Useful resources
Could a heat pump be right for your home?
Heat pumps are an amazingly efficient way to heat your home. An air-source heat pump generates about 3 to 4 units of heat per unit of electricity, compared to about 0.9 for a gas boiler. If your home is currently heated by gas or oil, getting a heat pump installed is one of the biggest things you can do as an individual to reduce your use of fossil fuels.
You might have heard that heat pumps aren’t suitable for certain types of house, but this isn’t really true. Like all heating systems, they work best in well-insulated homes, but a good installer will almost certainly be able to design a system that works for your home. As long as you have at least 1m2 of outdoor space (which you’re willing to fill with a heat pump!) and space indoors for a hot water cylinder (which can probably either fit where your boiler was, or in your loft), you should be good to go.
The Get a Heat Pump website, run by Nesta and MCS Foundation, is an incredibly useful source of information on the benefits and different types of heat pumps and where to find an installer, as well as how to get the most out of your heat pump once you’ve got it.
You might also be interested in our eco open homes events, where you can visit a heat pump and ask the owner about it.
If we don’t have any events coming up, try the visit a heat pump site run by Nesta – there are quite a few people hosting visits in or near Norwich.
Solar panels: the basics
If you install solar panels on your roof, you’ll benefit from free renewable electricity to help power your home. If you add a battery, you can store energy for short periods to use when the panels aren’t generating electricity.
A south-facing roof is best, but you can also install panels if your roof faces east or west.
Costs vary depending on the size of house, type of panels and so on, but you’ll probably pay in the region of £4,000-£8,000. The Energy Saving Trust has a solar panel calculator which can give you an idea of cost and how much you could save. Savings can be substantial if you’re able to use the electricity when it is being generated – especially if you have an electric car you can charge during the day, or your heating system runs on electricity (e.g. a heat pump).
If you connect your panels to the grid, you can also be paid for exporting electricity you don’t use, via the smart export guarantee. This doesn’t happen automatically – you’ll need to sign up for it.
Solar Together – save money with group buying
Norwich City Council runs a group buying scheme for solar called Solar Together, where households sign up and suppliers bid to carry out the installations. Once the supplier has been selected, they will contact you with a personalised recommendation based on the details you provided, but you are not obliged to go ahead.
By grouping hundreds of households together in this way, the scheme enables all households to get a better price.
Register for Solar Together here.
Grants for home upgrades
Warm Homes Local Grant
The Warm Homes: Local Grant is a 100% government grant for green home upgrades. This could include insulation, smart heating controls, solar panels or a heat pump.
You can apply if all these three things are true:
- you own your home or rent privately
- your home’s Energy Performance Certificate is D or lower (find yours here)
- your household income is under £36,000 or you receive certain benefits.
In many parts of Norwich, you can apply even if your household income is above £36,000.
Check your eligibility and apply here.
The scheme is being run by Norwich City Council and delivered by E.ON, so if you apply, they will be in touch.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers £7,500 towards the cost of replacing an oil, gas, electric or LPG heating system with a heat pump. It’s available to all homeowners, regardless of income. Your heat pump must be installed by an MCS certified installer, and they will apply for the grant on your behalf.
Fairer Warmth
If you’re looking at how to save energy in your home, we recommend Fairer Warmth. Register for a free account, put in a few details about your home, and you’ll see details of possible actions and grants you might be eligible for. You can put together your own home action plan and track your progress. Fairer Warmth is available as an app for Apple or Android, or you can access the website using your browser.