Young Voices for a Sustainable Future: A Home Energy Case Study

Jules Miller
Aug 1
5 min read

The following insightful article has been written by a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) student from a local school who set out to explore how families can make their homes more sustainable.

In this case study, the student describes the practical steps their own family has taken from switching to electric vehicles and installing an air source heat pump to investing in solar panels and home battery storage.

Through personal experience and thoughtful analysis, the student sheds light on the benefits and challenges of reducing a household’s carbon footprint, the realities of upfront costs, and the impact of government incentives on adoption.

Their story offers a relatable and honest perspective on what sustainable living can look like for an ordinary family today.

Home energy case study

This is going to be a case study on what my family has done to try make our energy use more sustainable in our house which is a 1776 sq ft detached, freehold, non-newbuild cottage built around 1825. We are a family of 4 – 2 adults and 2 children. Both me and my brother have a very active lifestyle meaning we have to travel a lot by car, and both parents have around a 40–50 mins commute to work which adds up to around 20,000 miles driven per year in our primary vehicle whereas the average in the UK is around 7,400 miles per year.

We have recognised the amount we drive, the cost and environmental impact of that, and in 2020 we leased a Jaguar I-Pace model S (an EV). In 2022 we then replaced it with another Jaguar I-Pace which we purchased, although we do still own a second generation (1998–2005) yellow MX-5 but this is now used a lot less than the I-Pace. We also recently replaced an old diesel Ford Transit van with a newer electric van, so now use non-electric vehicles very little.

Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)

The next thing we did to use our energy more efficiently was to have a 17kW input (the output is only around a quarter of that) Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) installed in March of 2022 which heats our house and water. It is a lot more efficient to use an ASHP than our old gas tank where we would have to get gas delivered and pumped in by a large tanker around 3 times a year.

Instead of generating the heat itself, the ASHP extracts it from the air outside and, using the refrigeration cycle, it transfers the air into a liquid refrigerant which is compressed, increasing its temperature allowing it to release heat into your home’s heating system.

When we installed this, it cost us £16,500 but we get £484 every quarter for 7 years (adds up to £13,552) to go towards installation costs and electricity due to the Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) which was put in place to reduce the amount of fossil fuels and help reach net zero.

Changes to government support

Following a consultation by ‘The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’ you can no longer apply for this as they stopped accepting applicants on the 31st March 2023. So the government has set up a new scheme called the ‘Replacement scheme’ where you can get a £7,500 government grant if you meet the criteria:

You own your property
You’re replacing the old fossil fuel or electric heating system with a renewable heating system such as a heat pump
The property has a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) with no outstanding recommendations for loft or cavity wall insulation

Now I think that this isn’t enough as the average price to buy and install a heat pump is between £11,000 and £20,000. The fact that it’s not enough could put people off getting an ASHP or some other sort of renewable energy system, whereas the RHI scheme was better for the fact that it pays the recipient enough money for the installation fees of that specific person instead of just a generalised, fixed figure.

Solar panels and battery storage

After that, we then installed 8×405W solar panels (£2,500 for all 8 panels) linked to a 5kW hybrid inverter (to convert DC to AC so it can be used in the home and to manage the flow of the power between the solar panels, batteries and the grid) in March 2023.

Alongside this we installed a 10kWh (9kWh useable capacity) LiFePo battery with 4 modules (the cost to install both was £3,200). These batteries are quite expensive with the one we installed was around £5,000 but this is because they require specialized manufacturing techniques to make them very (95%) energy efficient.

This greatly improves energy efficiency within our house, meaning we can use almost all the energy from the solar panels to run our house and we sometimes produce enough that it can be fed into the main grid. Our LiFePo battery can store cheap overnight electricity to be used on cloudy days or at night, and we don’t really ever have to worry about getting a power cut.

EV charging and energy provider

Although we do get most of our energy from solar panels to run the house, we still receive some from the grid which is what powers our Ohme car charger (one of the most efficient car chargers due to the app where you are able to set car charging sessions and are able to monitor your energy usage). This was installed in April of 2020 on the wall by our conservatory just before we got our first I-Pace which has a 90kWh lithium-ion battery.

Our energy provider is Octopus Energy which gives us a cheap rate charging for 5 hours a night (7p/kWh). This is the only time we charge the car and, as it is during the night, we can set a timer for it to stop charging which increases our energy efficiency as we don’t waste any energy we don’t actually need to charge the car. We also use this time to charge the home batteries to start our day with a full battery of cheap electricity.

Cost and reflections

In total, it cost around £29,700 in total to install over the past few years which for a lot of families is unaffordable. So, although it is a lot cheaper in the long run, the upfront cost is very steep, almost impossible, for many people especially with the current cost of living crisis currently happening in the UK and because of the way in which the incentive scheme is structured. This may contribute to the low uptake rate of grants and installations.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks for sharing this thoughtful and well-researched case study. It is vital that we listen to and engage with young people on issues like sustainability and climate change, as their ideas, experiences and passion will help shape a more sustainable future for us all. By giving young people a platform to share their perspectives, we not only empower them but also gain fresh insights into how real, practical change can begin at home.