13 October 2023
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An Oxfordshire couple have praised the “transformational” impact of installing a heat pump, as part of a new campaign to encourage the switch to cleaner and greener homes.
Paul and Anne Cullen, from Mollington near Banbury, previously used an oil-fired boiler which was so expensive they could only afford to warm a few rooms of the house, and they dreaded getting up in the mornings during the winter. However, they’ve now slashed hundreds of pounds from their energy bills after the installation of an air-source heat pump – and the house has gone from being ‘perpetually cold’ to ‘a pleasure to live in’. Their story is shared by renewable energy company Good Energy in a new campaign called Green home stories, which features Paul in a short film explaining the difference it’s made to the couple’s life. Social workers Paul, aged 72, and his wife Anne, aged 70, have lived in their home for almost 40 years. They loved the property but were deeply disappointed by their heating system. Not being connected to the gas grid, they originally used coal but switched to bottled gas and then an oil-fired system. Anne said: “It was too expensive to warm all of the house, so we had to choose which rooms to heat and avoid using the others. We were perpetually cold. We had to sit in blankets, and we had to brace ourselves to get up in the morning.” Paul added: “The oil tank was at the top of the garden but it smelt all the time. It was horrible. It’s made an amazing difference. Our home is now permanently comfortable and it’s a pleasure to live in. Some of our neighbours were worried about the noise from the heat pump when we told them we were having one installed, but it’s so quiet. It also caught the interest of other villagers. One saw the work taking place and stopped to chat to the engineers, and now he’s installed a heat pump at his home too” Good Energy chief executive Nigel Pocklington said: “We’re grateful to Paul and Anne for sharing their story as part of our new campaign. There’s so much misinformation clouding the debate around heat pumps, so it’s important to hear from people who have made the switch and never looked back. Heat pumps should be installed in all new buildings as standard, and retrofitted in as many other buildings as possible, to reduce energy bills and support the transition to a cleaner and greener future.”
www.goodenergy.co.uk
