The latest green technology is being installed in council homes in North West Leicestershire to help cut energy bills for tenants.

A trial to reduce the carbon footprint started this month, and housebuilder Lovell has been appointed to help install he technology as one of the council's Decent Homes contractors.

The trial aims to help reduce fuel poverty for council tenants across the district. The trial of energy-efficient technology in 12 homes will allow the council to see how best to maintain and improve the energy efficiency of its 4,500 homes in the future.

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Almost 60 volunteers applied to be part of this scheme and 11 households were selected along with one empty property, which will be let to a new incoming tenant.

Each volunteer will have one type of energy-saving technology installed in their property. Monitoring will take place over one year to assess the level of energy they are saving, or how much warmer the property is as a result.

The following green technologies have been installed:

• Two air source heat pumps

• One ground source heat pump

• Four solar thermals

• Three solar photovoltaics

• One biomass system

• One hybrid air source heat pump / oil system.

The technology is being installed by the council's Decent Homes contractors Kier and Lovell. The council has also recently awarded a contract to Prescient Power, a local renewable company, to supply metering and monitoring services throughout the pilot.

(CD/JP)