From Outdated Boiler to Smart Renewable System. £33,000 Saved: Josh & Lucy

Written By Johnathan Gower

When Josh and Lucy’s 15-year-old gas boiler was on its last legs, they didn’t just swap it for another. Instead, they future-proofed their home with a battery-backed heat pump and a 4.5 kWp solar array, all tied together with intelligent storage and smart grid integration.

The result?

Energy bills cut by 75% and projected 20-year costs slashed from £49,600 to £16,500—a £33,000 saving and an impressive 50% lifetime return on investment.

Heat Horizons Solution

We designed an integrated renewable energy solution that addressed both heating and electricity needs. The centrepiece was a state-of-the-art battery-buffered heat pump system, complemented by a robust 4.5kWp solar array.

This innovative approach provided sufficient storage capacity to dramatically reduce running costs by enabling the household to operate entirely on clean energy - either from their own solar generation during daylight hours or from off-peak grid electricity during cheaper tariff periods.

  • 4.5kWp solar system generates clean electricity throughout daylight hours

  • Battery system stores excess solar energy and cheap off-peak electricity

  • Efficient heat pump draws from stored energy to provide heating and hot water

  • Time-of-use tariffs optimise when energy is purchased from the grid

Understanding Renewable Heating Economics

  • Renewable Heat Strategy

    Josh and Lucy recognised that switching to renewable heating would increase their electricity consumption significantly. Heat Pumps, whilst highly efficient, require electrical power to operate. The challenge for Heat Pumps is competing with a gas boilers running costs when the fuel source (electricity) is more than 4 times the cost of Natural Gas. This is much less of an issue when competing with other fuels such as LPG, Oil and Biomass

  • The logical solution became clear: if they were going to consume more electricity, they should produce and store their own clean energy to power both their home and heating system. Installing solar and storage helps bring the Heat Pumps fuel cost (electricity) in line with Gas making the whole system much cheaper to run.

  • By combining renewable heating with solar generation and storage, they could create a comprehensive energy system designed for long-term sustainability and cost control.

  • The system we installed also has the ability to fully support the property in the event of a power cut. The only sign that Josh and Lucy are experiencing a power outage is a notification on their phones

Real-World Energy Savings (£)

The dramatic reduction in Q2-Q4 2025 costs demonstrates how solar generation and battery storage can virtually eliminate energy bills. The system was installed in Q3 2024, you can see the immediate effect with energy cost stabilising despite Q4 being a significantly cold and darker period than Q3

  • 75%

  • 20+ Years

  • £49,600

  • £16,500

  • £33,067

  • 50%

Johnathan Gower