Local Sustainability Champions – Jamie Herdman

Hello, my name is Jamie Herdman and I have made a number of changes to my property to improve our energy efficiency, reduce our annual fuel costs and cut our CO2 emissions.

When we bought our home it was cold and draughty, some improvements were needed, and I was keen to take the opportunity to do my bit to reduce our carbon footprint, as well as save some money and give us a more comfortable home. 

I had first become aware of the issues associated with climate change through watching programmes on TV particularly some of the David Attenborough series which really made me think about the adverse impact we are having on our planet, and I wanted to make a difference in any way that I could. I was committed to investing in renewables for our home, I wanted to put my resources into something that was important to me.

My work is related to construction and as an engineer I was able to do some preliminary calculations on the benefits that we could accrue though some changes at home; this isn’t essential so don’t be put off, there is lots of help available on energy savings, all expressed in layman’s terms. I found the Energy Saving Trust website really useful.

As I work from home, I was very aware of the amount of energy that we were using and wasting. I was watching the dial on the oil tank and seeing this constant cycle of buy/burn/buy/burn and I thought there must be a better way!

My starting point was to do some quick, easy, relatively inexpensive things to get started. I changed all our light bulbs to LEDs which saved about 500 kWh per annum and about £125 each year.

My next job was to improve our loft insulation, for a few hundred pounds I was able to fit new insulation which helped retain heat. I then tackled the drafts by replacing doors and some of our windows so that they had a better seal.

The next project was more substantial: a heat pump. Our oil boiler needed replacing and we also had a bit of plumbing to sort out, so I decided to make the investment. I engaged a local specialist in Alresford who did the whole job for about £17,000. We were able to get an £8,000 grant paid back over seven years, so the net investment was about £9,000 and the heat pump is now our only energy source. With our old system I estimate that we produced around 7.0 tonnes of C02 annually, now it is only 0.5 of a tonne, a massive environmental saving. My estimate was based on the weight of a tank of oil times 4 which gives an approximate C02 footprint.

As we were buying electricity to service the heat pump installing solar was the next obvious move. Our panels are generating about 6.3k kWh pa which means we now only buy about 1.2k kWh pa a big saving versus our old way of doing things. We now spend much less on our electricity, even at the peak of the energy crisis our bill was only about £400 a year.

My top tip would be don’t be daunted by the size of the task, start small with easy low-cost improvements: lower your boiler temperature, fit LED bulbs, stop draughts and improve your insulation. If I was starting again, I would be more thoughtful about how to redevelop the property and make it energy efficient at the same time; something to consider in the future.