Dear Editor,
Consumers were disgruntled to say the least last winter when their fuel bills rose to unmanageable levels. Gas customers were faced with a 35% increase on their annual energy bills and electricity customers a 9% increase. The bad news is recent news reports suggest we might be facing further increases this winter.

According to Greenpeace, which has seen a draft of the Government’s plans which are about to be set out in detail, the estimated cost of meeting the renewable energy target will be 7pound100bn. This is the amount of funding needed for a new energy infrastructure, including 7,000 more wind turbines. This translates to an additional cost to the consumer of 25 per cent on gas bills and 17 per cent on electricity bills.

This level of increase in the cost of fuel is bound to give consumers a further push to take steps to improve the energy efficiency of their home. While worrying news for all of us as homeowners, it does give consumers looking to buy new windows an even bigger incentive to opt for the energy rated option. Installers with windows rated C and above are therefore in an even better position to take advantage of this development.

The latest suggested revisions to Part L of the Building Regulations will force all installers to sell C or higher rated windows anyway, so surely it’s better to get the attacker’s advantage now. For those not yet selling energy rated windows, it’s a great time to start. And for those that are selling energy rated windows, what better angle for your winter marketing campaign – to install C (or above) rated windows now?

Yours sincerely

Andy Jones
Edgetech Managing Director