1 The Bridleways

No 1 The Bridleways is an 80’s, south facing bungalow, unusually for its age having foam cavity (50mm) insulation when built. The EPC was D.  It had a nominal 200mm of loft insulation, a condensing combi gas boiler for hot water and heating, a coal effect gas fire in the living room and the original wooden window frames replaced with double glazing where the glazing bars were on the outside (hardly a challenge to an enterprising burglar with a screwdriver!)  Solar gain both summer and winter is excellent. Previous energy figures not available.

Jon & Ann bought it some 4 years ago and embarked on a planned three-year retro fit to make their new home as energy efficient and low carbon as possible.

The starting point was 12 PV panels installed by EnergyZone at a cost of approx. £6,000, nominal output of 3.4kWp, ground mounted in the back garden to be less offensive to the bungalows opposite. Because the area they covered was over 3sq M full planning permission was required. There was no grant available but generation and export have provided an income of £640.37 to date as well as reducing imports by about half. At the same time, they signed up with a renewable energy supplier.

Refurbishment included LED lighting throughout, smart gas and electricity meters and new triple glazing replacement windows. Loft insulation was topped up to 300mm and all internal water pipes insulated. The hot pipes now retain heat well and this has greatly reduced cold water run off times. The concrete floors are uninsulated. As carpets are replaced thick underlay with some thermal qualities are specified. Curtains with thermal linings are sized to just fit behind the radiators which have foil panels behind and fitted with RTV’s. The gas fire was replaced with a Clear View 5kW log burner. In refitting the bathroom, the bath was replaced with a shower powered from the heating system and the simple 2 on 2 off heating control replaced with a smart thermostat. The new EPC (before the ASHP was installed) is a high-end B. The garden has small, raised vegetable beds, a wild flower area with bee hotel, a small pond and annual bee friendly plantings. A small extension was added to current building regs.

4 water butts and saved cold run off provide water for loo flushing and the garden. Monthly water consumption just 4 cubic metres. 

A Samsung 9kW air source heat pump with internet smart control to take advantage of variable rate tariffs and weather forecasts has more recently replaced the gas boiler and they have an electric car with smart charger. An Eddi P.V. control system maximises P.V. output, prioritising first house, then car charging, hot water, then export. Total installation cost + radiator upgrades and Eddi control was £12,207. They system was eligible for the Green Homes Grant of £4,000 and the RHI scheme will bring in £3304 over 7 years. For the moment a gas hob has been retained. Last piece of the retro fit will be a 10kW home battery storage to maximise average of 1057 kW of exported electricity and store low tariff electricity for use at peak times.

The home is now evenly warm and has a carbon footprint of just 0.15 tonnes of CO2e (from the gas hob and a small quantity of logs.)

Jon & Ann’s lifestyle has also changed. No flying, meatless meals 3 times a week, all local journeys on foot and a solar powered radio! Still difficult to do is cutting down on plastic associated with food. They frequently use a Remoska work top cooker(600w) as an alternative to the 2+ kW electric oven.

For full details of the retro fit journey see the Stretton Climate Care website. For energy figures see attachments below.