Once the village school, Llangenny Village Hall in Powys has continued to play an important role at the heart of community life, hosting art and fitness classes, children’s parties, meetings and performances. All these are spread throughout the year and at various times of the day, making it hard to provide the right heat for different activities at the right time. And with the committee’s attention focused on keeping bills down, they hadn’t been able to give enough attention to managing the hall’s programme of events.
Continuous improvement
Severn Wye carried out an energy audit of the mid-19th century, Grade II listed building in 2024, in collaboration with Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority. The building had had a major upgrade in the early 2000s, and although energy-efficiency features were included as far as possible at that stage (including underfloor heating with zoned areas), the hall committee felt there was much that could be done to reduce use of fossil fuels and energy bills.
‘We were really pleased with the energy assessment and report,’ said treasurer Phil Janye.
The hall committee determined to implement all the no- and low-cost options identified in the report and have taken the energy specialist’s advice to seek a lower-cost energy supplier.
I’m hopeful that the burden placed on the committee over the last few years to manage increasing energy costs will now be lifted and we can concentrate on managing the hall’s use for future events.
A Shared Prosperity Fund grant of just over £6,000 paid for the installation of LED lighting and a more energy-efficient fridge-freezer. But Phil’s discussions with our energy specialist also helped them re-evaluate how they were heating the building. They already had an energy app installed but had never managed to properly get to grips with it or how to use it to track energy use to make sure the building was not heated unnecessarily – for example when not in use. With our support he said he now understands how to use the app and it has proved invaluable for turning the heating on and off and adapting temperatures when the building is and is not in use. Phil now regularly tracks the hall’s energy use and can see the savings.
Taking a step further
‘The next-steps plan call I had with the energy specialist was also realistic and informative,’ Phil reported. ‘It was reassuring to be given practical timescales, funding information and a clear action plan. The specialist understood our specific building needs.
‘I’m hopeful that the burden placed on the committee over the last few years to manage increasing energy costs will now be lifted and we can concentrate on managing the hall’s use for future events.’
