New Clean Heat and Energy Pilot in Wester Hailes
The Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) Office at the City of Edinburgh Council has provided grant funding to Prospect Community Housing to install a heat pump, solar PV, and battery storage system at two social housing properties in Wester Hailes. Alongside the installation, the properties have been disconnected from the gas-grid (no more standing charge!) – meaning gas cookers and hobs have been removed and replaced with electric options. The properties will also now benefit from the Octopus Energy “Tenant Power” tariff which uses Octopus Energy’s Kraken software to ensure the household is purchasing electricity from the grid when costs are low and selling to the grid when prices are high.
The project collected a baseline survey of the properties before the installation, and a tenant survey was carried out to understand how tenants rated their original gas boiler set-up; energy (both gas and electricity) usage and bills from the year prior to installation was also gathered.
The Energy Savings Trust estimates that, for a 3-bedroom home, replacing a gas boiler heating system with an air source heat pump can save between 1,900-2,900kg of CO2annually, depending on the rating of the boiler being replaced. Solar panels can also help householders save up to 750kg of CO2annually. The removal of the gas hob and oven can lead to savings of approximately 70kg and 38kg CO2annually.
The project will analyse the cost of running the system for the year following the installation in order to understand the CO2emission reductions as well as any cost savings realised to the occupants. Further tenant surveys will be carried out to understand the learning curve of adapting to the new system and lessons learned along the way.
Updates and lessons learned to follow!
For information on how to install heat pumps, solar panels and battery storage in your home, visit Home Energy Scotland.
