Many of you will have seen the white vans parked outside the Village Hall over the past few weeks. These belong to the contractors who were awarded the work to insulate the Village Hall by;
- Thickening the amount of rock wool insulation in the roof space above the Main Hall resulting in a total insulation depth of 400mm
- Cladding the internal walls of the Main Hall and Committee Room with 95 mm thick Superfoil Insulation and skimming with plaster
- Boxing in all central heating pipework
This insulation work augments the work already undertaken to move the Hall towards zero carbon by installing solar panels and a battery array as well as converting the lighting throughout to LED lights. It is estimated that the lighting electricity costs will reduce by at least 70% with the new LED lighting.
Whilst it is still early days our monthly electricity bill has fallen on average by two thirds. We’ll see over the winter months if the reduction in electricity charges continues.
The majority of the work carried out in the Hall over the past 1.5 years has been paid for from grants awarded to the Hall through competition. 100% of the solar panels and battery costs came from Energy for Tomorrow. The LED lighting was paid for through a grant from the old Ryedale District Council including a grant obtained by Councillor Caroline Goodrick. All the insulation work was funded by a grant from North Yorkshire Council via the Shared Prosperity Fund, a fund which included monies to decarbonise community buildings.
Whilst we have made good progress towards our aim of sustainability, we are conscious that the Hall’s heating is from a very old oil fired boiler and that the windows throughout are single glazed. It is our intention in the coming months to endeavour to obtain grants to move the heating system to electricity and install secondary glazing. If you know of any funding bodies that would consider grant applications for this work please contact us – generalenquiries@sandhutton-claxtonvillagehall.org.uk