Veronica Leeke, proprietor of The Heat Loss Detector, discusses ways in which heat loss can be reduced to provide a warm and comfortable care home environment, thereby enhancing the wellbeing of residents and lowering energy costs
According to The Carbon Trust,1the UK healthcare sector spends more than £400 million per year on energy, some 72 per cent of which is used up in heating the premises. This is an immense cost to the industry and is eclipsed only by staff costs. There are currently more than 20,000 care homes in the UK and all are faced with the prospect of energy bills doubling over the next 10 years, a further burden on top of the huge rises already seen in recent times.
Due to the nature of the industry and the fact that the wellbeing of residents is of paramount importance, their surroundings must be kept at a comfortably warm temperature at all times; there is consequently an intense and almost round the clock demand for energy. A significant proportion of heat generated can be wasted, but such losses can be reduced by as much as 20 per cent through energy saving measures,2which of course can also result in financial savings to the business.
So, what are these energy saving measures and how can a care home manager identify those that are relevant to their own establishment? Firstly, we must take a look at the fabric of the building itself.
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