Sarah Brazier – Case study 

Background 

Sarah Brazier is a Melin Homes tenant.  She took occupancy of her two-bedroom house in July 2021.  The property is a new build and Sarah had issues with the boiler and heating costs at the property.   

Sarah received unusually higher than expected electricity bills.  The boiler had two heating elements and was very expensive to run.  An engineer switched off the one element, which reduced her daily usage by £2.  However, the radiators were now taking around 1.5 hours to get warm, and it was costing Sarah around £10 per day to heat the house.  Tests were made by Melin surveyors at the property, and they confirmed that the average daily running cost of the heating system was £10, which was too much for residents to sustain.  

Measures 

To support Sarah while further investigation was conducted, she was supplemented with fuel vouchers to help pay for the high energy bills.  This continued over a six-month period, whereby a total of £343 worth of fuel vouchers were provided to her.  

Sarah then agreed to trial an infrared heating system in her home to reduce her energy bills and receive some additional loft insulation to complement this.  Infrared heating was already being trialled by Melin Homes at another housing scheme in Tredegar at the time, with positive results, and it was thought that Sarah could also benefit from this technology.   An infrared heating system warms occupants in a room in a different way to the more familiar forms of heating using radiators or electric panel heaters.  It can be installed on the wall, ceiling, or floor.   

Impact 

Following the installation, Sarah was able to control the room heating levels individually throughout the house.  The efficiency of the system meant that Sarah’s home was heating up quickly and at approximately half the cost of her energy usage before installation. Sarah finds the ability to control her heating system via an app, and change settings for each individual room, “much easier and far more efficient” than she could previously. 

Sarah is delighted with her infrared heating system.  She can now manage her energy bills closely, whilst being able to heat her home quickly and effectively. The rooms in her house are warmer, and the new system highlighted some high humidity levels: she has since changed her practices to better manage moisture, which has largely eradicated the condensation, and humidity levels have dropped considerably.  

Sarah estimates that she is saving approximately 40 – 50% on last year’s bills (although acknowledges that this will likely rise this winter). These savings have had a huge impact on Sarah’s mental health: she can now afford to run the heating, unlike last year, and as a result is much less anxious. She would recommend her new low-carbon heating system to others in similar electrically heated homes. 

Sarah said “I am so far impressed by the system. I was uncertain to begin with, but it really does work and runs so much more efficiently and cheaper than the previous system!”