SOLAR
All our homes are fitted with an integrated solar system as standard. We have come down firmly in favour of solar panels to produce domestic hot water. Our solar panels are supplied by Dimplex. They don’t need direct sunlight to function - a cloudy day will supply enough light energy.
They can provide all the domestic hot water needs in summer and a good proportion in Autumn and Spring. In Winter they are less effective but still contribute. The Dimplex solar system is simple and robust. They have low running costs. They can generate enough energy to fill up a bath with piping hot water, operate a washing machine and still fill the kitchen sink.
Within 6 hours of moderate light energy (a typical Spring Day with sunny intervals at 15 degrees Celsius is ample) the water tank will be fully recharged and ready to supply all that hot water again and again and again.
We're big fans of solar panels and we think every house should have one.
RUNNING COSTS
In 2010 we surveyed residents to establish the real running costs of our two bedroom home and our faith in high quality insulation, modern storage heaters and solar panels was backed up with utility bills coming in on average at just £15 per week, which includes all the heating, cooking lighting and power requirements of the house. We know this compares very favourably against other forms of heating, and we know the maintenance costs for such a system will also be very low in the years ahead.
100% of property owners who responded to our 2019 Survey rated the heating system as either 'good value' or 'very good value'.