Eco houses offer lower bills to CMH tenants

Three ordinary bungalows in the Northumberland town of Morpeth are in the vanguard of bringing 'green' technology to the world of housing.

Castle Morpeth Housing (CMH) has been renovating the homes in the centre of the town to include a groundbreaking combination of eco technologies - the first project of its kind in the UK.

Now CMH tenants like William and Jeanette Hewitt could save up to £500 a year on their fuel bills thanks to improved efficiency and selling surplus electricity back to the National Grid.

Working in partnership with the Mears Group and Faithful and Gould, the bungalows at Challoner's Gardens, Morpeth, which were damaged by flooding in the 2008 flood, now feature some of the latest green credentials from companies such as Baxi, Daikin and Mitsubishi Electric.

One of the bungalows includes an air source heat pump and photovoltaic panels - the first time these two technologies have been installed together in a home in the UK.

As well as helping to combat climate change and reduce the properties' carbon emissions, the green innovations will save the tenants around £200 - £500 a year on their utility bills.

In addition they have the immediate potential to lower fuel costs even further under the Government's Feed In Tariff (FIT) which begins at the start of April. This sees the utility companies paying homes that generate their own electricity.

Mr and Mrs Hewitt, 65 and 62 respectively, are the first tenants to move into the new bungalows.
Jeanette said: "We are thrilled to be moving into our new home and really excited about the prospect of doing our bit for the environment, thanks to the homes' eco features.

"Green issues are very important and I am pleased that Castle Morpeth Housing and its partners are taking a keen interest and are prepared to try new innovations to benefit tenants and the environment."

The eight photovoltaic panels fitted to the south-facing roof will generate electricity for the home throughout the hours of daylight - even when it is cloudy - and when not needed by the tenants, excess electricity is sold to the national grid to reduce fuel bills under the FIT scheme.

An Ecodan air source heat pump sits outside the kitchen window and harvests free renewable energy from the outside air - even in sub-zero temperatures. This is then used to supply the home with hot water and keeps the tenants warm via a combination of radiators and under floor heating.

John Kellett, general manager of Mitsubishi Electric Heating Systems, said: "Ecodan qualifies as renewable technology which means that from April 2011, the tenants also have the potential to lower their bills even further when the Government launches the Renewable Heating Incentive."

He added: "We see a great future for systems that combine electricity generation with renewable technology such as Ecodan and expect demand to grow as homes like this one prove how effectively they can work."

The success of the bungalows in offering cost and energy savings will be reviewed by the tenants and the Isos Group to help shape similar schemes in the future.