MORE than half of homes in Wiltshire are below average when it comes to being energy efficient.

Research by the BBC data unit shows that in Wiltshire 59 per cent of the 146,740 rated houses are rated D to G putting them below the grading target of C.

This means too many people are either paying too much to heat their homes, because much of it is lost, or may be suffering if they cannot heat their homes properly.

But help is at hand as Wiltshire Council supports Warm and Safe Wiltshire, a charity which helps and advises people to improve the heating and insulation of their homes.

Project director Paul Winney said: “There are many reasons why it’s important to try and have an energy efficient home. A cold house can be a threat to health, or even life.

“A house that’s consistently below nine degrees could present a threat to life, while someone in a house around 16 or 17 degree will be miserable.

“Cold houses make conditionals like obstructive pulmonary disease, and heart conditions and cardiovascular diseases worse. They tend to be damper, so things like asthma are made worse.

“Being cold and miserable can affect people’s mental health.

“It also costs more to heat an inefficient home. A lot of heat is lost from an uninsulated home, so the householder has to burn more fuel and spend more to keep it warm.”

He said the Warm and Safe project exists to help people improve the energy efficiency of their home: “The first thing to do is have a working heating system. If the boiler isn’t working then people need a working heating system.

Although grants for the work are harder to come by than in the past, Mr Winney l says it is worth checking with the Warm and Safe team.: “We can give advice on what to do, and even give recommended traders, and while grants are restricted to those on low incomes or benefits or who are vulnerable, it’s always worth ringing us. Plenty of people think they earn too much to get a grant, but are eligible for some support.”

The Warm and Safe Wiltshire helpline is at 0800 038 5722 and more details are available at www.warmandsafewiltshire.org.uk.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “Most energy efficiency measures are simple and cheap to implement; in particular improving the insulation to your house. Whether you own or rent your home, there are Government schemes to further reduce the cost, or to pay for this work completely if you are unable to afford the cost of the work yourself.”

Wiltshire is ahead of the England national figure where 62 per cent of homes get a D-G rating.