Background In October 2024 we finally replaced our Worcester Greenstar combi boiler with an Octopus Heatpump installation of a Daikin Altherma 3 monoblock Airsourced Heat-pump and 180 litre hot water tank. So two months on how well does it work? Is it keeping the house warm? Is it costing more or less money to run? […]
Category Archives: Energy Efficiency case studies
More complex retrofit case studies
02
Jan
Jan
In this case study Kev Matthews tells us how he’s navigated the Wiltshire Planning system on his journey to install an Air Source Heat Pump in his Calne home… …With the Boiler Upgrade Scheme from the UK government contributing £7500 (England and Wales) towards the cost of installation, it’s never been a been a better […]
17
Nov
Nov
Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) is technology that’s typically only installed on highly air-tight and insulated new build Passivhaus standard houses. Even bulk house builders will revert to trickle air vents for ventilation rather than install this technology. So is it possible to perform a relatively inexpensive DIY installation on an old leaky house […]
07
Nov
Nov
Our home is a 1970’s 4 bed in Monkton park (extended from 3-bed in the 90s) and we have been there since 2022 – we love our home and wanted to make it more sustainable! The house has solar PV, a battery and a heat pump, as well as an electric car charger. When we […]
21
Oct
Oct
Our Octopus Heat Pump journey started in late October 2023. We’d been with Octopus Energy as an electricity and gas supplier for a couple of years and made good use of their Intelligent Octopus tariff. We wanted to decarbonise our house, and the last significant step on that journey was to get rid of gas. […]
23
Jun
Jun
Octopus Energy are rapidly becoming one of the major Heat Pump installers in the UK. This is largely due to their highly competitive pricing, which after the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme £7500 grant is applied, puts the installation cost on a par, or sometimes less than a new gas combo-boiler. It is possible to obtain […]
23
May
May
Zero Chippenham members Jan and Trevor describe their experience of an Air Source heat pump installation in their 1970s house in Chippenham. The Myths Air Source Heat Pump? “It makes too much noise”, “It doesn’t keep you warm enough”, “it’s too expensive”. BUT it does take you away from fossil fuels for keeping your home warm and […]
18
Feb
Feb
So you have solar panels on your roof and you’re thinking of buying an electric vehicle (ev), can you charge your ev from solar? Well the short answer is yes, but with a few caveats. When you buy your first Electric Vehicle (EV) or Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), it will probably come with […]
12
Jan
Jan
With the government announcing that VAT will be zero rated from February on retrofitted household electrical battery storage solutions, it seems an appropriate time to write up my own experience of retrofitting and living with an AC battery in our 1930s Chippenham house. Following an industry wide consultation in 2023 the UK government announced the […]
05
Jan
Jan
Zero Chippenham member James Bradbury talks about his experience of installing and living with an Air Soured heat pump. James’ house is a 1980s standard Chippenham estate house with two minor extensions. It has cavity wall insulation. Introduction I’ve been seeing a lot of interest online about heat pumps and some confusion about what they […]