The project was delivered by Aspire Housing, in the Newcastle under Lyme area of North Staffordshire. The properties targeted are too far from gas mains to benefit from a gas supply. They had benefited from general improvements to meet the Decent Homes Standard, but due to their old inefficient storage heating were still designated ‘hard to heat’.

Solar PV combined with battery storage is a relatively new but fast developing technology. The aim is to store excess power generated by the solar PV system which would otherwise be exported to the grid. When the electricity consumption of the property is greater than any power generated by the solar array then at least some of the extra demand can be supplied from the charged batteries.

This project was delivered by Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) in collaboration with Greenvision Energy Ltd. It involved replacing 20-year old standard storage heaters with the ‘Dimplex Quantum’ high retention electric storage heaters; and replacing existing 10-year old domestic hot water (DHW) cylinders with ‘Dimplex EC Eau ECSd cylinders, with programmer and immersion.

This project was delivered by YES Energy Solutions in collaboration with North Lincolnshire Council and North East Lincolnshire Council. Its aim was to determine if B-Warm heated seat covers could prove a low-cost solution to improving health and well-being and reducing energy usage in vulnerable and older households in North and North East Lincolnshire.

The project was delivered by Cheshire West and Chester Council and involved installing measures in 52 park home properties built pre-1996 at the Orchard Park site in Elton. All properties received insulation, with 15 of these also receiving Vent-Axia single room heat recovery systems, usually one unit in the bathroom and one in the kitchen.

This project was delivered by the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It involved installing a combination of two technologies – the Oxypod device, which removes dissolved gases from water-based central heating systems, reputedly improving efficiency of the system and reducing running costs; and the Ventive S passive ventilation and heat recovery system, which is intended to improve relative humidity levels and human comfort in interior spaces.

This project was delivered by YES Energy Solutions in collaboration with Basingstoke and Dean Borough Council.

This project was delivered by South Holland District Council (SHDC). It mirrored a similar project with the same partner which compared three other smart heating control products in other properties. Each project was recommended by the funders to involve installation of 45 to 60 heating controls and compare three technologies. The projects were on too large a scale to be combined, but the methodologies were comparable and so there are benefits in comparing results from both.

The Technical Innovation Fund has been groundbreaking because it enabled us to get an insight into how many new technologies can help households in vulnerable situations to reduce their energy bills and improve the comfort of their homes.