Partner Article

NE firm Explains lack of insulation

North East home owners are “turning their backs” on the savings they can gain by insulating their home, prompting an investigation by a Newcastle research agency to find out why.

Explain Research has just investigated the attitudes of a series of people through focus groups and interviews, on behalf of North East Home Insulation Partnership (NEHIP), which aims to insulate every home in the area.

NEHIP was founded by the Energy Saving Trust Advice Centre North East in 2005 when it was discovered that more than 400,000 homes in the North East have inadequate insulation. It estimated that if all of these homes were insulated, the total annual saving for the region would be £70m.

Explain Research is working with NEHIP to help the centre understand why people are choosing not to insulate their homes, and what can be done to highlight the benefits of doing so.

Results so far have shown that the focus groups felt the existing marketing of the product didn’t inform them of the benefits in an engaging way. The ability to spread cost of payment is also important to customers, combined with a need to raise awareness and provide clear information on price, benefits and eventual savings.

Explain Research director Kim Davis said: “With so much emphasis placed on saving energy and money these days, especially in the current climate, we were eager to work with NEHIP at announcing the results.

“The aim of this project is to increase awareness and installation of insulating homes in the North East. Also what issues customers have been facing when faced with the prospect of insulation, as well as determining what can be done to reduce consumer confusion.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .