Monday, September 17, 2012

Families facing £2,000 bills for green heating 'that does not work in Britain'



To be eligible for public money for new housing from the Government's Homes and Community Agency, housebuilders have to follow its Code for Sustainable Homes, which urges low-carbon solutions (file picture)



(Daily Mail) Millions of pounds of public money have been spent installing a ‘green’ central heating system that residents claim doesn’t work properly – and that has made their heating bills four times higher than expected.

Annual running costs had been estimated at £500, but instead some housing association tenants have been saddled with bills of up to £2,000 a year – nearly twice the UK average. Some families in ‘affordable homes’ said their electricity bills last winter were so high that they had to choose between heating and eating.

The so-called exhaust air system works by sucking heat from waste air leaving the house and pumping it back in to provide heating and hot water.

But if it does not raise the boiler water temperature enough, an electric immersion heater kicks in, sending bills rocketing.

Government grants were spent on the all-electric Swedish NIBE systems but experts say they are wrong for most British homes, which are not as well insulated as those in Sweden. Heating expert Geoff Morgan, of Rodney Environmental Consultants, has inspected homes in the UK with NIBE heating and said:
‘In Sweden, very little heat escapes through walls, doors and windows, so more is available to be pumped back in.
‘These systems are just not very suitable for your average British home when mains gas is available – it’s just not going to be economical.’
One housing association in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, is considering legal action after claiming that it was ‘mis-sold’ the systems, which cost about £6,000 each. Another in Runcorn, Cheshire, recently spent £145,000 ripping out 69 NIBE sets and replacing them with gas boilers.
Cold comfort: Samantha Claussen, who struggled to pay her heating bills, with two of her children


To be eligible for public money for new housing from the Government’s Homes and Community Agency, housebuilders have to follow its Code for Sustainable Homes, which urges low-carbon solutions. But residents have reported problems on at least 15 estates from East Anglia to Orkney, and various Facebook sites have been set up by disgruntled householders.

Mother-of-four Sam Claussen said she and her partner Jeff were excited in May 2010 when they moved into a three-bedroom house in St Neots, on an estate owned by the Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association (BPHA).
‘I loved the idea of having this modern and green heating system which we were told was going to give us really low bills,’
said Ms Claussen, 40. Indeed, Energy Performance Certificates issued on the new properties estimated annual electricity costs for heating and water at between £400 and £500.

But after living in the property for two months, Ms Claussen was shocked to receive an electricity bill for £252. Costs continued to mount for Ms Claussen and her neighbours on the Loves Farm Estate, and eventually the BPHA stepped in to help meet tenants’ bills – to the tune of £45,000.

By last Christmas, the Claussen family had unpaid bills of £1,500 and were on a key meter. They found that during a cold snap they were having to spend £10 a day.
‘With such a high electricity bill, we had to choose between eating or keeping the house warm,’ Ms Claussen said. ‘The children were fed, but I hardly ate at all. It was an awful Christmas.’
A spokesman for the BPHA said the NIBE system was recommended by the contractor, Kier Homes, to comply with the Government’s green code.
‘We had representations from NIBE and as a result we were convinced that it was a very good solution. Unfortunately that has not been our experience. Some residents have reported excessive bills, and also there wasn’t enough hot water for their needs.
‘We are currently replacing 43 of the systems with gas boilers. We are also taking legal advice on the next step forward.’
Kier admitted that some NIBE systems were found to be undersized and that some houses had two wall vents rather than one, which meant more heat was escaping.

The company has agreed to underwrite the cost of replacing undersized units with gas boilers, replacing all vents and contributing towards a hardship fund for residents.

A statement added:
‘Since the issues with the NIBE system came to  light, we have stopped specifying  the boilers.’
NIBE managing director Phil Hurley said:
‘These systems are working brilliantly in thousands of homes across the UK without increased energy costs and, according to independent research, have dramatically reduced costs in many cases.
‘Where costs are high, the issue isn’t with the system, it’s with the way it has been installed or is being used.’




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