When Mr & Mrs Kevin & Shelley Ashton in Bolton were considering how to reduce their fuel bills they considered the various options. With only a small side of their roof facing south, Solar PV wasn’t a viable option as the most cost effective solution is a 16 panel 4kw system that couldn’t be accommodated.
Similarly, being already on mains gas, replacing their 4 year old boiler with an air-source heat pump was a non-starter as the payback would be 20 years +, and the cost of a ground source heat pump was even more. Biomass was quickly discounted as (unless it’s a sophisticated self loading unit) Kevin didn’t fancy the idea of refilling the pellet hopper every few weeks and giving up his already congested garage space.
Having evaluated several systems they opted for the ThermaTwin system. Kevin explains;
"We don’t have a huge airing cupboard and didn’t want to have our perfectly good cylinder replaced so we looked for a system that could use the existing system – the only one we found was the ThermaTwin."
Manufactured in the UK, the ThermaTwin panel is unique in that it doesn’t use glycol, nor a heat exchanger and simply connects onto a vented cylinder with the minimum of fuss. The system uses a PV panel to power the pump and controls and so no mains voltage (or a qualified electrician!) is needed. The system was installed in less than a day and was providing hot water within minutes of going ‘live’.
"I couldn’t believe it,” said Kevin “Even though it wasn’t that sunny on the day, as soon as the pump was connected up it started working – and I could see the cylinder temperature rising on the control panel. Amazing!"
With installed costs as low as £2,500 and currently with an RHPP grant of £600 available, Kevin & Shelley have outlaid well under £2,000 and expect to get a further £2,000 in RHI payments over the next 5~7 years. After that, a genuine 60~70% of their hot water will be ‘free’.
Blue Sky Thinking...
