Lifestyle
- Greenstar 24i System boiler
- Greenskies solar panels
The M family live in a detached 1996 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 ensuite property in Worcester. The family comprises of Mum, Dad and 2 young children. Dad works full-time and Mum 4 days of the week, so most of the heating and hot water usage is in the early morning, evening and at the weekends.
The M family have one of Worcester's Greenskies solar water heating systems. The solar system links with their existing Worcester Greenstar 24i condensing system boiler, in order to meet the needs of the whole household.
The solar system has been installed on the family’s pitched roof, facing approximately 20 degrees west of south. This is not the optimum orientation which slightly reduces the efficiency but since its introduction the M family have already benefited from reduced hot water bills. Mr M said:
"I was really surprised once the system was installed as to how effective it was, we were even getting hot water when it was cloudy outside!
The solar system is fantastic, during May we were getting almost 90% of our hot water from solar energy meaning hot water we were using was effectively free! It’s also great to know that we are doing our bit in helping reduce CO2 into the atmosphere by not using our boiler as much. Although quite large, the solar panels don’t look at all out of place on the house."
