CLIENTS:
Mr & Mrs David and Susan Chadwick, Kirkby in Cleveland
BRIEF:
Provide heating and hot water for a dormer bungalow originally built to house a farm manager but which has been substantially rebuilt and extended in the last 13 years to create a 4 bedroomed family home. There is no gas supply to the village.
SOLUTION:
A ground source heat pump to provide all services to the property and fit new radiators for added efficiency.
PROJECT:
The property was previously heated by an oil-fired boiler, which was coming to the end of its useful life, which led the Chadwicks to consider possible alternatives. Much of the internal remedial work had been carried out so under floor heating was no longer viable, but they were very interested in finding out more about heat pumps. A former work colleague of Mrs. Chadwick had one and that is where they began their research. After about a year of looking into the subject they attended a low carbon, green energy exhibition in Harrogate and that is where they met Steve.
Sue Chadwick takes up the story: “We are both retired and therefore on a fixed income and, like everyone in a similar position, we were concerned about the spiralling cost of oil. We realized we had a great opportunity to be more environmentally friendly and control outgoings at the same time so we decided to go with a heat pump and - because we had plenty of land around the house - we decided to go with a ground source heat pump.
“One of the things that sold Natural Warmth to us,” adds David Chadwick, “was the fact that Steve didn’t ask for any money up front for a survey. Some competitors had asked us for £150 - £200! He also told us about the grants available - he applied for them on our behalf and just knocked the money off the bill. The clincher was that Natural Warmth did the job from start to finish. Others were telling me we would need to find our own digger to dig the trenches before they came in to lay the pipes and we may need other tradesmen to assist. The simplicity of the Natural Warmth ‘one stop shop’ was very attractive to us,” he added.
Their home is set in a beautiful location looking out towards the Cleveland Hills, but the idyllic setting brings its own problems;
“That’s where the weather comes from,” said Mr. Chadwick. “We are quite exposed so it can get very, very cold with strong winds and lashing rain battering up against the house.”
Work began in September of 2008 – and it didn’t all go according to plan.
“Part of the problem was the amount of rain we had,” said Mr. Chadwick. “They had to lay something like 450 metres of pipes and, because of the weather, the ‘neat machine’ wouldn’t work so we had to do it the conventional way. Also there were a lot of tree roots and things which meant digging the trenches wasn’t as straight forward as we might have hoped.”
“It looked like the Somme out there,” joked Mrs. Chadwick, and it led to a bit of tension as the Chadwicks wanted the job completing as quickly as possible while Natural Warmth saw their costs escalating on a fixed contract. But it was all soon amicably resolved.
“I can’t praise the crew highly enough,” adds Mrs. Chadwick. “They were excellent. When they came in to fix the radiators they were neat and clean and any furniture that had to be moved was always returned to its original position. They were in the house for two to three weeks and they always made sure any carpets were covered with plastic sheeting before work began.
Since the system was commissioned in January 2009 it has been tweaked slightly to ensure optimum performance and a larger radiator was installed in the hallway to provide greater warmth and comfort on entering the home.
SUMMARY:
The Chadwicks are both delighted with system, “The house is very warm and we also have lashings of hot water - there is never a shortage even when our children bring our grandchildren to stay and the washing machine and bath times take a heavy toll of the system,” they said.
The Chadwicks have also been wise enough to have a white meter installed, which means that they get cheap rate electricity between midnight and 7 am. This has driven their costs down even further and Mr Chadwick expects that the system will have paid for itself within about 10 years.
The initial cost was a slight concern but when that is offset against lower bills, year round comfort and a reduced carbon footprint the Chadwicks strongly recommend heat pumps and Natural Warmth
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