This is an account of my journey trying to fit my home with an alternative energy source and the discoveries I made along the way. I live in a 1920s semi-detached house with double glazing, cavity wall and loft insulation and a Worcester Bosch Greenstar gas central heating boiler.
I had long wanted the combination of solar panels, a battery and an electric car so I could play the game of saving money with my energy supplier, Octopus. In addition to wanting to generate free electricity I wanted to find a way to make the south-west facing rooms in the house comfortable to live in during the hottest weather by installing air conditioning. Although this went against my aim of reducing energy use, I thought that it could perhaps be offset by the installation of solar panels.
After applying for the Hampshire County Council bulk buying scheme for solar panels and batteries I was told by the surveyor that my house’s south-west facing roof wasn’t big enough to fit sufficient panels to make it worthwhile
After chatting to friends and colleagues for a while, I discovered that I might be able to have solar panels fitted on a gazebo or verandah roof, if I were to have one built. So Plan B resulted in a gazebo being built for me in summer 2024 by my son, Richard, with roofing help from my eldest son, Steve.
Whilst this work was being planned I was approached by a local electrical contractor who offered to install air conditioning in the two south-west facing rooms with an air to air heat pump system to run it. This, he claimed, would be a very efficient system and would also provide an additional heat source in the winter. At the same time I found this video by Everything Electric, called The Future of Home Heating and Cooling?!? which sets out what’s involved and how it differs from an air to water heat pump:
I had considered having an air to water heat pump fitted, to work directly with my existing radiators, but had ruled that out because I knew I would need extra radiators fitted and couldn’t face the disruption involved. And it wouldn’t have solved the need for some cooling during the hottest weather.
After I’d watched the film I decided to go ahead and get two blowers fitted to the south-west facing rooms with a 5kw air source heat pump to run them, situated on the decking outside. The installation was quick, neat and clean, with no problems. See photos of the installation below. I’m really happy with the look of it and it’s very easy to run. It cost a lot less than an air to water heat pump to install. Have a look online to compare prices. Of course, if I had wanted the whole house fitted with this system, there would need to be additional ducting and/or possibly another ASHP fitted at the front of the house.
This winter I’ve been using the downstairs blower as a third radiator, taking the room to temperature much more quickly and saving on gas. I can see from taking readings on my smart meter that the ASHP is running at around 3-4 times efficiency, thus bringing the cost down to something like that of gas unit price.
I’m hoping that, by the time summer arrives, I’ll have some solar panels fitted on the gazebo and that I’ll be able to run the system for free – helping me to stay cool when necessary. With the addition of a battery I’ll be able to take advantage of the special offers from Octopus. I may also get an EV charger installed and make the transfer to a second hand electric car.