The Wootton Courtenay Home Energy Forum offers support, information and encouragement to villagers about domestic energy and energy sustainability by:
- Maintaining an energy information folder in the local shop and online via this web page (the latter is currently under construction),
- Providing information on the alternative types of energy tariff,
- Providing opportunities to meet and discuss home energy topics,
- Providing opportunities to visit the homes of villagers who have upgraded to more sustainable energy systems,
- Providing occasional talks from leading experts on domestic energy and energy sustainability,
- Providing a web presence for our forum,
- Exploring other ways to offer support and encouragement to villagers.
The forum developed from the Energy Efficiency Group, originally established in 2024 as part of Sustainable Wootton Courtenay. Our small working committee continues to inform, encourage and support energy efficiency improvements in village homes.
Energy Efficiency Information and Useful Contacts
If you are interested in learning more about domestic energy and energy sustainability we encourage you to delve into our substantial file of energy efficiency information and useful contacts which is held in the village shop and is available to borrow. The file was originally created in 2024, and has been continuously improved and updated since then. It has been used and appreciated by a number of villagers.
We will shortly be publishing elements of the file online via this web page. In the meantime you can view a list of contents here.
Coffee Mornings and Round Table Discussions
Over the last two years we have organised several coffee mornings, where a number of villagers who had made efficiency improvements to their homes discussed their experiences, both good and bad. These coffee mornings gave a fascinating “real world” insight and valuable information for anyone considering how they can improve the energy efficiency of their home, what it might involve, costs, benefits and return on investment.
Looking ahead, we will be trialling a new format of Round Table Discussions, where we introduce one or two energy efficiency themes, and then encourage open discussion on these and other topics of interest to the participants.
Site Visit Scheme
Our Site Visit Scheme, whereby six participating village households invite people to visit their homes to show and discuss their improvements has proved very helpful to those who have made use of this generous opportunity. Across the participating households we include Air and Ground Source Heat Pumps, Biomass Heating, Solar PV, Inverters, Battery Storage, Thermal Storage, Solar Hot Water, Under-floor Heating, and Insulation (roof and wall, internal and external).
We are always interested to hear from any villagers who have made energy efficiency improvements and would be open to joining the site visit scheme and/or participating in a future Round Table Discussion. Approximately 20% of parish properties already use low and zero carbon energy sources for their main heating so there is a wealth of experience within our locality.
Small Measures
It’s not all about making substantial and potentially expensive improvements. We also research and share information on “small measures” such as thermal blinds, draught stoppers, rechargeable batteries and LED lightbulbs, and have recently created a “Choosing a future electricity tariff” document.
Behind the scenes we have been reviewing the Centre for Sustainable Energy Carbon Footprint Report for Wootton Courtenay to see what conclusions can be drawn which might help guide our future activities.
We are a small team and would welcome anyone with an interest in energy efficiency to join us.
Home Energy Forum committee:
James Macbeth (Chair), Peter Clapham, Valerie Clapham, Beate Fankhänel, Andrew Dutton, Brian Matthews
For further information please approach one of the above team members (contact details are in the Information File in the village shop) or use the contact form on the Sustainable Wootton Courtenay page.
Wootton Courtenay 