Consumer Stories
South East
An Oxfordshire couple have praised the “transformational” impact of installing a heat pump, as part of a campaign to encourage the switch to cleaner and greener homes.
Paul and Anne Cullen, from Mollington near Banbury, previously used an oil-fired boiler which was so expensive they could only afford to warm a few rooms of the house, and they dreaded getting up in the mornings during the winter.
However, they’ve now slashed hundreds of pounds from their energy bills after the installation of an air-source heat pump – and the house has gone from being “perpetually cold” to “a pleasure to live in”.
Their story is shared by renewable energy company Good Energy in a campaign called Green home stories, which features Paul in a short film explaining the difference it’s made to the couple’s life.
Social workers Paul and his wife Anne have lived in their home for almost 40 years. They loved the property but were deeply disappointed by their heating system. Not being connected to the gas grid, they originally used coal but switched to bottled gas and then an oil-fired system.
Anne said: “It was too expensive to warm all of the house, so we had to choose which rooms to heat and avoid using the others.
“We were perpetually cold. We had to sit in blankets, and we had to brace ourselves to get up in the morning.”
Paul added: “The oil tank was at the top of the garden but it smelt all the time. It was horrible.”
The couple already appreciated the benefits of green technology after installing solar panels on their roof, so they decided a heat pump might be the solution to their problem.
The new system was installed in 2021. Good Energy’s engineers carefully assessed the property to create a bespoke plan and then a small team of the company’s installers took five days to carry out the work.
The property features a 12 Kw Midea heat pump measuring 140cm wide, 93cm tall and 42 cm deep.
The cost was more than £12,000 but supported by the Government’s Renewable Heat Initiative as an added incentive to make the switch.
Paul said: “It was a pleasure having the engineers inside the house. They were clean and tidy, they kept us informed about what they were doing, and they did their best to make sure we weren’t left without heating or hot water during the installation.
“They were absolutely brilliant.”
The couple say the heat pump is likely to save them hundreds of pounds in a normal year, but it’s not only the financial impact which has surprised them.
Paul said: “It’s made an amazing difference. Our home is now permanently comfortable and it’s a pleasure to live in.
“There’s a constant level of heat throughout the property -we absolutely love returning to a warm house.
“Some of our neighbours were worried about the noise from the heat pump when we told them we were having one installed, but it’s so quiet.
“It also caught the interest of other villagers. One saw the work taking place and stopped to chat to the engineers, and now he’s installed a heat pump at his home too.
“It’s important for the future of the planet. We’re no longer using polluting fossil fuels for our heating - we’re using electricity which is increasingly being generated by renewables instead.”
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