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Current Projects
Home Energy Initiative
One sixth of the UK's climate-heating emissions come from running our homes - that equates to an average 10 kilograms of climate-damaging gasses (a small shedload!) from each of Hungerford's homes EVERY DAY!
The cost of heating homes and hot water has increased 100% in the past year alone. and heating bills are set to increase to over £4,000 per annum for a typical household from January 2023.
HEAT is keen to help every household cut their bills and reduce climate-changing emissions.
To further this aim, HEAT has run several informative talks about Home Energy in 2022 - see our Information page for links to videos of the talks - and also organised the HUNGERFORD HOME ENERGY SHOW held on 24th September - see below for details.
Some ideas on how to reduce your energy use can be found on our Information page.
You could also try our QUIZ to find out if your home could benefit from a Heat Pump.
Here is an informative and concise guide, produced by the Heat Pump Federation trade body, for anyone considering a heat pump solution for heating their home.
Read what some local residents have already done...
| Success Story Title | Insulation | Heating Controls | Solar PV | Solar Battery | Solar Thermal | Heat Pump | Under- floor Heating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-LEVEL RESULT |  | | | ||||
| CARBON-BUSTING PIONEERS | | | | ||||
| DIVE AT A STROKE | | [AIR] | |||||
| LIVING AND DRIVING ON SUNSHINE | | | |||||
| SO-LAR SO GOOD | | | | | [AIR] | | |
| OLDER GENERATION | | | | ||||
| HUB TAKES CONTROL AND SNUFFS OUT GAS | ALREADY GOOD | | [AIR] | | |||
| TAKING THE OIL OUT OF BOILER | | [AIR] | |||||
| SOUTH SPECIFIC | | | | | |||
| HEAT FROM THE DEEP | | PLANNED | PLANNED | [GROUND] | |
Cycling Initiative
HEAT volunteers test out E-bikes at the
Hungerford EV Show
Cycling is a great way to get around, to keep fit, and to protect the environment. There has been a big uptake over the past couple of years.
HEAT aims to make Hungerford a place where cycling is easy and encouraged, rather than an inconvenience, and will be taking action in the coming months to bring about positive change.
Tree Planting
Each year HEAT aim to plant more and more trees in and around the local area. We have planted trees at local schools, on Town and Manor land, and on privately owned land where landowners have come forward to offer their land and ask for our help.
We source trees from the Woodland Trust, and organise bands of volunteers armed with forks and spades to help plant large areas of land over the course of a morning.
Maintenance sessions then follow a couple of seasons later to ensure the saplings are growing well.
Whatever the weather, it is always a fun and worthwhile activity for all ages.
In 2019, HEAT supported Hungerford Primary School to help every pupil plant a tree.
In 2020 HEAT were involved with planting over 1000 trees in and around Hungerford.
Do you have some land where trees could be planted?
If so, please do get in touch and we will be happy to help organise a planting event!
Fruit Harvesting
Do you have fruit trees producing fruit which does not get used? Let HEAT know and volunteers will come to pick your fruit. Most of this will be sent to be pressed and bottled locally, with some bottles going to the Food Bank and others made available for local community groups to sell.
Would you like to volunteer to pick? It is a great way to spend some time with new people or as a family, so please get in touch and we will be happy to hear from you.
In the past few years, volunteers have helped to pick countless crates of apples from Hungerford and surrounding areas, including Picket Mead Orchard. The fruit was donated to West Berkshire Foodbank, and given to my Apple Juice to be pressed into juice. This has helped reduce food waste and helps to make the most of our local resources.
Picket Mead Organic Orchard, opposite Dobbies garden centre, Hungerford
What's in the orchard?
- Over 100 trees - several rare and unique varieties
- Around 25 mature apple & pear trees
- Plum trees
- Greengages
- Walnuts
- Treehive & beehive
The Hungerford Town & Manor are looking for someone (or a group of people) to manage Picket Mead Orchard longer term. Please send us an email if you would like to help run the orchard.
See our Current Projects Information section for more details on each of our current projects.
Completed Projects
EV Evening Event = June 2024
A wide variety of EVs to browse
To celebrate the availability of clean renewable energy, a balmy sunny evening on Wednesday 26th June in Hungerford's Church Street car park saw the arrival of 20 different all-electric cars with their proud local owners. They came to participate in Hungerford Environmental Action Team's (HEAT) "Is an EV for You?" event and share with visitors their enthusiasm for living with an EV. Dick Lovett BMW and Mini, as an event sponsor, showed 5 of their many EV models and 2 electric BMW motorbikes.
Presentation inside the Hub
Next door, in the Hungerford Hub, visitors heard from John Downe of HEAT and Dick Lovett Group's EV Specialist, Scott Martin, how to choose and run an EV - including how to easily find and use public charge points on the infrequent occasions most owners use them. They also heard how filling the battery of an EV works out as the equivalent of buying fuel at 20p per litre (or less!), causes no pollution or noise on our streets and shrinks our climate-damaging carbon footprints. A panel of experienced and new EV owners then answered a variety of questions from the audience.
There is a link to a video of John Downe's presentation on our Information page.
Each visitor was given a printed copy of "The Little Book of EV Myths" which debunks common EV misinformation - copies are available - click here to request one from HEAT.
Why not contact HEAT with YOUR EV question!
Heat Pumps Q & A - November 2022
A Question Time session was held on Tuesday 22nd November 2022 in the Hungerford Hub with the title Everything you want to know about HEAT PUMPS but don't know who to ask!
The panel was hosted by John Downe of HEAT with Martin Patterson from Cosmos Energy and heating engineer Graham Miles making presentations and answering questions.
Home Energy Show - September 2022
Around 500 members of the public came along to HEAT's HUNGERFORD HOME ENERGY SHOW on Saturday 24th September 2022 in Hungerford Town Hall to find out how they could HEAT their Homes without Costing the Earth.
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SPEAKERS ON SPECIALIST SUBJECTS were presenting at various times during the event and proved to be very popular as well as informative.
The presentations were each about 30 minutes long and followed by a Q & A session.
There are links to videos of the presentations on our Information page.
The sessions were chaired by Shingai Chipfupa of Newbury Building Society, sponsors of the Speaker Programme.
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Also at the show were stands where people could find out about:
INSULATION and DRAUGHT PROOFING
InstaGroup - Insulation Solutions
FORT - Building Products
M & P Hardware - DIY Supplies
Draughtbusters West Berkshire - Advice
SOLAR ENERGY
Solar Streets - Solar Energy Systems
HEAT PUMPS
Xpert Energy - Design, Supply and Installation
Grant UK - Heat Pump Suppliers
S C Miles - Heat Pump Installer
David Hilton - Advice
FINANCING A PROJECT
Newbury Building Society - Funding Advice
Nationwide Building Society - Funding Advice
West Berkshire Council - Sustainable Warmth scheme
General advice on how to cope with rising energy prices was provided by Citizens Advice West Berkshire and Bob Walker was there to help people understand and use their home's EPC.
Grant UK and S C Miles brought along their HEAT PUMP DEMONSTRATION VAN and were able to explain to visitors how heat pumps work.
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Local people could sign-up to borrow HEAT's THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA to find the "heat leaks" in their homes. There was also a demonstration of LOW-ENERGY COOKING techniques and children of all ages had an opportunity to play with SOLAR-POWERED TOYS.
INDEPENDENT FREE ADVICE on all Home Energy topics was readily available from HEAT members and other experts.
Visitors were able to read several LOCAL SUCCESS STORIES describing what households in and around Hungerford have already done to make their homes less energy wasteful and lower in carbon emissions.
Which Energy Initiatives do the Local Success Stories include?
| Success Story Title | Insulation | Heating Controls | Solar PV | Solar Battery | Solar Thermal | Heat Pump | Under- floor Heating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-LEVEL RESULT | | | | ||||
| CARBON-BUSTING PIONEERS | | | | ||||
| DIVE AT A STROKE | | [AIR] | |||||
| LIVING AND DRIVING ON SUNSHINE | | | |||||
| SO-LAR SO GOOD | | | | | [AIR] | | |
| OLDER GENERATION | | | | ||||
| HUB TAKES CONTROL AND SNUFFS OUT GAS | ALREADY GOOD | | [AIR] | | |||
| TAKING THE OIL OUT OF BOILER | | [AIR] | |||||
| SOUTH SPECIFIC | | | | | |||
| HEAT FROM THE DEEP | | PLANNED | PLANNED | [GROUND] | |
You can find lots of videos and useful information, including the Local Success Stories, in the Home Energy Show 2022 Information section.
Electric Vehicle Show - July 2021
Electric vehicles in The Croft, Hungerford
On 3rd July 2021, hundreds of people attended the Electric Vehicle Show on the Croft in Hungerford. The event showcased over 30 types of electric vehicle, including cars, vans, scooters and bikes.
About half belonged to local people who were happy to explain how they make ownership of an EV work for them.
There were also commercial exhibitors with their new EVs and plenty of information on hand to help answer questions.
See our Electric Vehicle Show 2021 Information section for more details of the show, or our Electric Vehicles Information section for general information on choosing and owning an electric vehicle.
Sparkling Streams - 2021
Little Bedwyn, photo courtesy of ARK River Kennet
Hungerford Town & Manor have worked in conjunction with ARK (Action for the River Kennet), North Wessex Downs AONB and the Southern Farmers group covering several miles of the rivers Shalbourne, Dun and Kennet.
Coppicing of local Hazel trees was required to make faggots from stumps and brush wood. The Hazel will grow back to full height within 3-4 years. The faggots were used within the river restoration project, protecting the banks and creating habitat as they fill up with silt and vegetation. A vast number are used every year within the rivers to mitigate erosion caused by cattle, crayfish and scouring.
A group of about 30 local volunteers helped with this project over a couple of days in 2021.
Electric Vehicle Questions & Answers - February 2021
We have all become familiar with powering our cars with petrol or diesel fuels which we have buy at great expense from forecourt pumps. However, when we contemplate our cars being entirely electrically powered using the electricity already in our homes and rechargeable batteries, many new questions crop up.
Conscious of these questions and keen for more of us to eliminate our exhaust pipe carbon emissions and enjoy the quieter, smooth and lower running cost world of electric vehicles (EVs), HEAT ran the "Any EV Questions Show" on 3rd February in collaboration with West Berkshire Climate Action Network.
61 households joined the 90-minute Zoom-based video and chat event with a panel of existing EV users plus several others willing to share their experiences and lots of people itching to ask questions and find out more - many of whom were already in the process of considering an EV as their next car.
Electric bicycles, vans and camper vans were also covered during the event as well as the best electricity tariffs to be on and how solar panels can work with EV charging.
Among the EV topics discussed were:
- Would you go back to a petrol/diesel car?
a universal NO from EV owners! - How much is the annual road tax on EVs?
£ZERO! - Which EVs can take me to London and back on one charge?
Lots - Can you have a car charger installed at home, before the car arrives?
Yes, with a £350 grant - Can I carry a roof rack?
One owner carries canoes on his EV and another bikes, but as with traditional cars wind resistance will reduce range - Is car range affected by weather?
Yes, batteries perform less well in the cold - Where can I buy a used EV?
There are growing numbers of EV specialist car dealers - What happens if you run out (of battery)?
Some car insurance policies and new car warranties provide recovery to a charger, the AA are starting to carry chargers in their vans - How long does charging the battery take?
It depends on the car, the charger being used and how low the battery is - Isn't the engine quietness dangerous for pedestrians, especially if visually or hearing impaired?
Legal requirement now for low speed noise-makers on EVs - as drivers you are more aware of this and take extra care in built up areas - How do hills affect range?
On the way up just like getting a lower MPG, but on the way down you actually top-up your battery - unlike your petrol tank! - ...and many, many more questions!!!
Hungerford's Lockdown Woods - December 2020
On Saturday 5th December 2020, groups of (socially distanced!) volunteers planted more than 800 tree saplings on Westbrook Down, an area of Freeman's Marsh in Hungerford.
A first group of 30 volunteers arrived shortly after 9am when the planting began, and were followed up by another group of 15 or so volunteers at 11am. By 1.30pm, all the trees had been planted.
Westbrook Down is an area of land owned by the Town and Manor of Hungerford, and was offered by them as a space where these trees could be planted, following the necessary felling of several established ash trees suffering from Ash Dieback.
The event was organised by HEAT alongside St Lawrence's Church and Friends of the Earth (Newbury). Most of the tree saplings were provided by The Woodland Trust, however volunteers also brought along saplings which they had nurtured in their own gardens.
Native tree species planted included Hawthorn, Goat Willow, Hazel, Downy Birch, Damson, Blackthorn, Walnut, and Crabapple.
See our Completed Projects Information section for more details of our previous projects.
