do. This project is nothing without the heat loss info. Remember, you’ll receive a free heat loss survey and some vouchers to spend at local businesses.

Let’s learn how to do this together, and share our learning with other communities!

To sign up for a survey or volunteer for the steering group, or share ideas or thoughts of any kind, email communiheat@ovesco.org or ring 01273 472405. You can also sign up for a survey or for the mailing list at www.communiheat.org. Or stop me for a chat if you see me out and about. I really don’t mind; I just love talking about CommuniHeat!

As I write this, on a lovely day in May, it feels like the clouds are lifting. Walking around the village earlier today, it felt like there was a real mood of optimism. Barcombites are generally a smiley bunch, but right now everyone seems friendlier than ever. And it’s great to see folks chatting, laughing and enjoying a drink outside the pub.

With the lifting of lockdown, we’ve been able to plan for our live Barcombe Zero Carbon event! We’ll be hosting it at the Village hall on June 25th, from 2-7pm. Since the project started, we’ve been having regular online gatherings. These have been well attended and well received (thanks to those who came to our May webinars) but we know that Zoom calls aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. So, do come along and meet us face to face! It doesn’t matter if you’ve been following the CommuniHeat project from the start, or you’ve just decided you’d like to know more. There will be something there for you.

You’ll be able to see how our data visualisation exercise is progressing, hear more about next steps, and get an idea of what the Barcombe of the future could look like. You’ll be able to chat to the Ovesco team, Phil from engineering consultancy Buro Happold, and Ashita from network provider UK Power Networks about how community energy works, our data modelling, the impacts electrical heating and electric vehicles will have on the grid, and much more. There’ll be a chance to input your ideas and questions (we’ll also have a comments and ideas box, so you can do this anonymously if you choose.) You can also sign up to the Barcombe Energy Group, which will play a pivotal role in deciding which course the village will take, and collect your vouchers if you’ve already taken part in our monitoring and surveying exercise. And, of course, there’ll be cuppas and cakes aplenty.

We’ve also invited a range of green tech suppliers. I think this is particularly important. The questions the Ovesco team get asked most often are about understanding the technology. What sort of solutions are available? How much do they cost? How efficient are they? What are the pros and cons of each? What’s best for my kind of property? While we have an understanding of these things, we’re not experts – so here’s your chance to ask the experts!

Remember, CommuniHeat is first and foremost a partnership. Barcombe residents are a key partner in the project, and it won’t work without you. Community energy is all about engagement and discussion with communities to find solutions that work for everyone. Our June event is the perfect place to continue this conversation. So, why not be a part of it? Come along, bring your ideas, opinions, questions and energy! But if you don’t want to wait until then, or can’t make the day, you can ask your questions or sign up for a free survey and vouchers by calling 01273 472405, email communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or visit www.communiheat.org

Well, it’s all been happening! And despite the challenges of undertaking a pioneering project during such unprecedented times, CommuniHeat is well on track.

By early February we’d been contacted by over 80 residents wanting to help Barcombe in its transition to net zero emissions by volunteering their homes for monitoring equipment installations and surveys. That’s a brilliant response – thank you everyone who has responded, signed up, sent in questions and attended our evening webinars.

To inform the CommuniHeat project we need a total of 200 homes to sign up to our free home energy assessments. With this in mind, we’re entering anyone responding from 1st March into a prize draw. One lucky winner will get to spend a night (in the week and out of holiday season) at Barcombe’s very own Secret Campsite, in either the Gridshell or Tree Tent, courtesy of the wonderful Tim and Lisa Bullen. Thanks guys! Remember everyone who takes part also receives a voucher to spend locally and we provide you with a bespoke home report and recommendations to make your home low carbon.

Our Home Energy Champions Frank, Bruce and Rafferty have been busy contacting residents, installing monitoring equipment and undertaking energy surveys. Don’t forget as well as undertaking the surveys the Champions can help advise you on your energy bills and the best ways to save energy at home.

In other news, in January we made the TV news! Many of you will have seen it, but if you haven’t it’s on YouTube – just put “CommuniHeat Project Barcombe – BBC London and South East” into the search engine of your choice, and you’ll be able to see the aforementioned Tim Bullen and Ovesco’s very own Chris Rowland being interviewed. Since the piece went out we’ve heard from many other rural communities – not just across Sussex but in Devon, Wales, Herefordshire, Hampshire and more – who have been inspired and want to do something similar. It’s great to see such appetite for change across the country. As you may know, we’re busy writing a book about the project which we hope will give guidance to other communities like ours who want to go zero carbon.

And finally, as part of our effort to understand the best solutions for the village to collectively move away from oil heating, you’ll soon see our new weather station, which will be installed at The Secret Campsite. The station will closely monitor local conditions, including temperatures and the amount of solar radiation and wind in the area. We’ll use the data from the weather station along with the data being collected from homes to more accurately predict how new low carbon heating and generation in the village will behave. This will allow improved understanding of how heating demand and solar PV generation would change depending on local weather.  This is particularly important to assess those times when the electricity network might be struggling –  especially in extreme  conditions such as the cold winters of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.

Keep an eye on FaceBook, www.communiheat.org and Barcombe news for updates. And keep those questions and ideas coming! Email communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or call 01273 472405 and speak to one the Ovesco team. Or stop me for a chat if you see me out and about – I really don’t mind!

The Ovesco team has been out and about in Barcombe quite a bit of late. We had our event at the village hall in June, and our stall at the Barcombe Bonfire event in July. We even did a spot of door knocking! We’ve delivered questionnaires to every home in the village. If you’ve returned yours already, thank you! If you haven’t had a chance, please do take a few minutes to do. We included an envelope to return it in, or you can drop it off at the village shop. Or you can do it online at www.communiheat.com. You can also still have a free home energy assessment!

It’s been great to talk to so many people. There’s definitely plenty of appetite for the CommuniHeat project, and almost everyone recognises that it’s essential to transition away from fossil fuel heating, and quickly. There have been plenty of questions too – which is just as it should be. And one of the most frequent questions is – how’s it going to be paid for?

This issue is so fundamental to the CommuniHeat project and to the transition as a whole. How can it be made achievable and affordable for all? It’s been great to see it in the news recently, with experts calling for poorer UK households to receive free heat pumps, and the Prime Minister acknowledging to the Commons Liaison Committee that there are challenges that must be met around affordability.

Well, we have some welcome news ourselves on this front! We’ve been made aware of a new source of funding for green home improvements for homes in East Sussex, worth up to £10,000 per household. These improvements could include better insulation, heat pumps, solar PV or thermal, and much else besides. This particular funding is designed for people on lower incomes living in homes which have a below average standard of energy performance, so it’s not a complete solution. But if you qualify, we would definitely recommend looking into it.

To be eligible you need to have:

1. A gross (before tax) household income of under £30,000 p.a. OR a net household income of less than £20,000 after tax, NI, mortgage or rent and council tax. (Please note that disability benefits aren’t counted as income.)
2.A current EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of D, E, F or G.

Applications need to be submitted by 30th September 2021. If you think you qualify, feel free to contact us on communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or 01273 472405. If you think you might be eligible, but you aren’t sure, get in touch anyway and we’ll help you figure it out.

As the move towards decarbonising heat gathers momentum, other funding will become available. Rest assured we’ll also be keeping a very close eye out, and as soon as we hear of any, we’ll let you know!

We’ve had a busy month at Ovesco! Since December’s piece in Barcombe News, dozens of residents have got in touch wanting to get involved with CommuniHeat. Many of you have kindly given us permission to install energy-use monitors and conduct energy-use surveys within your homes; others have put yourselves forward to be “Energy Champions,” installing the equipment and doing the surveys; some have volunteered for both. We had two webinars for residents in mid-December. Thanks to those who attended – having an ongoing conversation with you all is so important.

We’re delighted at the positive response, and it makes the goal of being a net zero village by 2030 seem achievable. It’s a good start. But it’s just the start!

Now, some of you who weren’t able to attend the webinars might be considering taking part, but wondering what’s involved. What will be installed? What does it look like? Will I be falling over it all the time? Will they be drilling holes and cutting into pipes, or spending hours and hours on their surveys? Well, the simple answer is no! We want to make everything as easy as possible. The devices, which have been selected with this in mind, will be small (no bigger than 10×10 cm), wireless, and unobtrusive. The room-by-room surveys take an average of two hours (depending on the size and construction of your house – three hours worst case.) All our Energy Champions will be fully trained and follow Covid protocols.

Also, the information provided won’t just be useful for us. You’ll get a clear idea of how your home performs, and how it could be improved. And of course you’ll get up to £50 in vouchers as a “thank you” from us!
If you’d like to take part, or have any questions, email communiheat@ovesco.co.uk or call 01273 472405.

Oil heating isn’t great in a lot of ways. It can be costly. It’s messy and it’s smelly. You have to remember to monitor your oil levels. (My house ran out last winter. The experience of staggering around with jerrycans, trying my hardest not to spill oil in my back garden, isn’t one I’d care to repeat.)

But worst of all, it creates a LOT of CO2. And this means no matter what steps you take to lower the carbon footprint for your household – installing solar, driving less, eating locally sourced food – you know it’s going to be significantly higher than the national average, simply because your home runs on oil. And of course it’s not just us Barcombites (Barcombians?) who have this issue. Around 1.5 million households across the UK have oil heating, and it accounts for a sizeable chunk of national emissions. Phasing it out is essential if the UK is to meet its zero emissions targets.
This month, Lewes-based community energy group Ovesco are launching a project (the first of its kind in the UK!) to help find a way for our village to transition to electric heating. This project, which is called ‘CommuniHeat’ and will be undertaken in partnership with electricity network provider UK Power Networks and engineering consultancy Buro Happold, will run for the next two years. Locally recruited ‘energy champions’ will gather data on current energy usage from hundreds of local houses by undertaking surveys and installing free meters. This data will be used to plan for how the village could make the transition to electricity. The ultimate goal is to get the village to net zero emissions by 2030 while also creating new local jobs, and to create a masterplan which could be replicated across the country and make Barcombe a pioneer in sustainable energy.

Projects like CommuniHeat could play a huge part in tackling the climate and environment emergency, and safeguarding the future for our children and their children. Being at the forefront of this is exciting stuff! Nevertheless, some of us will have questions. Some of us will wonder about the impact of such a major transformation on our village. All perfectly understandable. That’s why Ovesco will be running regular online community events and forums so residents can find out more, and someone will always be on hand to answer all your questions via email or phone.

If you’d like your household to take part in the project, or you’re interested in becoming an energy champion, or you have any questions, then you can call Ovesco on 01273 472405 or email mark.engineer@ovesco.co.uk.