Tetchill man sees energy bill rise after eco-friendly works

Richard Sadler, from Tetchill near Ellesmere, claimed £37,000 has been spent on his property via the Government-funded Eco 4 programme, which carries out green-energy works on homes for people who are on limited incomes.

But he said instead of saving him £1,700, his bills have trebled and the botched work will cost a further £40,000 to put right.

“The taxpayer has paid £37,000 to achieve £1,700 of bill saving; my house has never cost that much to heat,” said Mr Sadler. “It has trebled my bills. It just milks money.”

Works began on his property in January last year, which included solar panels, an air source heat pump and insulation works.

Mr Sadler has said that have been repeated issues with the equipment installed in his home (Image: Ruairi Walsh)

Mr Sadler said he immediately ran into issues and has claimed that he was coerced into signing off work before it was even installed.

“It was specifically queried,” said Mr Sadler. “The work was that bad I told them to sling their hook. The communication was fairly appalling throughout.”

A second set of installers from Doncaster firm, DJB Installs came in March, and things did not improve.

Mr Sadler has said that the solar panels have been placed on a roof at the rear of the garden in an area which is shaded for large parts of the day, the air source heat pump is half as efficient as expected and the insulation has been left with voids and little ventilation upstairs.

Since March 2025, Mr Sadler has been trying to get remedial works performed at the property by a different firm, which are estimated to be as much as £40,000, leading to extensive stress on his wellbeing.

He has had to escalate complaints through over a dozen different organisations – even contacting government ministers such as Ed Miliband.

This is because different parts of the scheme such as insulation and solar panel instillation have different regulatory bodies.

“Where I am at now is totally ludicrous; it’s beyond bizarre. I have been emailing ministers for eight months. The regulatory response has been despicable. I have been banging my head against a brick wall.”

MP for North Shropshire, Helen Morgan, has been dealing with Richard’s case and has raised concerns over similar cases

Mr Sadler has said the solar panels on his house have been placed in a shaded area (Image: Ruairi Walsh)

She said: “Richard’s shocking story is sadly one of many I’ve heard from people who have written to me in recent months.

“The botched delivery of some Eco 4 installations has been acknowledged by ministers, who have said that remediation would go some way to righting the wrongs of the past. Yet it’s clear this process isn’t happening effectively, nor anywhere near quickly enough.

“Meanwhile, residents like Richard are left with homes and lives ruined, and a feeling that the Government is turning a blind eye.”

In response to an enquiry by the Advertizer a spokesperson for DJB Installs said the company “takes all customer concerns seriously and has followed its established complaints procedure throughout this matter”,

They added that they “have made repeated efforts to investigate and, where appropriate, rectify the matters raised” but that “agreed access to the property has not been made available”.

The company said it remained “willing to attend the property at a mutually agreed time and to work constructively towards resolving the matter” but could not comment further due to “an ongoing complaint”.

The Advertizer has also reached out to the Government-endorsed quality scheme TrustMark, who said: “Mr Sadler has been offered an independent survey of his property.

"If any remediation work is needed, an independent installer will carry it out and will be overseen by MCS and TrustMark. This will be at no cost for him as the customer, as the minister previously confirmed.

"At this point, Mr Sadler has not allowed any of the work to start and he continues to contact multiple organisations raising concerns about the process, as well as threatened legal action.

"TrustMark has recommended to Mr Sadler that he allows the survey and remedial work to go ahead, to avoid extra costs and fix the ongoing quality issues.”