Nearly 100 Clutha district homes, owned mainly by low-income earners, will be much warmer after getting insulation or heating upgrades in the last year, new figures show.
And those homeowners got a bargain, paying no more than $500 or about 10% towards the cost of or either having their property insulated or a heat pump installed.
Most of the work carried out as part of the Otago Warm Homes Clean Heat Clean Air programme was carried out in the Milton area, which regularly breaches air monitoring standards.
The cost of the work in Clutha was $565,716, with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) contributing $454,873, the Clutha District Council $15,000, $8500 from the Otago Community Trust and $5000 from the Milton Rotary Club.
Householders holding community service cards paid $59,166 towards the work while the five non-card holders paid the balance of the work after the first $2000.
Overall, Otago homes received $3.68 million worth of insulation improvements, with EECA paying $2.55 million of that amount.
The figures are contained in a letter sent to the Clutha council this week.
Project co-ordinator Sera Dowie said in the letter 92 houses in Clutha received a variety of measures ranging from a home energy assessment, underfloor or ceiling insulation, hot-water cylinder wraps, energy saving lamps or replacement heating appliances.
Of the houses to get improvements, 94% were occupied by community service card holders, she said.
Of the 92 Clutha properties to receive improvements, 74 received retrospective insulation improvements, 52 had a heat pump installed and 34 properties received both types of improvements.
Ms Dowie said it was thought about 60% of home owners were aged 60 or older.
The project will continue to focus on Milton and Central Otago, where air quality is of the greatest concern.
The regional council has received EECA approved money to continue the programme for the next four years.
Warming up
Work carried out in Clutha as part of the Otago Warm Homes Clean Heart Clean Air programme, July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009:
6745sq m of ceiling insulation installed
5474sq m of underfloor insulation installed
3184sq m of polythene ground cover placed under homes
15 hot-water cylinder wraps
93 weather excluders for external doors
286 energy-saving lamps
36 log fires installed
7 heat pumps,
7 pellet fires and 2 gas fires also installed
Source: Otago Regional Council
