A home retrofit involves upgrading an existing building to improve its energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and make it more comfortable, resilient, and future-ready. It’s about adapting your home for the long term – not just cutting energy bills, but making it healthier, safer, and better equipped to handle changing climate conditions.

Retrofit measures can include insulation, airtightness, ventilation, low-carbon heating (like heat pumps), and solar panels – but it doesn’t stop there. It can also involve improving indoor air quality, controlling overheating, reducing damp and mould risk, modernising controls, and even preparing your home for heavier rainfall or extreme weather, through better drainage or materials.

Refurbishment typically means cosmetic or functional updates – like redecorating or repairing fixtures – without significantly improving energy performance.

Renovation often involves larger structural changes, such as extensions or layout redesigns. These projects may include energy efficiency improvements, but they’re not the main focus.

Retrofit is different – it’s a whole-home approach to future-proofing your property, reducing environmental impact, and improving comfort and performance for the long term.

Because the way we live is changing – and our homes need to be ready for what’s ahead.

At Cosy Homes Oxfordshire, we help you take practical, confident steps to make your home more efficient, more comfortable, and better prepared for the future.

Our service combines independent advice with trusted local expertise – giving you a clear, tailored plan that works for your home, your goals, and your pace.

Whether you’re looking to cut carbon, lower your bills, or simply make your home work better, we’ll help you take the right steps in the right order – and get them done properly.

Because retrofit isn’t just about energy efficiency. It’s about doing what’s right – for your home, your wellbeing, and the future we all share.

What makes us different?

Independent guidance from start to finish
We’re not here to sell you a product. We’re here to help you understand what your home really needs – in what order, and why. From first steps to finished work, our Retrofit Coordinators are there to guide you, explain your options, and support you throughout the process.

Trusted local expertise
Our team is Oxfordshire-based, experienced, and focused on quality. We only work with vetted contractors through the RetrofitWorks cooperative – so you can be confident the work will be done properly, by people who care.

Big-picture thinking – flexible support
You don’t have to do everything at once. We help you look at the whole home, avoid missteps, and plan improvements in a way that fits your goals, your budget, and your timeline.

More than energy efficiency
Yes, we help you cut carbon – but we also help you improve comfort, air quality, and resilience to climate extremes. It’s about making your home easier to live in, now and into the future.

The value we offer:

• Comfort – warmer, healthier homes that are easier to live in
• Clarity – independent advice, clear steps, no jargon, no pressure
• Carbon reduction – real progress towards a more sustainable home
• Confidence – avoid regrets, know what’s worth doing and when
• Connection – support local skills and be part of a more resilient Oxfordshire
• Cost-effectiveness – plan upgrades to suit your budget and avoid wasted spend

Smarter home upgrades. Backed by trusted local expertise.

We’re here to help you plan and carry out improvements that really work – for your home, your wellbeing, and the future we all share.

When you book a home energy assessment with Cosy Homes Oxfordshire, one of our trained Retrofit Assessors or Retrofit Coordinators will visit your property to evaluate how it can best be future-proofed.

The visit usually takes 1–2 hours and involves two key stages:

1. Understanding how your home is used
   We’ll ask about your energy use, comfort levels, and any issues you’ve noticed – such as draughts, cold rooms, condensation, or high bills.
2. Room-by-room inspection
   We’ll examine each part of your home to assess its energy performance. That includes measuring spaces, checking insulation in walls, lofts, and floors, and identifying your heating, ventilation, and hot water systems.

This information is used to create your personalised Whole House Plan – a tailored roadmap for improving comfort, cutting carbon, and reducing energy bills. Your Coordinator will talk you through the recommendations in a follow-up call and help you decide what to prioritise. If you choose to move forward, we’ll also coordinate quotes from trusted local contractors.

Thermal imaging isn’t included as standard, but we can arrange it during colder months for an extra cost – just let us know if you’re interested.

Yes – depending on your circumstances, there may be grants or financial support available to help with the cost of home retrofit measures.

If you’re vulnerable to the cold, on a low income, or living in fuel poverty, you may qualify for free advice or funding through the Better Housing Better Health (BHBH) service. They support Oxfordshire residents with energy efficiency grants, helping to reduce bills and improve cold or damp homes.

For homeowners in England and Wales, the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers upfront grants to support the installation of low-carbon heating systems like air source or ground source heat pumps.

We also recommend checking:

• The Low Carbon Hub’s energy and funding advice for Oxfordshire residents
• Oxfordshire County Council’s Retrofitting Your Home page for local schemes and guidance

We update our website as new home retrofit funding becomes available. If you register with Cosy Homes Oxfordshire, we’ll also let you know if any current support schemes apply to your home and situation.

Yes. When you use the Cosy Homes Oxfordshire service, you gain access to our network of trusted, vetted contractors – all members of RetrofitWorks, our delivery partner and a national cooperative of quality-assured installers.

These contractors are certified under recognised schemes such as TrustMark and MCS, and we only work with those who meet our standards for quality, reliability, and customer care. Our team coordinates their work on your behalf, saving you time and helping ensure everything runs smoothly.

If you’re looking for trusted contractors independently – especially for standalone jobs or if you live outside Oxfordshire – we recommend using TrustMark to find reputable, certified tradespeople near you.

As of April 2022, VAT is not charged on the installation of energy efficiency measures in Great Britain, and this relief is set to last until 31 March 2027.

Thermal imaging can be a helpful way to spot areas of heat loss in a home by detecting surface temperatures. It’s often used to identify cold spots, draughts, missing insulation, or areas affected by damp.

However, thermal imaging has limitations. Its usefulness depends on the weather and conditions inside the home, and it doesn’t give a full or consistent picture across different properties. That’s why it’s not included as standard in our Whole House Plan assessments.

If your Retrofit Coordinator feels thermal imaging could provide useful extra insight, they will discuss this with you. You can request it at the time of booking – we offer it as an optional add-on, typically available between October and March, when temperature differences are easier to detect.

Tip: Your local community energy group may also have access to a thermal imaging camera for loan, especially during the colder months. It’s worth checking locally before your assessment.

Our service is rooted in whole house thinking — helping homeowners understand how different parts of the home interact, so that upgrades work together and avoid future problems. But we also know that every home, and every homeowner, is different.

If you’re focused on a specific issue — like insulation, heating controls, or ventilation — we may be able to support you with a targeted approach, especially if you’ve already had work done or have a clear idea of what you need next.

We still recommend looking at the bigger picture wherever possible, but we’re happy to talk through your options and help you take the next step — whether that’s a single measure or a broader plan.

If you’re not sure where to begin, just get in touch. We’re here to help.

Cosy Homes Oxfordshire is focused on supporting homeowners within Oxfordshire. Our team, contractors, and support network are all based locally – which means we can offer a high-quality, coordinated service in our area.

If you live elsewhere, we recommend exploring trusted alternatives:

• TrustMark – the UK’s official quality assurance scheme for home energy improvements.
• Buy With Confidence – a Trading Standards-approved list of reputable local contractors.

You can also check whether there’s a community energy group or retrofit scheme active in your region – these are becoming more common across the UK.

If you’re near the Oxfordshire border and aren’t sure if we can help, just get in touch and we’ll advise.

The Whole House Plan process typically takes around 5 weeks from your home assessment to final plan delivery. This can vary depending on the complexity of your home, the availability of contractors, and the time of year.

Our new, more comprehensive Whole House Plan gives you a detailed overview of your home’s energy performance – including tailored recommendations, estimated savings, suggested sequencing of measures, and technical insight. It’s designed to help you make confident, well-informed decisions, whether you want to start small or go big.

If you need to move faster (for example, because of upcoming works), let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

See our prices.

Once you’ve received your Whole House Plan and had a chance to talk it through with your Retrofit Coordinator, you’ll decide which improvements you’d like to take forward. At that point, we’ll share a Client Service Agreement – this sets out how we’ll work together to deliver your chosen retrofit measures.

It covers the next stage of our service, including:

• project coordination by your Retrofit Coordinator
• any additional assessments or technical reports (such as Building Performance Requirements)
• what you can expect from us, and what we’ll need from you

Costs at this stage are tailored to your home and the measures you choose. Everything will be clearly explained up front, and your Retrofit Coordinator will walk you through the details so you can make decisions with confidence.

It can be – especially if you have the time, confidence, and technical know-how to manage everything yourself. But retrofit isn’t always straightforward.

Our coordination fee covers the support of a dedicated Retrofit Coordinator, who brings technical expertise and practical experience. They’ll guide you through decisions, liaise with trusted contractors, and help avoid costly mistakes – saving you time and stress along the way.

For many homeowners, this support is well worth the cost. But if you’d prefer to go it alone, we’re happy to help you make an informed choice.

All contractors and suppliers working with Cosy Homes Oxfordshire are members of the RetrofitWorks cooperative – our delivery partner. To join, they must go through a thorough vetting and onboarding process.

This includes checks for technical competence, customer service, and a commitment to quality. They must also be registered with national quality assurance schemes such as:

• TrustMark – the government-endorsed standard for quality and consumer protection
• MCS – the certification scheme for low-carbon technologies like heat pumps and solar panels

Through RetrofitWorks, contractors also receive ongoing support and training to meet high standards and keep up with best practice in home retrofit.

This means you can feel confident that any works delivered through our service are done by reliable, qualified professionals, committed to quality, safety, and long-term performance.

All contractors working through Cosy Homes Oxfordshire are required to use licensed waste carriers and authorised skip hire services to manage waste generated during retrofit projects.

This ensures that materials are properly sorted, recycled where possible, and disposed of responsibly. While some waste is unavoidable, most skips are not sent to landfill in their entirety. Materials such as timber, metal, plasterboard, and insulation can often be separated and diverted for recycling or reuse.

Our aim is to reduce the environmental impact of retrofit work – not only by improving your home’s energy performance but also by minimising waste and supporting a more sustainable construction process.