Your home upgrade journey
So, you've decided you'd like to make some energy improvements to your home – but where do you begin?
Whether you're interested in reducing your energy bills, making your home more comfortable, lowering your carbon footprint, or preparing for future heating upgrades, the first step is understanding how your home currently performs.
Every home is different, and the best improvements for one property may not be right for another. Taking some time to understand your home's construction, energy use and opportunities for improvement can help you make informed decisions and avoid costly mistakes.
We recommend following these steps:
1. Learn about your home by exploring our Shipbourne and Plaxtol Home Energy Upgrade Guide
Our Home Upgrade Guide groups homes into six common home types based on their age, types, wall construction and heating. For each home type, we provide recommendations on the kinds of energy improvements that are often most suitable and the corresponding advantages. While this can help you understand your home and the options available, every home is unique, so these recommendations should be seen as a starting point rather than a detailed plan.
2. Get a free initial home assessment
Whether you’re interested in specific measures or looking at your house as a whole, there are a range of free services worth considering to form your home energy upgrade plan. Try one of the free online retrofit assessment tools below. These tools can help you identify potential improvements and provide a personalised starting point for your home upgrade journey.
Select your address to generate a whole home improvement plan with costs, savings, grants and installer options based on your home, budget and goals
Select your address to generate a whole home improvement plan with costs, savings, grants and installer options based on your home, budget and goals
Furbnow offer a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your home, priorities and next steps before committing to a paid plan
3. Decide how much support you need
What you do next depends on your confidence level, budget, and how involved you want to be in the process.
Some homeowners prefer to carry out their own research, compare options, and choose installers independently for a "DIY approach". Others want expert guidance to help them create a whole-house plan before investing in improvements. For both, a whole-house approach is needed. We recommend beginning by surveying your home as a whole, as any individual measure taken can impact the performance of the wider home.
There are several levels of support available:
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Self-guided advice – Use online tools and resources to explore suitable upgrades and research installers yourself. If this sounds like you, take a look at our local installers page.
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Targeted assessments – If you're mainly interested in a specific technology, such as a heat pump, solar panels or insulation, you may choose a specialist assessment focused on that measure.
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Detailed retrofit assessments – A whole-house assessment looks at your property in detail and creates a long-term plan showing the most effective sequence of improvements. We provide examples of these below.
Free online assessments from installer procurement platforms
These platforms link users with local installers, and ask for property information to generate initial pre survey estimates. They provide free online assessments of the home, before linking customers with recommended installers, in return for a commission from the installer. They act as a centralised platform for reviewing and comparing installer quotes, approaches and proposed systems. Quotes are then typically refined following site surveys and technical validation.
Detailed retrofit assessment and coordination
Detailed retrofit assessments provide a comprehensive evaluation of your home's energy performance. Carried out by qualified retrofit professionals, they involve a thorough survey of the property, assessing its construction, condition and current heating system. The assessment results in a tailored report with recommendations for improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and enhancing comfort, together with indicative costs, potential savings and guidance on the most appropriate sequence of improvements.
PAS 2035 retrofit assessment, installer coordination & project delivery
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A survey and plan including a home visit and detailed whole house retrofit plan with staged measures, savings and indicative costs
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Access to vetted, accredited installers with quotes checked for quality
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Delivery including free coordination of any works progressed
RVIAD Architect-led retrofit
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Cost: From £200 depending on property and scope
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Survey & plan: Architect-led, whole-house assessment with a tailored retrofit plan according to homeowner motivations
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Includes a property specific 3D digital twin and live logbook recording condition and upgrade pathway
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Design support: Outputs suitable for specification, energy modelling and contractor engagement
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Delivery: Can extend to design development and project coordination
Sample Ecofurb
plan
Sample RVI Home Upgrade Guide