Mrs Smith, 1920s detached house

“I went to a talk by Our Power and was so happy: finally an organisation that gives free impartial practical energy advice, as even with the best of intentions it can be difficult to know where to start! What really helped me was Paul’s personal story about getting a heat pump installed. It gave me the courage to go ahead with investigating a heat pump and solar panel installation for our house.

“For the solar panel and battery installation we went with a local company, Impact Services. A surveyor came round and went through what was possible given our complex roof and helped to compare our annual energy bills with our likely energy demands. It was a considerable outlay, but we decided it was worth it over time.

“For the heat pump installation we used Octopus, our energy provider. I found the whole process very straightforward. An engineer came round in March and did a very thorough survey of the house. We discussed the best placement for the heat pump and water tank, the positioning of external pipe work, radiator replacements and any measures we had to take before installation (one higher fence panel for noise reduction for our neighbour and a removable cover for our open fireplace).

“Communication with the Octopus team was very efficient and clear – they took us through every step. The whole process was fantastic: highly efficient, very tidy, very skilled: solutions found for every minor problem that cropped up. We are very pleased with how everything is working, and Octopus have a dedicated aftercare team that is easy to contact and quick to respond: they have come round twice for some minor adjustments.”