This poster reflects the experience of an owner survey. At this stage the Energy Group is still building up expertise and experience, so we do not claim at present that these interpretations are completely accurate and we have been advised that there are potential pitfalls in interpretation. However, the examples provide a taster of what is possible to identify likely sources of heat loss. We strongly recommend that no one takes on expensive remedial work without advice from a professional.

For this reason, we recommend that anyone who borrows our camera consults the recommended interpretation guidelines that come with it and, better still, attends a course on interpretation. We can direct you to one of these when you register to borrow the camera.

Registration Link

With the thermometer dropping, we’re all thinking of how to stay warm this winter, while avoiding too much cost and trying to keep our climate footprints low. Easier said than done.

There was a lot of interest at our Energy Day in March, but the reality for many of us who live in old houses is that insulating them to be heat pump ready has a lot of pitfalls. Can we be confident that any work done will avoid the horrors of ‘thermal bridges’ or ‘vapour barriers’ in the wrong place?

It would be nice to know that government was focussing on training large numbers of builders to be accredited in retrofit but so far we’ve been unable to find any in the Moorlands. However, we are aware that some of our members have had work done on their houses or done it themselves, so wonder if setting up a forum to share experiences would be valuable. Do let us know what you think via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In the meantime, we may be able to focus on piecemeal actions...

Read more: Winter Warming

We were excited to try out a new thermal imaging camera at our Energy Day in March. This is a valuable tool that can be used to identify hot and cold spots in buildings and help to pinpoint where insulation needs to be improved. It certainly identified cold spots at the Foxlowe (if we hadn’t already felt them for ourselves) but we also used it to identify hot spots – perhaps the hot air emanating from politicians?  To be fair, the image shown above primarily shows how we lose heat from the top of our heads and how a thick head of hair or headwear can minimise the loss.

Starting this autumn, MCA’s Energy Group will be trialling a new service using this camera to help you track down problems with your home.

Read more: Thermal Camera

As promised, here are the outputs from our very successful Energy Day held in March. The fully illustrated report of the day that we produced for our sponsors is now available and you can access it by following this link:

FINAL REPORT ENERGY DAY - 2023

The individual videos of the morning and afternoon sessions are now available on the website and elsewhere. You can follow the link below to access both the programme and the YouTube links.

ENERGY DAY VIDEOS

One of the practical outputs from the day is the Thermal Imaging programme that we plan to establish. The details are on Page 9 of the report. If you would like to get involved with the programme, either as a householder or surveyor, contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

We are very excited about the way that our second annual Energy Day is taking shape. To be held on Sunday 5 March at the Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek, it will focus on the following themes:

• Fabric first: basic energy solutions for your house/home
• How to reduce your energy use: a talk plus Q&A
• Domestic energy: the next steps
• An energy future for the Moorlands Staffordshire, and the region 

As before, the day will feature a lively mix of speakers who will then take part in a panel discussion as well as answer any question you may have.

From last year, we’re delighted to welcome back Sheffield’s Nick Parsons, of Sustainable Building, one of the most insightful (and user-friendly) experts on energy refurbs in the business.

Read more: Moorlands Energy Day is Powering Up!