Rhiannon, Cardiff, lives in a 4-bedroom terraced house built around 1906

“When we moved in we got advice from a retrofit assessor who walked around the house and gave us ideas on what we could do to improve the efficiency of our home. We were doing work anyway to turn it back into a family home so we did what we could over a period of time. 

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“We installed loft installation - adding more over time. We insulated under the floorboards - which had an immediate impact. We put lime render on the internal walls which was the best type of insulation for our brick-built house. As we were changing lots of smaller rooms into one big space we put in underfloor heating. We also upgraded the windows and made them bigger. We took out radiators where the underfloor heating was installed, and where it wasn't we upgraded the size - sourcing some second hand radiators from Gumtree - which were bigger and better looking.

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“We knew we wanted to come off gas and this was for environmental reasons. With electric heating you have the option to use renewable energy. We looked at infrared but we thought the option that would work for us was a heat pump. We found Heat Geek videos on Youtube the most useful - you have to filter out the noise and Heat Geek were really good at demonstrating the tech and showing you results. 

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“We had space created for a water tank and all the kit as part of the building work. We had winters in the house with the gas boiler and one with the heat pump and we’ve felt a huge difference. We used to come home from work, blast the boiler for a few hours, and then it would get cold again. Now we have a heat pump constantly on, running at a low temperature, what we’ve found is the house itself has warmed up - and it never has that chilliness. Looking back it was almost as if the gas had to work harder.

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“The installers left us with a tablet to control the pump - you can do as much or as little as you like. There are lots of ways to play around and optimise it - or you can let it do its own thing. We are looking at changing our energy tariffs to maximise savings. We accessed the Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme to get the £7,500 grant towards the cost of the heat pump. We’ll never go back to a gas boiler.”  

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Advice to anyone considering a heat pump for their home:

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“It’s definitely worth considering - be aware of what it all means and, if you need to do upgrades to your home, think about using free online marketplaces to get great deals.” 

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