Chew Valley ICF Home

A fully electric family home, including EV charging, powered by a renewable energy system.

LOCATION

Chew Valley

HEAT PUMP

Mitsubishi Electrics

SOLAR PV

JA Solar

MONTHLY ENERGY BILL

£268.54

BATTERY STORAGE

Pylontech

Overview

When building their own home in Chew Valley, the homeowners wanted to make the property as environmentally friendly as possible from the very beginning.

The house was constructed using ICF foam, creating a highly insulated and efficient building fabric. Green Flare was brought in to design and install a complete renewable energy solution that would support the performance of the home while helping the family reduce their reliance on traditional energy sources.

The result is a joined-up renewable energy system combining solar PV, battery storage, mechanical ventilation and an air source heat pump. Each part of the system was designed to work with the fabric of the building, helping to keep the home comfortable, efficient and ready for every day life.

Technology

Green Flare designed a complete microgeneration solution for the ICF home, bringing together multiple renewable technologies.

The system includes 18 solar panels paired with a hybrid inverter and 5.2kWh battery storage. This lets the family use their own generated energy throughout the day, even when it's not sunny, or charge the battery overnight at a lower rate and draw on it during the day when energy costs are higher.

To heat the building, Green Flare installed an 8.5kW Mitsubishi air source heat pump, linked to a 300-litre hot water cylinder. The heat pump is comfortably sized for the home while also delivering fast hot water recovery, an important detail for a family of four. The cylinder sits inside the plant room alongside the battery and inverter, giving the whole system a central home.

In Their Words

"We had the fantastic opportunity to build our own home, so it was a chance for us to make our property as environmentally friendly as possible, and to get as close to passive house as we could. Early on in the process, when we were looking into planning and costing, I contacted Green Flare.

They seemed to be the most knowledgeable of all the companies I contacted, and were really helpful, explaining the costings and timeframes clearly. As a complete novice to renewable energy, they explained everything thoroughly. Nothing seemed like a silly question.

Anybody that came round the house to do the work said what they were doing and turned up when they said they would, cleaned up after themselves, and were always happy to show me what they'd done and how to use things. Just really reliable.

We're delighted with the results. It's a lovely house to live in, and it's always a lovely temperature, with no hot or cold spots. In the current climate, we don't have to worry about our energy bills, and we're just really pleased with the results."