After the successful delivery of a project that replaced electric storage heaters with hybrid heat pumps Home Group were invited to run an additional hybrid heat pump project. This project replaced gas boilers that were due for renewal with Daikin Altherma Hybrid heat pumps. The hybrid system combines an air to water heat pump alongside a condensing combination gas boiler to provide heating and hot water. The system can automatically select the most cost effective and efficient heating mode based on external and internal temperatures, the space heating and hot water demand, and the current cost of gas and electricity.

This project used Q-Bot’s novel “SprayBot” to install a 12.5cm thick layer of Elastospray® 1629/1 foam insulation to the under-side of suspended timber ground floors in properties in the London Borough of Camden (LBC).

This project was delivered by South Holland District Council. It mirrored a similar project with the same partner to compare three other smart heating controls in other council owned properties1. Each project was recommended by the funders to involve installation of 45 to 60 heating controls of three types for comparison. The two projects were on too large a scale to be combined into 1 project report, but the methodologies were comparable so comparison is possible.

Ceredigion comprises of a series of isolated rural communities, with 82.4% of homes not connected to mains gas – the highest number of off-gas properties in Wales. Tregaron, the area targeted for the project, falls within the top 30% most deprived, and the rural areas around it fall within the top 10%, in terms of access to services.

This project was led by Arun District Council in West Sussex. It involved the installation of Honeywell evohome intelligent heating controls and traditional thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) in homes where residents previously had no (or old, basic) TRVs. Energy monitors were also installed to help residents understand electricity use.

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.