The new meters, which will allow people to control how much heating they use in the same way as a regular gas meter, are being fitted in 6,000 homes which, up until now, have been served by a communal district heating scheme. One thousand of these houses are supplied from a low-carbon energy source generated from Sheffield’s non-recyclable waste, and the other 5,000 are supplied from gas and biomass.
Heat meters have been fitted in 2,800 homes so far and figures from the first 227 homes to have been on the new system for a full year show households are saving an average of £238 on annual heating bills.
The work is part of the council’s wider five-year £300 million investment plan, which aims to improve the energy efficiency of council houses through better insulation, heating, roofs, windows and doors.
The council also pledged £163,000 funding earlier this year to help fuel poor households. Advice and support will be provided to vulnerable residents to help them lower their energy bills and will link with work to help tackle food poverty.
Stephen Parker, councillor at Sheffield City council, said: “Heat metering gives customers greater choice over the amount of heat they take and therefore the size of their heating bills. Used sensibly we anticipate customers will have the potential to make real savings in their heating bills in the future.”
The new meters are being installed by metering and billing company ENER-G Switch2.
The firm’s director Kirsty Lambert said: “Our teams on site have worked closely with residents to help them understand and get the most from the new systems installed and we have received very positive feedback from them.”