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DECEMBER 2013 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
Selling
homeowners what
they want in 2014
SWISSPACER’s Marketing & Sales Manager Vic De Costa
says energy efficiency is what homeowners want…
“At the end of last year
all eyes were on the
Green Deal. But so far
the Green Deal, hailed
by some as a lifeline
for the glazing industry,
has failed to deliver.
And according to the
Department of Energy & Climate Change,
windows are also losing
out to boilers. Of the
£1.8 million cashback
vouchers issued by the
Green Deal, “virtually
all have been for replacement boilers.”
Whatever the shortcomings of the Green Deal
and its botched launch,
the scheme has touched a
consumer need. Homeowners clearly do want to make
their homes more energy efficient. Homeowners might
be frustrated by the Green
Deal’s endless form-filling,
but thousands are applying for assessments every
month.
And who can blame them
when four of the ‘Big Six’
energy providers have
already announced average price increases of 9.1%
before the winter? Some
experts predict annual fuel
bills will be an eye-watering £3,000 a year by 2020.
Whatever the actual figure,
it can only go one way, and
it’s a game changer.
‘People know
new energy
efficient windows
and doors will cut
heating bills and
save them money
in the long run’
People know new energy
efficient windows and doors
will cut heating bills and
save them money in the
long run. And the higher the
bills to come, the more they
will save. That’s why selling
energy saving windows is a
huge opportunity for our in-
dustry, and will continue to
be in 2014 and beyond. But
don’t forget we’re competing with other energy-saving
measures like roof and loft
insulation, cavity and solid
wall insulation, new boilers
and renewables. We’ve got
to convince the homeowner
they’ll do better to invest in
your windows rather than
the alternatives over the
longer run. They’ll want to
know what your windows
will save over the next 20
years. And Green Deal or
not, it’s up to window companies to really sell the benefits of high performance
windows and doors!
By benefits I mean a
more comfortable indoor
environment, less noise
in built-up areas, no more
damp and condensation on
the inside of the windows
and of course, lower heating
bills over the lifetime of
those windows. The Energy
Saving Trust’s findings that
the average home will cut
heating bills by £170 a year
‘Cut heating bills
by £170 a year’
by replacing single glazed
windows with ‘B’ energy &FVBv