John & Kitty’s Cosy Cottage Upgrades
Find out how John & Kitty improved their insulation and heating system to save over £300 a year on their energy bills.
Summary
Heat pump
Draughtproofing
Loft & Cavity Wall Insulation
Ventilation
The Home:
- House Type: 1920s semi-detached house
- No. of bedrooms: 3
- Wall Type: Cavity walls
- Location: Bristol
“It has been great to have the house at a more consistent temperature throughout the day, especially as we work from home and have a young child.”
– John, homeowner
Overview
John and Kitty’s 3-bed cottage was often cold, draughty and EPC E. They used the Retrofit West assessment vouchers and free home visit to get a discounted thermal imaging survey and advice on grants and draughtproofing measures. This enabled them to get free cavity wall insulation, increase their EPC rating and make significant energy savings. They went on to install additional loft insulation and a heat pump, ultimately saving up to £3 per day on their energy bills.
Background
John & Kitty moved into their home in 2024, and although it was in good condition, there was noticeable heat loss through the doors, walls, and roof, and it was rated EPC E. With a baby on the way, the couple knew it was important to make some improvements.
Assessment
John & Kitty used their 70% assessment voucher to get a CHEESE survey, which involved a thermal imaging camera showing where their heat was leaking. The free home visit from Retrofit West helped them identify which grants they could use and provided invaluable advice on how to draughtproof their property. John & Kitty also had further project support to improve their heat pump control settings and make best use of the Octopus Cosy smart tariff.
Solutions
The following measures were installed:
- Cavity wall insulation
- Loft insulation
- Comprehensive draught proofing (DIY, external door seals and excluder strips)
- Air Source Heat pump
The Challenge
John & Kitty’s property was built in the 1920s, and this presented many challenges for retrofitting. “I think for us the challenge was what we could do within the constraints of our property due to its age and layout, without breaking the bank. For example, our doors are old and wooden and were very leaky but almost impossible to seal via conventional measures.”
Extensions and new doors were well outside of their budget, and so the couple explored what options could be implemented cost-effectively.
Similarly, the heat pump and Sunamp Thermino was a great solution for the space constraints, both in terms of where to put the hot water cylinder, and where the pipework could run.
One of the more challenging aspects of the process involved coordination of the additional measures required to access the grant funding. While the cavity wall insulation itself was installed promptly, the prerequisite works were delivered by multiple specialist contractors over several weeks, which extended the overall timeline and required ongoing coordination.
There were also a few instances where follow-up work was needed. For example, a ventilation opening was initially installed in a position that later required adjustment following an audit, resulting in a second installation nearby. Some minor making-good work associated with this change was not completed as expected and had to be finished independently.
Overall, this stage of the project required a degree of persistence to ensure all elements were completed, particularly given the number of different parties involved and the technical nature of the work.
The Results
Using the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) funding, John & Kitty were able to have free cavity wall insulation installed by Ecohome UK, which only took one afternoon. Due to the age and deformation of the external doors and frames at the property, draught exclusion strips had only limited effectiveness, and so John also installed Stormguard around door seals, which worked wonders to keep heat from escaping. To make sure there was enough controlled ventilation, they had trickle vents installed throughout the property and extractor fans in the kitchens and bathrooms.
John & Kitty also wanted to have loft insulation installed as their thermal imaging survey showed significant heat loss through the roof. However, under GBIS, only one insulation measure can be funded per property. Therefore, with help from his uncle, John undertook the work to raise the joists in the loft and filled the new space with Knauf mineral wool, increasing the loft insulation to be up to code.
Their Stiebel Eltron heat pump was installed by Green Flare and took 2 weeks to install, with less than 3 months between initial contact/assessment and the finished install. The family were only without heat/hot water for a few days and were provided with electric space heaters for this period. As part of the install, Green Flare also incorporated a Sunamp Thermino heat battery (a space efficient alternative to a hot water cylinder) and updated the majority of radiators for better efficiency.
The family noticed results straight away. They felt warmer and could see from their smart meter that their bills dropped by £1 per day when the cavity wall insulation went in, and a further £2 per day since the heat pump install and loft insulation upgrades. Their bills have further decreased after smart tariff discussions with the Retrofit West project support team. Their EPC has also gone up by 20 points.
“The heat pump has taken some getting used to as you can’t immediately boost the temperature like you can with a conventional boiler, but we are really happy with the results and would recommend it to others.”
“There have been no noise issues at all, and we have a constant ambient temperature in the house now, which is much nicer and more comfortable for us.”
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