Ecohouse Solar Photovoltaic (PV) and Solar Thermal case study for the Energy Saving Trust in Milton Keynes
Article from Milton Keynes Citizen – Ecohouse Solar selected for case study for National Energy Saving Week. Click to read in full and watch the video.
From its leafy base in Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, the Energy Saving Trust is running a special week inviting the people of Milton Keynes to discover the home truths of fighting fuel costs.
And one of the Trust’s satisfied customers, Terry Siggins, has spoken about exactly what that means.
The Great Holm resident, who lives with his wife Lynn and two children, started his energy-saving mission by having loft insulation fitted, followed by modern double glazing, which has both reduced heat loss and noise levels, but the most profitable improvement came from their roof.
“We were disappointed by the returns we were getting on savings, even from a tax-free ISA, so we decided to take our money out of the bank and put it on the roof.”
His top-down approach is, according to the Trust’s marketing manager Kathy Wyatt, the only way to go. She said there is no point in installing other, more green ways of producing energy at home if you haven’t insulated properly first.
After insulation, there are other ways of future-proofing your home.
In Terry’s case it meant reading up on the technology and terms involved, in order for him to calculate the savings – and he did so with the help of the Energy Saving Trust’s impartial advisers.
Armed with the information, he then chose local firm Ecohouse Solar to install the photovoltaic and solar thermal system.
He said: “We chose the largest system our roof could accommodate and one that qualified for the highest rate of the feed-in tariff, a type of financial compensation for generating our own electricity.
“We will be paid 41.3p per kilowatt hour on the electricity our system makes and three pence per kilowatt hour on electricity we don’t use that is fed back into the grid.”
“Additionally, we expect to make savings by using the electricity and these are calculated at 13p per kilowatt hour. The system was only commissioned in mid-September, but last month we generated 322 kilowatt hours, which already represents £138.”
However the money-saving figures aren’t limited to hundreds of pounds, as Terry’s stunning sums demonstrate.
He said: “The system should produce 3,263.9 units per year and avoid 2,884 kgs of CO2 emissions annually.”
“Using current prices and assuming 50 per cent of the electricity is exported and the remaining used, over the course of the 25 year feed-in tariff contract the total benefit works out at £40,216.48!”
If you want to take the first step towards massive energy savings, call Ecohouse Solar on 01525 223220.
