ABOUT
Nearly 20 years looking at what works.
And, perhaps more importantly, of what doesn’t.
THIS BIT IS SLIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLE
I’m much happier inspecting the work than talking about myself.
I’m Andrew, and putting myself front and centre on a website isn’t something that comes naturally to me.
But if I’m going to give homeowners advice about their properties and offer CPD, I think it’s only fair that you know where that advice comes from.
I’ve spent most of my working life surveying homes, inspecting installations, auditing work and looking at how heating, insulation, ventilation and energy efficiency measures perform in the real world.
Along the way I’ve seen some excellent installers and some excellent work. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen poor installations, shortcuts and people being sold things that simply weren’t right for their home. That has always bothered me.
“If somebody is spending thousands of pounds improving their home, the least they should expect is for it to be done properly.”
THE JOURNEY
Nearly two decades inside UK retrofit.
2006
Warm Front
Started working on the Warm Front scheme as a gas system surveyor and inspector, going into homes and assessing heating and energy-efficiency work.
2013
ECO1
Moved into ECO1 and helped develop a new company specialising in specifying boiler installations and insulation measures.
ECO 2–4
Surveying & QA
Continued through ECO2, ECO3 and ECO4, providing surveying, inspection and technical services across a huge range of properties and measures. This moved onto The Warm Homes Grant and SHDF
TODAY
MyWarmHome
Using that experience to help homeowners understand retrofit without the sales pitch, jargon or one-size-fits-all solutions, and designing CPD that matters.
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
You learn a lot from thousands of front doors and the people behind them.
Over the years I’ve completed thousands of property surveys and thousands of technical inspections across government and energy-efficiency schemes.
I’ve inspected heating systems, insulation, renewable technologies, ventilation, controls and wider retrofit work, as well as carrying out audits directly on Ofgem schemes including the Renewable Heat Incentive.
That amount of exposure gives you a fairly good feel for the difference between something that looks right on paper and something that actually works in a home.
WORKING ACROSS THE INDUSTRY
Big names don’t change the standard.
I’ve supplied services across ECO programmes to organisations including British Gas, E.ON, Bierce, CMS, Technica and Agility ECO. Regardless of who commissions the work, I’ve always approached an inspection in the same way: does it meet the standard, and is it right for the customer?
The logo on the paperwork doesn’t make a poor installation a good one.
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Practical experience backed by training.
I don’t believe a qualification replaces experience, but the two together matter.
- Gas engineer training
- Level 3 heat pump training
- Unvented hot water qualification
- Domestic Energy Assessor
- Retrofit Assessor
- Level 5 Retrofit Coordinator
- Elmhurst registered
- ECMK registered
- TrustMark registered
Over the years I have held qualifications that allowed me to install solar panels. I have also installed and commissioned full wet central-heating systems. I no longer install, and I now use many years of practical experience to provide the advice and training on MyWarmHome.co.uk.
WHY CPD?
CPD should teach you something.
Not just keep a registration box ticked.
Over the years I’ve had to complete plenty of continuing professional development to maintain registrations and certifications.
CPD is important. Anyone working in heating, energy efficiency or retrofit should keep learning because standards, technologies and our understanding of buildings continue to change.
But my experience is that it has gradually become more expensive, while too much of it can feel like a formality to complete the required hours, obtain the certificate and keep whatever registration active.
I’ve often come away thinking the most useful learning doesn’t necessarily happen because somebody needs another certificate. It happens when you look at a real problem, understand why something went wrong and work out how it could have been done better.
That’s the kind of CPD I want to build into MyWarmHome.
THE IDEA
Useful learning, built around the real world.
Real situations
Lessons based on actual properties, installations, defects and decisions people working in retrofit encounter.
Why, not just what
Not simply remembering a regulation or answer, but understanding why it matters and what can happen when it’s ignored.
Accessible
Keep the learning straightforward and useful without turning every subject into an expensive training course.
Worth your time
If somebody spends half an hour completing a MyWarmHome CPD module, I want them to finish knowing something useful they didn’t know before.
SO WHY MYWARMHOME.co.uk?
Because I’m still annoyed by cowboys.
Poor workmanship has probably annoyed me more than anything else I’ve encountered during my career.
I’ve seen insulation installed badly, heating systems that were poorly designed, controls customers couldn’t use, measures that didn’t suit the property and work that technically existed on paper but didn’t perform as it should.
MyWarmHome is my attempt to put some of that experience somewhere useful.
It isn’t here to tell everybody they need a heat pump, solar panels or a particular insulation product. Sometimes the answer is much simpler. Sometimes a home needs several things doing in the right order.
The aim is simply to help homeowners understand the puzzle before somebody sells them another piece.