Broughton Community Energy
Case Studies
We've been talking to people around the village who have already been down the 'Retrofit' route. They may have opted for heat pumps, insulation, solar panels or any combination of those. They have kindly shared their experience and pass on their thoughts
Case 1- Energy Guzzler to Efficiency — The Renovation of a High Street property
Background
When we began renovating our Broughton High Street property in early 2023, we were dealing with a time capsule. The building hadn’t been refurbished since 1967, something we were reminded of daily by the historical artefacts uncovered during demolition.
Behind the charming façade lay a structure that was incredibly energy inefficient. The rear featured double-skinned brick walls with single-glazed windows, while the front still had old single-glazed sash windows. The roof was a patchwork of flat and pitched slate on timber, with almost no insulation.
Heating came from a relatively new oil-fired boiler, fuelled by an ageing 2,800-litre oil tank installed in the garage, completely non-compliant with modern regulations. Cooking was done on a single Aga range, and the oil tank was filled twice a year, meaning annual consumption of around 5,500 litres. In short, it was a lovely house, but an energy nightmare.
Developing the Energy Strategy
At the outset of the project, we explored a range of renewable and low-carbon options, solar panels, air and ground-source heat pumps, and even a ground-source system using the old well we discovered under the kitchen floor.
But after running the numbers, it became clear that the installation cost and disruption (including a full replacement of all heating pipework) would far outweigh the benefits. The conservation area restrictions on the High Street also limited what could be installed externally.
So, we shifted focus to what we called a “reduction strategy”, making the +200 year old building as efficient as possible while retaining the existing oil system, but preparing it for future upgrades. That meant:
Installing infrastructure for a future solar hot water tank. Upgrading insulation throughout to exceed building control standards. Using gas bottles to fuel a new gas hob (our chef insisted — for precision cooking). Adding a 7-litre boiling water tap for pans and cooking water, cutting down gas use for water boiling on the hob.
The Works
The renovation was extensive. New double-glazed windows and doors were fitted to the rear.
The front ground-floor sash windows were replaced with bespoke double-glazed units and a new entrance door. The kitchen gained a new insulated floor slab and underfloor heating. All new walls were cavity-insulated, and loft spaces received a mix of loft roll, polyurethane board, and chipboard depending on location.
The biggest technical challenge came with the kitchen rooflight, where the stud upstand was just 50 mm thick across 6 sq m. To meet insulation standards, we used an aerogel board, a remarkable material that’s ultra-thin, super-insulating, and (as we discovered) not cheap, but worth it.
Results
The transformation has been dramatic.Oil consumption has fallen from roughly 5,500 litres to 2,000 litres a year, a reduction of 3,500 litres and a saving of about £2,100 annually. Gas use has halved, we used to get through two bottles a year, now just one (saving another £100 annually).
The boiling water tap cost around £600, but has already proven its worth, cutting cooking-related gas use by nearly half, much of which was just boiling water for pasta and poached eggs.
The house is now warmer, cleaner, and vastly more efficient and ready for the next phase of its energy journey when renewables become more cost-effective.
Case 3 - Grant Funded Upgrades
Background
A Broughton resident was approached by a representative of South Coast Building Company who explained their property could be eligible for grant funded upgrades through the ECO4 government scheme. The conditions for the grant were that the property is Council Tax category D, with a low EPC (Energy performance certificate) originally rated G and with a household income of under £31K.
The Works
After a survey of the property a plan of works was put in place to install solar panels on the roof. An air source heat pump with hot water tank and two new radiators as well as micro bead cavity wall insulation and loft insulation with accompanying ventilation.
Three months after the initial conversation the works valued at around £38k were all carried out by the South Coast Building Company over the course of one week. Afterward the resident paid for replacement windows by First Homes.
The Result
The upgrades are all fully owned by the resident who controls the heating and collects money from exporting electricity through a smart meter and an app on their phone. In the future they may connect the shower directly to the hot water system.
Case 4 - Another High Street Upgrade
Background
In 2025 the owner of a newly acquired semi detached property in Broughton High St wanted some energy improvements. The house had good existing fabric and insulation and so several contractors were contacted to offer quotes for solar photo-voltaic panels on the roof, a large storage battery in the garage and an air source heat pump to run the central heating system
The Works
The contractor that succeeded with Solar PV and battery quote was Southcoastelectrical.co.uk. They installed 14 panels on the roof maximising the space, including all wiring, inverters and a 13.5kW GivEnergy battery. From quote acceptance it took one month for the contractor to start work and they spent one week on site. The contractor took care of all building regulations and energy supplier permissions. The system is set up to potentially run the house for a few days in the event of a power outage. It is also programmed to sell electricity back to the grid as well as buy and store electricity during cheap price periods. The complete installation cost £14.5k with a 20 year lifespan on the solar panels.
The supplier and installer of the a source heat pump is Hurfordsheating.co.uk working with the Heatgeek accreditation system supplied and installed the air source heat pump. After a paid one day assessment of £300 and a one week design time the lead time was two months then they arrived on site for a one week installation period. The install included the 3.4kW pump, hot water storage and replacement of 6 radiators. It cost £6,300 with a £7,500 grant.
The Result
After a year of use the property owner now has cost neutral carbon free power to the house.
Case 5 - Rookery Lane - Heat Pump and Solar
Solar Panels
I had been interested in getting solar panels for some time, cost and efficiency had been the main things that concerned me. I had received some quotes in 2021, but didn’t get over my mental hurdle to take the plunge. I started looking again in 2024 and replied to a promotion from my electricity supplier OVO. They were offering installation using an in-house team, with a 100% interest free, 3 year loan, and an export rate of 20p/ KWh for excess power. I decided this was a good deal with the added advantage that by using my supplier there should be less chance of complications. I was wary of “cowboy” companies who do not have any back up.
OVO used a remote process to scope out the design of the installation from satellite photos of my roof and additional photos I supplied of the switch board and the proposed location of the equipment. I expressed a preference that the panels were not on the front of the house. They came up with a design then arranged a site visit to confirm suitability of the design. They insisted a SMART meter was fitted, but despite the engineer fitting the largest ariel he was authorised to install, the system did not work initially. I found it very difficult to get traction with OVO as the different sections do not talk to each other. The SMART meter took about a year until it started working and it still drops out occasionally.
I increased the number of panels from 9 to 11 and accepted the recommended 5KWh battery. Installation was efficient and professionally done. Everything is controlled by the GivEnergy App on my phone, I can set when to charge the battery and when to discharge. My electricity bills fell from about £100/month to about £25/month, in summer I export about £70/month. I have been very pleased with the system, although I wish I had known enough to install something different.
Lessons learnt.
1. OVO insisted on a SMART meter, but did not seem to mind that it didn’t work.
2. The “designer” was trying to minimise cost, not optimise the system.
3. Batteries completely change the usefulness of the system, they allow control over when power is taken from and discharged to the grid which can significantly improve the cost efficiency. Install the largest capacity you can afford. Batteries are great if there are power cuts and can provide power through the night
4. Solar panels are the cheapest part of the system, install as many as possible.
5. If the panels are orientated SE as mine are, it is a good to have some facing SW or W to get the afternoon/evening sun.
6. Installation and scaffolding in particular, is one of the most expensive cost components, so time spent optimising the system is important, adding to the system later is costly.
7. The winter fall off in power generated is significant, if heating is from heat pumps then the highest demand is at the lowest solar generation period.
So I am delighted with having solar panels, I should have installed more panels with a westerly aspect and fitted at least double the battery capacity.
Heat Pumps
There is a lot of talk about Heat Pumps, with much confusing commentary. My house is particularly suited to retrofitting a heat pump as it was rebuilt in 2016/17, has wall and loft insulation, double and triple glassing and underfloor heating for the whole ground floor with three separate zones. I understood the efficiency of air source was about 2.5 and ground source to be 3.5 to 4. After seeing Simon Clay's ground source installation using two relatively shallow wells, I became convinced that was the way forward. There is something that appeals to me about using the chalk aquifer that is below us here in Broughton to provide the heat, the system would not lose efficiency in winter and would be significantly more efficient in terms of the power required to supply the heat than air source. Also, having been a Drilling Engineer, I was drawn to a system involving wells rather than pipes in trenches. I found it difficult to find companies willing and capable of installing a ground source system, the estimate I received was in the order of £50,000 which is a very significant investment.
When looking for companies to quote, I kept finding they only did air source, eventually I decided to get a proposal from one called Adlårcastra. They said that their heat pump efficiency was between 3.5 and 4, therefore comparable with ground source. They use a hot water tank with a small built in heat pump so it is separate from the heating system, this enables the hot water to be run at a higher temperature than the central heating. I had a visit from an engineer who did the heat loss calculations, examined the potential locations for equipment and how to tie into the existing system. On the basis of this survey they gave me an estimate and on the payment of £100 deposit a second site visit was arranged to verify the design assumptions and check there was enough space and access. Interestingly the second engineer reduced the plant from 2X 14 KW units to 2X 10 KW. The quotation was approximately £16,000 which was reduced to me by the £7500 SEG grant from the government.
The installation was done over 2 days, I had to empty my oil tank as the heat pumps were mounted on the concrete plinth that it had been standing on. A team of three carried out the works, two plumbers and one electrician. All were very competent and when they had examined the system they changed some of the arrangement. Firstly they recommended I recommissioned my salt based water softener rather than install the Aquabion ionic softener in the quote apparently the ionising softener leaves solids in the water which shows on glass and sanitary ware.. The second was to dispel with the 200L buffer tank and use the existing towel warmer circuit as the buffer. This saved in the order of £1000 from the cost.
All the work was done in under two days and the system appears to be working fine. The power consumption in cold weather is significant and it will be interesting to compare running costs over a full year. I feel my hot water stored volume is smaller than before and would need to be supplemented if there were 4 people living in the house.
Lessons learnt.
1. There are lots of different systems, all have their quirks and differences.
2. Valiant are probably the market leaders in the UK.
3. Retrofitting to an existing property is relatively easy if it has underfloor heating.
4. There are complications around hot water heating that require more space than a conventional airing cupboard (buffer tanks, venting for heat pump).
5. Air source uses a frightening amount of electricity when the outside temperature is at zero or below. It is also at its least efficient when most needed.
6. The heat loss/ heat pump sizing calculations are not particularly accurate.
7. If the installer is set up to assist with the grant application the process is simple.