The climate change sectary minister Chris Huhne MP has announced the start of the new Renewable Heat Initiative, which is set to tackle the UK's problem with emissions and dependence on fossil fuels for heating.  The incentive will be government funded financial incentive to encourage the use of fossil fuel alternatives.  Industrial, business, public and domestic sectors will be pushed towards the use of biomass, ground source and water source heat pumps, solar thermal (heating) panels and biomethane methods of gaining energy.

How will the Renewable Heat Initiative (RHI) work?

The RHI will work similar to other schemes like the feed in tariffs scheme developed for solar energy.   In the beginning of the scheme cash payments will be given to owners of non-domestic buildings who install systems to product their own renewable heat sources.  This will extend to the domestic sphere in the schemes second phase in October 2012.

People who indicate the production of renewable heat will be paid up to 8.5p/kWhr for hot water and heat that they generate and consume themselves.  This should mean that people generating their own heat will earn a return of 12% per year, tax free.

This initiative will hopefully play a good part towards reducing the UK's heavy reliance on fossil fuels for heating and could dramatically change the way the public and commercial sector look at taking ownership of their own heating sources.

Building regulations are so often leading the way with a building renovation or extension. With so many rules and specifications to work to choosing the right products can become a real headache.  Roof Windows are commonly specified to be of conservation style in traditional style buildings.  However these are often limiting to the sizes and functions you can choose. 

Thankfully Fakro have designed a full range of conservation roof windows that far surpassed other leading brands.  The Fakro Conservation Roof Window range comes in all twelve popular sizes in both centre pivot and dual opening.  Also unique to Fakro is the side hung conservation window. 

Having a side hung opening is very rare for a roof window but is a fantastic way to open up a room to the outside and let in plenty of air and light.  These can also be used as a means of escape window as there is plenty of room to get out in a hurry.

A Fakro conservation roof window will have the same internal appearance as a standard Fakro centre pivot, the only difference being the sash bar down the middle of the window.  There is also an option for recessed flashings that will bring the window to sit flush with the roof for a more integrated look. 

As with any Fakro roof window, topSafe technology is used to make the roof fully secure from intruders attempting to get into the home via the roof.  What more could you ask for?

Another bank holiday weekend is upon us!  How will you be spending your weekend?  If you're a self build fanatic then chances are you will be heading to the Grand Designs Live expo that's on in London for beginning this weekend.  The expo never fails to attract the masses, holding the crown as consumer show of the year; it's a must for budding self builders and renovators, particularly if you have a soft spot for all things environmentally friendly or just hope to bump into Kevin McCloud whist learning about the many ways to be self sufficient in your home.

This year Ken's Yard will be featuring at Grand Designs Live, offering all customers 10% there first order when they register.  With over 30,000 products online and many more coming soon or available over the phone we are looking forward to helping out with Grand Design inspired builds all over the country.  What's your Grand Design?  Share your own grand design ideas, sucesses, failures (more tragic the better please) here.

Kährs Flooring is proud to be the world's oldest wood floor manufacturer still in business and going strong. Rightly so, as the market has become so competitive with cheap low quality and non ecological flooring making it tough for quality flooring with strong ethical and ecological policy, to remind Europe's favourite engineered wood floor manufacture. Since Kährs Flooring began in 1857, in the heart of Swedish forests, there business has thrived showing great commitment to tradition, passion for craftsmanship, whist embracing new technologies. One of the most innovative features of flooring that Kährs has brought to the market was in 2000 when the Kährs Woodloc joints where launched. This is a unique technique of glueless floor joint, making flooring easy to lay and withstand climatic changes. All of Kährs 15mm naturals flooring collection are manufactured with this same Woodloc technology. The Naturals Collection also comes in a wide range of wood species and finishes, like the original oak, luxurious Jarrah or warm Beech.

Ken's Yard has just revamped their complete Kährs Flooring range to make it easier to shop for and choose the best flooring choice. There is also a new complete section called "Ken's How" which is full of handy advice on topics like how to lay a Kährs floor and how to lay floor on under floor heating.

FloPlast Rainwater Systems are one of the most trusted and widely used guttering solutions available.   For help with working out your guttering requirements for a job a really useful tool is FloPlast's own Flow rate calculator.  All you have to do is select you roof type, enter the roof dimensions and the calculator will tell you the flow rates.  Once you know a roof's flow rates you can tell what guttering system is required.  See FloPlast's own really useful guide on guttering carrying capacities.

Ken's Yard is now stocking the full FloPlast guttering range.  The range is offered at new "Big Boy Packs" special rates so you can get all you need for the job and have some left for your next job!