Draughtbusting For All
Tackling draughts in cold homes in Kidlington.
Kidlington Eco Group were awarded a grant of £500 from Low Carbon Hub’s Community Grant Fund as well as further funding from Cherwell District Council to run a ‘Draughtbusting’ project in their community.
The challenge
Kidlington Eco Group (KEG) formed to promote all forms of sustainable living in the community. They identified a gap in awareness around reducing household energy demand and wanted to help people experiencing fuel poverty following the surge in energy prices.
The goal
To set up a local team of Draughtbusters to help people living in cold homes to reduce their heat loss by fixing areas of draughts and cold spots, lowering energy bills, improving comfort and decreasing their carbon impact.
Draughtbusters is a practical and cost-effective scheme that uses a team of trained volunteers to go into people’s homes to install simple energy saving measures, at no cost to the household. You can find out more about the concept here.
What happened?
- With inspiration and support from Sustainable Wantage and Reading Draughtbusters, KEG developed the necessary protocols, safeguarding procedures and insurance policies needed to work in people’s homes.
- With support from Cherwell District Council, Kidlington Draughtbusters launched with two enthusiastic and competent volunteers, who were recruited and trained to assess and fix draughts in local homes.
- With help from a small grant from Low Carbon Hub the Draughtbusters received a toolkit and materials to carry out the draughtproofing at no cost to the residents.
- An informative and user-friendly leaflet was produced for residents.
- During visits, the volunteers also shared energy saving advice on heating, ventilation and condensation.
Impact
- Five homes were successfully draught-proofed by January 2025.
- The volunteers provided detailed feedback from their home visits and documented improvements to patio doors, window seals, back doors and letter boxes.
- Residents now enjoy better insulated and more comfortable homes.
- Kidlington Draughtbusters shared their experience with other community groups at a Low Carbon Hub and CAG Network Energy Collaborate event to inspire more groups to run similar projects.
With a small grant from the Low Carbon Hub and further funding from Cherwell District Council we were able to launch our Draughtbusting project in the second half of last winter. So far, our wonderful Draughtbusting volunteers have conducted 5 home visits. These often low income households have not only had their draughts plugged but also been empowered through helpful and detailed feedback concerning future measures they can consider taking to further improve their homes, cutting their bills and carbon footprint in the meantime. We’re excited by the progress made and looking forward to getting the word out, as well as spreading our wings some more this winter.
Rev Phil Durrant, Kidlington Eco Group
We are enormously grateful to the Low Carbon Hub to help us get established and to Cherwell District Council to facilitate this project, promote it and to plan for future activities.
Alison Street, founder member Kidlington Eco Group
What’s next?
- Kidlington Eco Group aims to expand the Draughtbusters team and promote the scheme to reach even more residents in need.
- They hope to develop skills with a thermal camera and add a thermal imaging campaign to complement the Draughtbusters project.
Learn More
If you are a member of Low Carbon’s Hub Community Network and have an idea for a project that needs funding, find out about our latest grants available here.
For more inspiring stories of community-led action on climate change, visit Communities Stories.