We are a young couple who work locally on the science park. Joe studied atmospheric physics at university which really opened his eyes to the threat of climate change, and he has made various efforts to address the problem since then. This has included successful campaigning to get the Cumbria coal mine (Joe grew up nearby) canceled, as well as getting Oxford and Cambridge university to divest from fossil fuels. The latest of these efforts has involved reducing his personal carbon footprint by electrifying the house and cutting the gas supply. Much of this work was completed before Nat moved into the house, but she shares a passion for living sustainably and takes this to her job as a mechanical engineer, by pushing for sustainable design in medical products.
I wanted to reduce my own carbon footprint, while saving money at the same time.
I started pursuing options as soon as I moved into the house, so I could maximise the financial benefits over my time living here. I paid contractors for the different renovations, see below for more details on each.My aim was to cut the need for a gas supply to the house, which would lower bills and reduce my carbon footprint.
I had the loft converted into a storage space, and got the insulation upgraded from 200mm to 300mm in the same process.
My system comprises of 8x 390W panels on the south-west facing roof, each with their own Tigo optimiser to help them generate power even when some panels are partially shaded from the big tree in the back garden. This 3.12 kW array then feeds into a FoxESS inverter and a 7.8 kWh FoxESS battery. The system provides enough energy for the whole house (including hot water heating on the heat pump) from April to September. Only from October to March do we need to import some electricity from the grid.
When I first got the FoxESS system and app, it was clear they had recently entered the domestic market e.g. the phone and web app was not intuitive at all and was set up for commercial customers. Since then, the app has got a lot better. Overall I would say that FoxESS is a good budget option, but there are better systems out there if you’re willing to spend more money.
Now to the installer, which I absolutely would not recommend. In my experience (which was in 2022) Everyone’s Energy was badly managed, incompetent and willing to lie to customers. I’ll give two examples:
(1) I spent a long time weighing up whether to get the Tigo optimisers. Everyone’s Energy insisted that these units were only passive and did not consumer power themselves. I took their word on this and it was only after the install that I found out this wasn’t the case. This was simply incompetence from them, I think they genuinely believed the components were passive.
(2) There were many problems with the install itself but the biggest was getting told that batteries would have to be installed separately to the main PV installation due to supply chain issues. I pointed out that the batteries were readily available on multiple websites and after pushing the MD over the phone, he admitted that actually Everyone’s Energy had cashflow problems and didn’t have the capital to purchase the batteries until all the installs were done. I was shocked to find out that they’d been lying to customers and that their financials could be this badly managed.
The heat pump install involved:
(1) 4kW Daikin Altherma placed outside the front of the property (note this was before Octopus Energy had started making their own heat pumps, but I would have declined their model because the height would have obstructed my kitchen window).
(2) Four radiator upgrades, including a towel rack upgrade in the bathroom which has been great.
(3) A slimline hot water tank install in the old combo boiler cupboard.
| Energy Consumption | Electricity (kWh) | Gas (kWh) | Wood (m3) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | 2000 | 10000 | 0 | |
| After | 1600 | 0 | 0 |
Energy Consumption
Electricity
Gas
Wood
Total
Before
–
After
–
