NEWS

Air conditioning cools your home for a few weeks a year, then sits idle. An air-to-air heat pump does the same job for a similar price, but heats your home in winter too. Here's what it actually costs, and how it's working out for homeowners already living with it.

It's been our best year yet for community grants. In 2025–26, Low Carbon Hub awarded £31,500 to community groups across Oxfordshire — funding projects from draughtbusting affordable housing to building a community shop with rooftop solar. Here's what our members have been doing.

I recently visited Julia Shay and Martin Groves, who have lived in their 18th-century thatched cottage in Eynsham for about twelve years. The house is Grade II listed and sits in a conservation area, which has shaped almost every decision they make about improving it. The windows were one of the biggest projects to undertake. […]

They wanted to reduce their energy usage, make the house warmer and well insulated, and possibly replacing their gas boiler with a heat pump.  

Eynsham Fire Station has recently installed infrared heating panels across the building, covering the crew office, communal areas, changing rooms and the engine bay itself. The core problem with heating a fire station is that it is not a building you can ever really seal up and keep warm in the conventional sense. The engine […]

We recently visited a sustainable homeowner in West Oxfordshire to find out more about the real benefits and challenges of the entire installation process. With three in four Brits wanting to invest in eco-features on their home*1, there’s a growing market for sustainable measures that shows no sign of slowing down soon. Despite this huge […]

The national housing shortage is a hot topic at the moment, as are the carbon emissions associated with new developments (such as Salt Cross in West Oxfordshire). I recently visited a unique eco-homes project in Eynsham to find out more about how communal living can set a positive precedent. When entering the site of Mike […]

Making sustainable travel easier. Low Carbon Oxford North (LCON) were awarded a grant of £5,000 from Low Carbon Hub’s Community Grant Fund toward the cost of launching a new sustainable travel website. Further funding came from the Zero Carbon Oxfordshire Partnership (ZCOP) and the Federation of Integrated Transport. The challenge  Transport accounts for around 23% […]

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 […]

Cutting carbon and carrying more in West Oxford. Low Carbon West Oxford received a grant of £5,000 towards an electric cargo bike hire scheme. The challenge  To ease congestion on local roads and improve air quality in West Oxford and the City Centre by offering an alternative, low carbon mode of transport that could replace short […]

Upskilling minibus drivers with the gold standard of training. First and Last Mile CIC were awarded a grant of £500 from our Community Grant Fund towards the cost of refreshed teacher training for Minibus driving. The challenge First and Last Mile CIC, a community transport group in West Oxfordshire, provides the gold-standard CTA MiDAS (Minibus […]

A digital display helps inform visitors at community-owned hydro. West Oxford Community Renewables (WoCORE) received a grant of £500 from Low Carbon Hub’s Community Grant Fund to install a digital display and new signage at this landmark community hydro in central Oxford. The challenge Osney Lock Hydro is a popular site for learning about renewable […]