If the UKis to achieve its net zero targets, millions of homes must be refurbished to make them more energy efficient. But, so far, there’s no national plan to do that. Len Williams visits the home of an electrical engineer who’s taken matters into his own handsJANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024 ‘am inthe lof of @ south London hhome where the owner, John Greengrass, points our @ light sensor he installed that is angled ‘ato skylight. “When it gets dark, it fois my lighting system ena ‘automaticaly tums on the light in the lounge. I don't even have to get Up from my chaie in the evening, he chuckles. You know when you'r in the home of an electrical engineer. While John's light sansing system is fun, its the other modifications he's made to his home which are most compelling, Since moving into the property in 2017, ‘the 1ET member hos tuned it into. sort (of showcase for how to refurbish standard British housing stock so it is sustaincble, energy efficient ond comfortable to ive in This is importent becouse UK horges ‘are some of the least efficient in Europe. Warming and lighting British homes causes around 17% of the country’s CO: lemissions. Ifthe UK is to stoy on course to meet its net zero tergers, millons of homes will need to be revrofitted every Year in the coming decades so they're better insulctes less energy 70 run. But so for, here's ne nationwide scheme for doing is. John’s project gives ‘an idea of what it woud involve, Dreaming of energy efficiency John snow retire ot his career: Crown House of construction ans = technology serv left home, he ong nis w downsize, and blank canvas 10 4% = a genuinely eners, ‘opproach to insu ° lighting, electricity oemon storage to moke "76 mouse Sncvon Os efficiently os possoe The obvious scribing the o> 9m sated of gop PIR sheets eomm relation s-approved mechani xing thickness fs slen regen) WS sri adhesive cot 4m in WAS ckoicsstnt lose fre —_| retorng mest ‘mm min isn sa (otro mat sicans peta) WBS sticcne fish coe gain ze and “auto careoporere) EXTERIOR WALL INSULATION insulation. John's first task was to replace the oid doors sis and skirting with o ew oak finish. Oak has good insulation Properties, s easy to maintain ond is long-asting (thereby reducing the need to replace it frequently, with all the associated emissions). Next, he applied variaus kinds of Insulation to the exterior of the brickwork, in the roof, and alse over a new concrete {ground fleor he installed. On the inside of his exterior brick wails, 60mm insulction boards were attached, with rendering placed on top. To the untrained eye, it looks no diferent to @ regular pointed Wal, but helps retain o lat of heat, The Insulation was relatively inexpensive, ae “John says. He estimates insulation boards fof 24m « 1.2m set him back around £50 ‘opiece, and c few of these were enough 10 cover most of the interior wall of his home. The exterior insulation is simply screwed fo the wall, ond tevetore required no skill 0 instal. ‘The drawback of @ heavily insulated home is that it can qulekly become stuffy, ‘ond humidity encourages the growth of mould, To counter that, John has installed ‘mains-fed fons that run constantly, so there's a steady trickle of filtered air moving through the structure at al times. His system also has 6 20-minute booster Circuit thar kicks in when his humiaistat records a specific humidity level. Those Imains-fed fans push cir into the loft via © heat exchange, and the warm cir is stored in his wel-insulated aie. Air ducts run {down into each bedroom, and onather set Cf fons are timed to kick in each morning, bringing down worm air and creating a pleasant environment 0 get dressed in Keeping cool The house ciso uses several other systems te he'p with heating an cooling. First, John installed air. ‘o-cir heat pumps, with heating/ cooling units inthe ving ream and > = Engineering and Technology 6?JOHN'S HOUSE ‘each of the bedrooms. They look lke air concitioners, ond con be set to warm up the room cutomatically in winter, or cool it down in summer. During the heatwave in July 2022, when outdoor temperatures rose above 40°C in some parts of the country, John ond his wife's home was ot ‘@ much more comfortable 22°C thanks to these heat pumps. ‘The pumps themselves sit outside (on the back patio, and require lite to no maintenance, he soys, besides the ‘occasional cloning ofa filter They're also incredibly efficient, producing 4kWw of heat for every IkW of electricity used ‘and can be powered by his solar pane!s (see panel opposite) when the sun shines. The heat pumps ore set to run at specific times of day, but can also be programmed with a remote control, They were relatively inexpensive too. Each ump cost around £1,000. ‘Another source of heat comes from wet thermal solar panels, which John instaled (on a smal (south-facing) rear extension, The sun warms up o liquid inside the solar panels, and this then feeds into @ \wel-insulated cylinder inside the house (when there's no sun, he uses off-peak electricity from the grid to warm the water instead), I's very effective and can reach 0 temperature of 70°C oF more, using the sun's energy clone - that’s more than {enough for bathing and washing the dishes, This solor-powered water cylinder oso feeds into the underfloor heating system John installed on the ground floor, topping It up whenever the room temperature ‘drops below 18°C. This meons the house stays a comfortable and consistent temperature all day, throughout the ‘year. If he needs @ litle more warmth, he simply uses a remote contral totum on his air-to-air heat pumps. 70 Engineering end Technology = oxrsimagee! Wet sir ham panels with flr PY panels forelecricity ove art i fa rom he nlated ot inte bedroom inthe maring John ist entirely pleased with the wet thermal solar panels, which need to be flusned out in the summer to prevent the liquid inside boling, and they can also freeze in winter (he would have preferred thermal solid solar penels). Then there is hs lighting and electrics system. When the sun shines, this is largely powered by additional sets of solar panels on his south-facing wall and roof, which cost him about £200 per unit This array produces enough electricity to run the oready low-energy LED lights he's installed around the house. The solar panels also charge up a smal battery, which stores energy to keed his fans and lighting going when the sun doesr't shine To further reduce waste, John installed sensors that detect when he or his wite enter ¢ room, and turn the lights on or off£1,000 per unit x 2 £200 each x 4 £3 each, one in every room £50 per panel £100 each ‘ccordingly. These sensors cost just £4.50 each, meaning ne doesn't have to worry he's left the lights on when he goes out You can imagine exasperated parents, whose children leave the lights on all the time, appreciating such a system. John's home isn't entirely at-grid. He still uses gas in the kitchen ("My wife doesn't like cooking on anything else”) And he's stil connected to the gr for back-up electricity os and when he needs it, Stil, he appears to use alot less energy than equivalent homes would. John's most recent eneray bill (in June) came to £40, very low for 6 spacious three-bed home, especially given the UK's current energy price woes. Your correspondent, by contrast, who lives in a one-bed fiat in ‘a modern block, paid £49 for electricity lone in the same month ‘What's more, John sells excess electricity generated by his solar panels back to the grid, which paid him £400 last yecr A nice litle earner ‘don't know why more people don't do it John says, when asked how feasible it would be for others to repeat his tforts. This may be easy for a qualified electrical engineer to say (he showed me [JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024 detailed electrical and heating diagrams: they were incomprehensible to me, but would presumably mean something ro technicians). Stil, he has @ point, While ‘overage homeowners might not be able to do this kind of thing, more private companies could surely offer services in this area. Much of John’s design skill is essentilly self-taught. It certainly helps that he has ‘background in electrical engineering, bbut he’s adamant that, by and large is something thar most people could do. “Tlearnt mast of it by seeing interesting examples in magazine articles that I'd tear out and putin folder" he soys. He ‘hen tried them out on his own home. Not everything has worked. For instance, a system he designed to colect rainwater to use fo flush his toilets didn’t work, because the pipes kept freezing (he Uses the water on his garden instead), {As indicated above, the materials and technology used are easily accessible and relatively inexpensive to buy up-front - it doesn't seem to be a project that broke the bbank. When you consider his low energy bills and the fact he sels electricity back tothe ari, it seems to have saved him & lot of money over the years. Indeed, John Jokes: “t only di it because I'm mean and don’ ke spending money unnecessary” ‘The house is aso very liveable, Joha's home maintains a steady temperature throughout the year and, now i's set up, ‘oppeers to mainly run itself without much need for maintenance. 11's 0 promising start that most modem buildings now achieve high standards gy efficiency ot the point they're built. However, the vast majority of the country's homes are lagging behind, 18 2022 study by energy firm EDF found that 58% of all homes only meat insulation standards of 1976 or earlier, Upgrading millions of homes so they'e efficient cng well insulated ‘would inevitably cost a lot of money, time and effort. But, based on John's experience af least, It seems lke @ \worthwnile investment. Not only has his refurbishment saved him money ond reduced his carbon emissions, but it’s cso made his home more comfortable to live in and easy to manage. ofer ceandtmagazin Engineering and Technology 71