Sarah and Andrew, a young couple with two kids, live in a characterful Victorian terrace home in Shrewsbury, and decided to make some energy efficiency upgrades, including installing an air source heat pump (ASHP) – making their home more comfortable to live in for the whole family, as well as drastically reducing their carbon emissions. Read on to learn about their experiences of retrofit.

MEA’s role

MEA carried out a detailed survey of the fabric of the house, which revealed that the bathroom and the garden room needed particular attention. It was also proposed to install an insulated ‘overlay’ underfloor heating system on the solid floors downstairs. Both MEA and Lime Green, a local materials supplier, supported the builder who was inexperienced with woodfibre internal wall insulation and lime plaster.

Why did you seek to retrofit your home?

“Our gas boiler was on its last legs. It was really important to us to get off gas to reduce our carbon footprint. We don’t want to be burning fossil fuels. Our view is we have a moral responsibility not to leave the world in a worse state that we found it, so climate change is a big motivator. Also it must be a good idea economically in the long term to get off gas. We no longer pay a gas standing charge which saves us 34p per day.”

How have the changes benefitted you and your home?

“Certain parts of the house were pretty cold. The old bathroom was freezing, having 3 external walls and almost no insulation in the roof. The garden room was very cold, it was unheated and with just a polycarbonate roof, it was basically unusable in winter. That’s all changed now, the house is so much more comfortable. When we first had the underfloor heating the kids would come in from school and immediately lie on the floor – they just love it!”

How did you find the installation process?

“The timescale overran. Our builder was new to woodfibre so he was doing some learning on the job. The bathroom was out of action for 10 weeks, fortunately we have a second bathroom so that was ok. The heat pump went in over the summer, we were without hot water briefly (for 2 days) when the gas boiler was taken out and the hot water cylinder and heat pump were installed. We had to keep on at the contractors to make sure they turned up! Don’t just assume they’ll appear when you need them or expect them.”

Who did the work?

“A local builder named Eddie Butcher fitted the internal wall insulation and did the ceiling rebuild in the bathroom. EnergyZone were our heat pump installers, fitting the ASHP, hot water cylinder, new radiators, and underfloor insulation and heating system.”

How much did it cost?

“The 5.5kW Midea air source heat pump with 250L hot water cylinder and new radiators cost £6,900 to supply and install, and the underfloor heating insulation and heating system downstairs was an additional £900. In the bathroom, we did had a new suite fitted at the same time as all the insulation work in there, which brought the total project cost, including the heart pump, to £23,200.”

Would you do anything differently?

“The underfloor heating is wonderful but it you are having it, make sure the installer and the tiler talk to each other. We had to rip the tiles up and start again as they were cracking, because they were unevenly laid. We eventually went for vinyl flooring because it’s easier and more forgiving to lay.”

Did you find MEA’s advice to be helpful?

“Yes! We found all the information out there a bit of a blizzard, so it was really useful to have MEA’s advice to help us see clearly.”

Ready to learn more?

MEA co-delivered a webinar on the topic of how to retrofit a Victorian Terrace home, which you can watch the recording of on YouTube via this link. If you’re ready to reduce the energy consumption of your home, save on your energy bills, improve comfort, and cut your carbon emissions, then we can offer free independent and impartial advice on how to retrofit your home. To find out more, visit our retrofit page or get in touch.