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Warm Front
How to get your Loft insulated, free


Warm Front / Defra / Eaga ... The Warm Front is a government-sponsored scheme by which you can get your loft insulated free. If you live in the UK, and if you receive benefits (you don't have to be poor, you can have a disability), you get your loft insulated with glass fibre wool, free. Plus, there are other things you can get on the same basis.

It's rare to hear me say "Well done to the Government", or "The Government have got THAT right" etc, but in this case, they have, and well done to them. And I'm not saying that just because I got some free loft insulation.

Here's how it works: Power stations are expensive to build. They cost a lot of money to construct, and they need to be maintained, and if they are nuclear then the huge decommissioning cost needs to be factored in, and if they are fossil-fuel burning then the vast cost to the environment has to be thought about, and even if they are eco-friendly wind-turbines, Salter's Duck wave stations, or tidal barrage systems, they still need maintenance.

However, for the sort of money it would cost to build a real power station, it would be possible to put into place energy saving methods, equalling a "virtual power station". Insulating people's lofts, providing free economy bulbs, etc, could all be done for the same sort of cost as building a real power station, except the virtual power station doesn't have any maintenance, decommissioning, or guilt-trip about the environment to think about.

So, with this in mind, the UK Government, even though they've got a lot of things wrong and approximately ruined the economy, have at least got something right for a change, in applying this "construct a virtual power station" idea!

If you're wondering why folks who are in receipt of benefit are put first, well the exchequer can't afford to do everyone's loft up front, and if they did folks in alphabetical order then some of us might grumble (so says Zyra). The UK Government decided to start doing loft insulation with those in receipt of benefit at the front of the line. So, if you're in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, you're up there with the people who are in receipt of pauper's allowance, out-of-a-job benefit, and various other forms of government handouts.

So, if you want to have snow on your roof this winter rather than be like your neighbours who have it embarrassingly all melted because of heat they are paying good money for and chucking away through their poorly insulated roof, then it's up to you to apply to WARM FRONT.

Here are some helpful contacts:

www.warmfront.co.uk - freefone 0800 316 2805

www.eaga.co.uk

www.defra.gov.uk

As well as getting loft insulation, you can also get free cavity wall insulation, energy-saving bulbs, hot water tank jackets, and a few other things which will, if everything is added up, save enough energy to avoid building a new power station.

[page written prior to emigration]