Self-build guru Kevin McCloud has added his weight to the call for more energy efficient homes, with the launch of the Grand Designs Great British Refurb campaign. While we know and love him for bringing the ups and downs of building a dream home into our living rooms, Kevin is focusing firmly on existing homes in this campaign.

"What's your gas bill like?" he asks. Is it "unpredictable? How much do you spend on electricity? Too much? Wouldn't it be a joy if those bills just evaporated or at least shrank? You could laugh at their tiny size instead of crying at their mammoth proportions."

After the first cold winter in some time, many people's heating bills have been a nasty shock. While we can't see the associated carbon emissions, they will have been nasty too. The Great British Refurb campaign is asking the Government to make it easier, more affordable and more attractive for everyone to make their homes more less leaky and less gas guzzling.

The campaign calls on the Prime Minister to help people finance the refurbishment necessary to reduce the energy used in our houses, and to make it worth doing now by:

• reducing upfront costs and spreading them over a longer period
• providing better incentives
• making sure installers are qualified and approved to do the work.

photo by bortescristian

Click here to ask an Energy Expert a question, and sign up to RSS feeds, to make sure you don't miss the answer.