Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, January 2010

 

Overview

Mr Richardson was in the process of extending his house around the original building with an emphasis on making it as energy efficient as possible.  As there is no mains gas supply in Hook Norton he was concerned about the rising price of oil so wanted to eliminate this cost.  Having met with us Mike redesigned part of the roof of his new extension to increase the south facing area and incorporate a larger, integrated photovoltaic system. The solar hot water system was placed on his west facing roof with the individual tubes rotated to the south to maximise their effectiveness.

 

Our Solution

 

The Richardson family installed a 3.6 kWp Solar PV system along with a 30 tube Thermomax solar hot water system using an interest free loan.

Along with incorporating solar energy into the property the house also has an air source heat pump and a heat recovery ventilation system, which efficiently circulates the air through the house to keep all the rooms at a comfortable temperature and therefore has no boiler or gas supply.  These work very effectively in tandem with the PV system.  

Mike is the treasurer of the Hook Norton Low Carbon Group and gained access to funds from the government to run an interest free low carbon loan scheme in his village. This scheme has made incorporating energy efficiency changes even more financially appealing to him and many of his neighbours.