Open Eco Homes event in May 2014

If you are interested in seeing inspiring examples of energy efficient homes, there are various events coming up across the UK in May.

Here in the East Midlands, we're joining in the fun as usual. There are plenty to choose from in Nottinghamsire and Derbyshire (here) and in Loughborough. 

Transition West Bridgford's Eco House Group has a number of interesting homes lined up and a few more to be confirmed. If you would like to receive an email invite once all our homes and opening dates and times are confirmed, just email wbecohouses@gmail.com to join the mailing list. Or check this website as every home will be featured here over the next 4 weeks and booking details will be provided.

Low energy users pay more per unit

Many people who are interested in low energy homes are in fact less profligate in their use of energy than most just because they are aware of the cost to pocket and planet.

But the way that the energy companies organise their pricing structures means that the first units used cost more, while energy used above a certain threshold becomes cheaper. This is rather unfair if you are a very low user, so it is worth shopping around to see if you would pay less with a different energy company.

I understand (but have not fully checked the details) that the Co-op has a flat rate deal that may work out cheaper for those who use less energy. You can also check on the website for details of the energy mix to get an idea of how "green" their energy is.

Other companies who focus on renewable energy over fossil fuels are Good Energy and Ecotricity

Visions of a Zero Carbon Britain

Saturday 16th July was Zero Carbon Britain Day, and 50 people braved the rain to take part in the first event in our Eco Houses Under Construction series. However, there is a lot more to a zero carbon lifestyle than an ultra-low energy house. For an entertaining glimpse into what a Zero Carbon lifestyle might look like....

A play based on Zero Carbon Britain is available to BBC iPlayer. The play "Getting to Zero" features Paul Allen and Peter Harper (Centre for Alternative Technology) and also George Monbiot. The play was originally broadcast as one of Radio 4's Afternoon plays. To hear it click here

Solar House, West Bridgford 2007

The Peveril Solar house is powered by sunshine, heated by sunshine! For power, it has the largest practical area of Photovoltaic roof panels for a single house (4 kW). For heating and HW, it has a Ground Source heat pump that gets heat from the ground under the house, warmed by solar heat on the black tarmac, and also gets direct heat from large solar Sunboxes on the south wall. A Sunpipe in the roof brings sunshine to the centre of the house.

It was built in 2006-7, as a developer house, so we were not able to influence the external design - apart from steepening the roof pitch to 40º. During the building, we were able to improve the internal layout, door positions etc, and have a say in the heating system, disabled elevator, kitchen, bathroom, lighting design, and other features. We needed a house with an elevator in it, and it was impossible to find an existing house with space for this. So adapting a house already under construction was perfect.

For our part, it was a chance to experiment with Eco Design ideas, within the limits of an already-designed house. So we went for a ground source heat pump with underfloor heating on both floors. Due to the tiny site and the bordering trees, we could not use pipes under the lawn, so we had to go to the cost of having two deep drilled boreholes. Over successive years, a ground source heat pump tends to chill the ground permanently. After two years occupation, we looked for ways to prevent this chilling effect - hence the design and building of the  Sunboxes for 'charging the earth'.

The idea of Charging the Earth is to recycle sunshine! The practical method is to have solar collectors on the wall in large glassy boxes whose sole purpose is to pump solar heat deep down into the ground. The building's heat pump gets much of this back immediately, finds a bit more during the evenings, and hopes for residual summer heat later in the winter. Our storage boreholes go 48 metres below the house, reaching directly to about 8,000 tons of clay and rock, with an infinite mass beyond that.
    The sunboxes are on target to put down 3,000 kWh of solar heat, annually. As the heatpump needs to pull 9,000 kWh up annually, we are sure that all of the solar heat is used in the house. How much electricity will it save annually? The first year of operation of the PV and Sunboxes have saved 2,450 kWh in a single year.  The heatpump's coefficient of performance is greatly improved, This is what we are quantifying in the next couple of years, with datalogger readings and daily tuning. Sunboxes will not actually raise the soil temperature, as there is just too much of it - the heat injection is equivalent to only 1 kW/hr, so this heat will prevent soil chilling, and will be reclaimed by the heatpump, daily.

The panels, sunboxes, plumbing and electrics are entirely invented and built by the house owner. This is, in effect a new and unique technology, so the Surya Sunbox system is being presented at the global conference of Sustainable Energy Technologies, Shanghai, August 2010.

What else? The house has good insulation specification in the walls, floor and roof, thermal-break windows, and energy efficient lighting throughout. It has a compact minimal surface area, and an airlock lobby at the entrance. The kitchen is optimised for disabled access, and has an Induction hob. Most of the appliances in the house are A-rated for energy efficiency.

Rainwater collection was intended, but due to the complexity of the borehole pipes and RW pipes in the driveway and 'eco-mutiny' by the builder, the underground rainwater tank was returned to the supplier. We now have 200 litres of waterbutt storage for all garden water needs.

Normal houses of this size consume about 25,000 kWh annually:- about 3,500 of electricity for lighting and appliances, and 21,500 of gas for cooking and heating, mostly emitted as CO2. As an 'all electric' house, supplemented by sunshine, we managed 2007 and 2008 on 8,500 kWh/annum, which is only a third. During 2009-10, we are on target to cut our total electricity import to about 6,200 kWhrs, all from renewable sources, and next year will be under 6000. Our roof will export over 3,000 kWhrs. The photovoltaic roof is linked to the internet. Energy use and energy generation are metered daily, and water use metered weekly, and the results are also published on the internet.

For more detailed information, a glossary and who installed what in this eco house click the links.
PV by EvoEnergy. Heatpump by Ice Energy.

1920’s classic West Bridgford solid brick detached house

Still with many of the old features but incorporating many very new features too.


As the house is fairly large (6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms) the heating and electricity bills were shocking. We put into place as many measures, from basic to more expensive to reduce the bills in a more sustainable way.

Vital Statistics
The house was built in the early 1920’s on a corner plot, giving us a clear south facing wall.

Annual energy use
Annual Electricity usage 3231.90kWh
Annual Gas 34832.55 kWh
(This should change now that the new technologies have been installed.)

Micro generation:
To find info how much electricity we have generated from the sun since November 2009, click here:

About us and why we did it
We are a middle aged couple with two teenage boys. Since the boys were born, we have been very concerned for their future and started with growing our own organic food, educated them in the Iona School (based on Rudolf Steiner’s principles) which then led to a much more aware way of living. Ever since we have tried to reduce our waste, energy and water to reduce our impact on the planet to as much as we can. Reduction of waste is mainly done through growing our own food and making food from scratch. For some suggestions on recipes click here:
Heating and Power

South Facing side of the house:
Top floor Solar Hotwater panels.
Between bay windows and conservatory: Solar Venti panel
PV solar, Solar Hot water, Wood-burning Stove, Solar Venti dehumidifier, Energy smart meter.

Insulation
Our house is built in solid brick, which made insulation a little difficult. We have insulated underneath most of our floor boards, the whole of the loft up to 30cm, one room has internal insulation boarding put up 2 years ago. Some double glazed units but mostly secondary glazing (Storm windows) in front of the existing original windows.

Other green features
Vegetable garden; there will be vegetable and fruit plants/bushes for sale on the day.
Livestock (chickens!)
Information and display about the West Bridgford Skills Exchange

Advantages
It feels good that we are trying to reduce our impact on the living environment as much as we can. Some features were so good that they paid back within a year (electricity monitor) others over the next few years will no doubt pay off, we are expecting to be self-sufficient in our heating and electricity needs in 5-8 years time.

Disadvantages
The plumbing of the Solar hot water and putting in the stove did take a few days of mess. Having said that, Paul and Chris and his team tried to accommodate as much as they could. The upfront prices are fairly steep.

Who did you go to for advice and info?
All these people were recommended to me by others who had the technologies installed:
PV by David Nicolson Cole, Solar hot water I went to see their shop, spoke with them and then had some feedback from Emma who had one installed before me. Smart meters I tried and tested some for website I write for; www.thecolist.co.uk and found that they were brilliant. I therefore ‘invested’ in one and have reduced my energy use enormously.


Who did each part of the work?

Task
Solar Hot Water by Solar Heat UK contact: Chris
Woodburning Stove from The Fireplace centre contact Paul at enquiries@nottinghamfireplacecentre.co.uk

PV panel (electricity) Nicola Waters Evo Energy
Energy Smart Meter Southern and electric Better plan
Secondary Glazing Storm Windows
Ifo Cera Low flush toilet
Solarventi solar dehumidifier

The value of Metering

31 Aug: DNC writes: If you have not started storing the meter readings of your house, now is the time to start, using a spreadsheet to store the principal readings. See how the house performs during the Winter.  Using GoogleDocs, you can have the pleasure of putting your meter readings on the web for public viewing!

• Weekly readings are useful, and you will never again have the annoyance of an "Estimated Bill" - you will be charged correctly. 
• If you are doing something to the house to improve its performance, the winter is coming soon, and you should start metering, so you can assess its performance compared with last year. 
• Keep all previous bills, water, gas and electric, so you can build a spreadsheet of previous years performance, and compare with more recent ones.
• My own house metering for the Peveril Solar House is slightly crazy, as I meter EVERY day and have lots of things to  meter, and lots of consequences to calculate - the entire house is a 'Research Rig', and we are testing the Sunboxes for future manufacturing, so this level of metering is important. Yours do not have to be this complicated. 
• We also test the Water consumption, as we have a supplementary meter on the Hot water, and a normal supply meter on the Cold. If you do not have a water meter, now is the time to ask for it, and I gather that the water utility will do it for free. Water is a precious resource that costs energy to capture, store, purify and deliver.
• See the Metering Tab above for info on how to interpret your Gas meter readings

It seems tedious, but becomes an easy daily routine, and you will be grateful a year later if you are trying to assess the 'payback' on your insulation, PV, draught proofing, or any other eco things you have tried on the house.