Testimonials

Rachael Laan

We have a part Victorian / part Edwardian house with single glazing and limited insulation, which we are hoping to retrofit with a heat pump and additional insulation. However we were concerned that given the age of the house this needed to be done sensitively and with the right materials to avoid causing damp issues.

We found Alex through a recommendation. We found him to be exceptionally knowledgable about the way buildings work, energy efficiency measures, ventilation, etc – and he is also very practical in his approach and the advice he gives.

He carried out a detailed survey of the property – this included a thermal image survey; taking off socket covers and looking inside the walls to work out if they had cavities and/or existing insulation; looking under the floors; and testing the existing ventilation. He listened to our priorities and what we would like to acheive, and produced a 67 page report (with additional reports for outbuildings). The report set out various options for insulation, including a risk assessment for each one, weighing the beneficial impact against the heritage impact and potential to increase the risk of damp. His report also identifies maintenance issues, and quick wins for energy efficiency.

We have since also instructed Alex to look into a moisture issue in a commercial building we manage, and again found his advice very useful.

All in all it was a pleasure to deal with Alex and we would recommend him to anyone looking to carry out a retrofit project – we believe it is money well spent to make sure we are making the right choices for our period property.

Graham

We have a 35 year old converted barn in Hampshire. We have owned it since new and we love it. Our concerns are (a) the insulation is less good than it should be and as a consequence parts of the house are often too hot in the summer months and (b) it has oil fired heating which in due course will have to be changed to an air sourced heat pump, or equivalent.

We wanted professional advice as to our options as to the extent to which we should try manage our concerns in both the short and longer term. We were referred to Alex Clifford on account of his experience in working on retrofit projects, as well as his own Passive House. In response to our request, he provided us with a responsive quotation and two references. Both referees were exceedingly positive about Alex and his work.

Alex completed his review of our property in a 5-6 hour visit, during which he debated and discussed practical issues with us, took measurements, photographs and thermal images. Within ten days he sent us a 34 page report with another 34 pages of pictures and thermal images to back up his findings.

Given the complexity of our building, we believe that it was money well spent to get Alex’s input in this way. It has given us a clear understanding of the short term work that we need to do to improve what we have got already and the various options available to us to raise the sustainability of the building much more significantly. We feel more qualified now to make the decisions as to where we should focus our investment funds in the next few years.

It was a pleasure to work with Alex and we would not hesitate to call on him should our programme require more professional input regarding our retrofit plans.

Will Cohen

Alex gave the best of advice to us from the very beginning to end of our renovation project. His love of heat guns and PHPP models, knowledge of materials, help with builder and advice on possible curveballs/watchouts for our renovation exceeded that of all other suppliers we had working on the job.

He quickly showed us that our aims should be to have low energy consumption and high comfort above all else which led us naturally towards changing our plans to a deep retrofit and scaling back some of our desires to just have more space for the sake of it. We have ended up with what we feel is a beautiful, highly insulated house with excellent airtightness figures, an easily regulated internal temperature and very low stress on our air source heat pump. Now we just need to get time to tidy up a bit!

Paul Timothy

Very good experience. Alex came to do the survey and thermal imaging. Lots of discussion whilst he was here. The report was good, and pointed out at least two areas which need attention and which I had not considered at all. Thermal imaging particularly useful. Very useful zoom meeting followed. The process has allowed me to set priorities for the works to improve the thermal efficiency of my bungalow (with loft room added). I’m very pleased with Alex’s advice, and impressed by his knowledge.

Sarah Gibson

With climate change and energy costs of increasing concern, it felt a little overwhelming to know where to start to improve matters. I’m so pleased that I called Alex. He was punctual,, thorough and extremely knowledgeable. He showed me where my house was losing heat and retaining moisture (which could lead to damp problems in the future). He advised a number of solutions of ranging price points including replacing extractor fans, fitting pipe insulation to pipe work in my loft, a new hot water cylinder jacket and thicker loft insulation. Money extremely well spent.

Rich M

Alex surveyed our house given we had a number of different damp issues. He came across as very knowledgable, practical and easy to talk to. Alex sent us the thermal images and provided some immediate actions we could do as well detailing other solutions to help sort out the damp. I would certainly recommend Alex.

Caroline L

Alex spent a morning advising me on the insulation and damp issues in our Tudor cottage. He then sent a report and a set of thermal images for my reference. He’s very knowledgeable, thorough and patient explaining the science behind his advice. I feel his advice is 100% trustworthy and his pricing reasonable. I’d definitely recommend him.