30% Lower Fuel Bills For New Withington Development

A new development of 19 houses in Withington, Hereford, is benefiting from Mitsubishi Electric’s Ecodan unit – the heating and hot water system which helps to reduce household fuel bills by up to 30% and CO2 emissions by up to 50%.

Herefordshire Council’s Planning Department wanted the whole development to be 25% better than current Building Regulations (Part L) which is the energy requirement for Level 3 of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes, and developer Bell Homes chose Ecodan in line with this decision.

The Code for Sustainable Homes is the Government’s target for energy efficiency standards in new-built properties which sets ever more stringent levels of insulation and efficiency on developers. Reaching Level 3 is dependant on collecting enough points across a range of environmentally-friendly building options, including water efficiency, use of materials, insulation and energy provision.

Three and four bedroom houses at the Withington development have been built using a timber frame structure and argon-filled windows, to provide optimum insulation. Other eco-friendly features include rainwater harvesting systems, vapour barriers, user-friendly road layout, and garden sheds for bicycle storage.

Bell Homes Site Manager Jason Coopey said: “We chose Ecodan based on the recommendations of our Sustainable Homes assessors. Although it seems a little bulky outside the house, it will be saving occupiers a lot of money on their bills so should prove very popular.

“The most important thing for us is ensuring that our buildings reach the target Level 3 and Ecodan will help us to achieve this by reducing emissions,” he added.

Brecon View Plumbing Ltd, which installed the new systems following a short training course at Mitsubishi Electric operate throughout the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire area. Managing Director and installer Jason Gardener said: “This is the first time we have installed the new Ecodan air source heat pump, but since becoming an accredited installer for this job, we have already received a number of calls. This is certainly the way forward – easy to install, energy efficient, environmentally friendly and cheaper to run.”

Modern air source heat pumps are self-contained units that are fitted to the outside of the house and require single-phase electricity and in / out water pipes. They can be fitted by a suitably qualified plumber and quickly allow the homeowner to benefit from low-cost, low carbon heating and hot water even if the outside temperature drops to -20ºC – something that is highly unlikely to happen in the UK.

The Code for Sustainable Homes offers an independently accredited Government-endorsed sustainability rating for all new build housing. The energy performance standard of Code Level 3 (a 25% improvement of current building regulations) is the proposed new standard by 2010, and a stepping stone to zero carbon emissions by 2016.

“Heat pumps are movers of heat energy – they use a refrigerant circuit to upgrade naturally occurring low temperature heat into useful high temperature heat to reduce primary fuel consumption,” commented John Kellett, General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric’s Heating Department. “With a conventional gas boiler, one kilowatt of energy delivers less than one kilowatt of heat to a building. With Ecodan, one kilowatt of energy delivers a heat output in excess of three kilowatts – that’s a 300 per cent increase in energy efficiency – and that is set to grow as the technology develops.

The average UK household produces over 5 tonnes of CO2 per year with space and water heating accounting for more than 73 per cent of this. By using free energy from the outside air, Mitsubishi Electric’s Ecodan, the easy to install, low carbon alternative to a traditional gas or oil boiler, can dramatically reduce home running costs and CO2 emissions.

Bell Homes is the specialist housing development division of KW Bell Group, a group of companies originally founded by Keith Bell in 1965. Formerly known as K.W.Bell & Son Ltd, the Company based in Cinderford, Royal Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, has been constructing housing for over 20 years, including private and social housing in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and throughout South Wales.