Visit ‘house on wheels’ for free energy advice in Chesterfield market

A ‘house on wheels’ will be rolling into town on Saturday, October 1, the centrepoint of a major Home Energy Exhibition offering a wealth of advice on reducing gas and electricity bills.

Experts will be on hand to offer free, impartial home energy efficiency and domestic renewables advice in a fun, interactive and engaging way – and as an added bonus the first 10 people who come for advice will get a free low flow showerhead (which saves water and energy) donated for the event by Severn Trent Water.

The exhibition will be in Chesterfield market from 10am to 3.30pm. It’s being staged by energy charity Marches Energy Agency who also run the free Warmer Derby and Derbyshire service and is being brought to Chesterfield by Transition Chesterfield with funding from Derbyshire County Council’s Community Grants.

As part of the same project Transition Chesterfield will also be distributing over 7,000 leaflets to households and community organisations with advice on simple, low cost things that people can do to reduce their energy bills, stay warm and tackle the climate emergency at the same time. The leaflet will also address common energy myths and give annual cost savings for some easy actions (e.g. turning the thermostat down by 1 degree saves £80 a year on average for every degree).

Transition Chesterfield has also created a new Home Energy Saving section on its website with links to more information and a copy of the leaflet for download. See http://transitionchesterfield.org.uk/home-energy-saving/

Organiser of the project, Lisa Hopkinson, from Transition Chesterfield said: “With average energy bills set to nearly treble this autumn many more people are going to be pushed into fuel poverty. We wanted to help everyone cut their energy bills while staying warm as well as signposting people to free resources.

“With home heating responsible for more than a quarter of Chesterfield’s carbon emissions we also want to tackle the climate emergency by supporting people to cut their energy use where they can. Reducing home heat loss through insulation is one of the most effective ways people can cut both their energy use and their carbon emissions.”

Peter Burgess-Allen, from Marches Energy Agency said: "If people are worried about their energy bills, we are here to help. There are lots of simple things they can do to help cut their energy bills, and we can signpost people to a range of resources they may be eligible for. So please do come along to our exhibition on Saturday 1 October and we will do our best to help."