Ambitious targets for Britain’s carbon cutting will mean that households will need to spend up to £15,000 to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

The climate watchdog chief, Adair Turner, made the statement against a perceived drop in emissions caused by the recent economic downturn. Coupled with growing concerns that next month’s Copenhagen climate change summit could end in a less than satisfactory outcome, the claim is seen as a wake up call to home owners and legislators to act sooner rather than later. more

But is this costing realistic and how can we measure this outlay against overall cost savings? Certainly many of the measures required – boiler improvements, cavity and solid wall insulation, improved glazing – are currently costly for the average homeowner, however as time goes on and demand for such products increases, then the costs will come down.

How much value will home owners put upon such improvements when making a decision about buying property? Unlike most other purchases, decisions on whether to buy a certain property are an emotional response to a number of factors. It is likely that currently the environmental performance of a house will be lower on the list than the size, style, age and location of the property and will remain so for some time. However, as fuel costs rise then this factor will move up the scale of desirability.

As a long term decision, it’s certainly a good investment. If for no other reason than energy bills will only go in one direction…up.

Photo credit stevecadman