Rachel’s Journey to a Low Carbon Home

Airtightness and ventilation Heating and hot water Internal walls Technology & Renewables Windows and doors

Rachel and her husband began their eco-friendly home renovation in 2021 with guidance from Futureproof, focusing on low-carbon solutions like external wall insulation, solar panels, and an air source heat pump.

Summary

Improved comfort throughout the year

Issues with damp now resolved

Energy bills reduced

Improved health & wellbeing*

The Home

House Type: 1880’s Victorian End Terrace
No. Bedrooms 4
Wall Type: Solid Brick Wall
Kingswood, Bristol

Overview

Rachel and her husband started their journey with advice from Futureproof, aiming to make their family home greener and more spacious. They embarked on their project in 2021, prioritising low-carbon options.

They installed external wall insulation, new windows and doors, 13 x 2.8kW solar panels with a Give Energy 5.2kW battery store and Eddi system, and a Vaillant Aerotherm Plus air source heat pump.

Background

With the kids growing up, Rachel and her husband needed more room so decided to convert their loft. Whilst this was happening, they decided it was the perfect time to address other issues in the house, including cold, damp, and mould.

Rachel didn’t set a timescale for when she wanted the renovation to be completed, as she expected it to overrun but the renovations took around a year from start to end with breaks in the middle due to material wait times. The floorboards needed to be uplifted, which meant the house was inaccessible for two weeks whilst the heat pump installation was carried out.

The project had a budget of £180,000 with no assistance from government schemes or funding. Whilst they did investigate the funding options, this would have added extra costs in labour or more disruption. They used a small, local contractor who didn’t have the accreditations required to get the Boiler Upgrade Scheme but opted to prioritise a reliable professional over a rebate. Instead, Rachel extended her mortgage and had financial support from her family.

Assessment

As a starting point, Rachel spoke to Futureproof and the Centre for Sustainable Energy for advice. From there, several assessments took place. VOR Retrofit Plan conducted a whole house retrofit assessment, including achievable U-values.

Rachel also had Building Energy Experts carry out a retrofit assessment, air tightness testing, ventilation survey and thermographic survey on the family home.

Elmhurst Energy completed a structural assessment of the home. Rachel also had a PV electrician come to the house and provide a simple but helpful report, which was easy to understand.

The Challenge

The process for Rachel wasn’t straightforward, with the biggest challenge being finding enough skilled engineers and labourers to complete the work.

There were also difficulties with the supply chain of materials with multiple delays and price increases due to COVID and Brexit.

Result

Rachel and the family’s biggest result is how much more comfortable the house is, mainly down to the external wall insulation, new windows, and doors throughout the house. There is no more damp and mould. This is especially important for Rachel’s children as they both have asthma.

Energy bills are down overall, with gas usage decreasing. The electricity bills have risen slightly but this is now heating their home which was gas powered before.

Rachel is aware that with all the work done to the house, they won’t make their money back but the improved comfort and the resolution of damp issues more than make up for this. The value of their house will also increase with the improvement.

*Improvements to health and well being has been found in scientific studies. Find out more here.