We’re Anne, Alan and Emily, a family from Northumberland, England. Anne’s a ceramic artist. Alan works on transport and energy projects . Emily’s at University, finishing her medical studies. Since the 2010s, we’ve been making a serious effort to ‘go green’. Bit by bit, we’ve switched to electric cars, put solar panels on the roof, and invested in big batteries to store solar (and off-peak grid) energy for later use. In 2021-22 we invested in a further major upgrade: replacing our oil-fired central heating and hot water boiler with an Air Source Heat Pump system, to really attack our carbon impact.
We’ve learnt loads of useful stuff as we’ve gone along, including that it’s actually possible to save a lot of money and save the planet. We really “turned it up to 11” by making a substantial investment in Smart Energy technologies, and by maximising the benefit of a ‘smart’ electricity supply on an officially-certified 100% zero carbon tariff. That investment is enabling us, in just one household, to make very, very, significant cash and carbon savings.
In 2022 we saved £19,089 in energy costs, and eliminated 25.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
In 2023 we saved £21,118 in energy costs, and eliminated 27.9 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
In 2024 we saved £18,130 in energy costs, and eliminated 27.9 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
These extraordinary results have generated plenty of interest, so we publish this website to share not only our data, but some practical advice which we hope readers may find useful. We’re including…
- Kit: Information about the equipment we have installed, and on how we use it to radically reduce the energy we use and the cost we pay.
- Money : Information on the cost of our installation and how quickly it will be paid back.
- Performance : monthly updates on the energy and financial savings our system made during 2022, in order to demonstrate the benefits which can be achieved in real-world use. Yearly updates thereafter.
For us, Electrifying Your Life means:-
- Using 100% renewably-generated electricity instead of fossil fuels to power as much of your life as possible. Our electrified life includes a large solar array, 2 EVs replacing petrol cars, an Air Source Heat Pump replacing an oil boiler, and large batteries to store surplus solar generation and off-peak grid energy.
- Generating as much as you can yourself from solar (or other renewable sources) and using it locally, thereby reducing the need for electricity from the grid.
- If there’s a shortfall between the energy you can generate and the energy you need, then buy only renewable electricity on a certified zero carbon tariff from a grid supplier. This basically requires the energy company to purchase at least the same total amount of 100% renewable electricity from generation companies as they supply to their customers. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best the grid can do at present, until the transition to 100% solar, wind, wave, tidal and (optionally) nuclear power is complete. And it won’t be complete until very large scale energy storage is implemented both centrally and at ‘edge of grid’ on consumer’s premises, to transform inevitably intermittent renewable grid input into 24/7/365 energy that’s available even when the sun’s not shining or the wind’s not blowing.
- And doing all of this at the lowest possible cost, to generate actual hard cash savings.
Ultimately, it’s probably the last point that’s most important. The world is full of people with good intentions to solve the Climate Crisis. But it’s likely that most of them won’t make the necessary radical changes until it can be demonstrated that they’ll actually be financially better off when they do.
So the purpose of this website is to prove, with hard data from our own real-world experience, that it is possible to Save Money and help Save The Planet.
In 2024 we took all we have learned about energy at our home, and really ‘turned it up to 11’ in our project to create one of the most energy efficient buildings in the UK. Our Passivhaus-certified conversion of Warksburn Old Church is now welcoming guests. From 2025 onwards we’ll be reporting its energy performance in detail. We look forward to seeing you in beautiful rural Northumberland. Click here to book your stay.
If you’d like bespoke, personal, advice on how to define and optimise a system to suit your specific requirements, please email Alan to discuss.
For amusement, we’ve also included some stuff which takes a Big Picture view of the whole thing.