Merlin Housing

Social tenants anticipate ‘exceptional’ savings with heat pumps

Switching 50 off-gas properties to air source heat pumps brought immediate cost savings for South Gloucestershire social housing tenants and saw their landlord, Merlin Housing Society, shortlisted for a renewable energy award within weeks of completing the refurbishment project.

Social tenants anticipate ‘exceptional’ savings with heat pumps

Part of an ongoing programme

As part of an ongoing programme to upgrade its housing stock, Merlin targeted about 60 homes for conversion from electric storage heating or oil-fired systems to heat pumps. The society chose the Daikin Altherma Monobloc heat pump as the basis of the upgrades. Although the project was not a winner at the British Renewable Energy Awards 2016, it was with Merlin’s tenants – some of whose heating bills were forecast to fall from as much as £80 a week to just £20.

Tim Grimshaw, special projects surveyor at Merlin.

“We’re getting feedback on the tenants’ costs, and it’s pointing to exceptional savings in some cases. The Daikin Altherma Monobloc will certainly help to alleviate the risk of fuel poverty for these people. The tenants seem very pleased with the new systems, which they are finding very simple to use.”

Richard Hopkins, head of property investment at Merlin.

“We’re committed to improve the energy efficiency of our customers’ homes. Fuel poverty is sadly a real issue for some of our customers, so it’s important that we provide them with homes that are energy efficient.”

Compact solution for housing upgrades

The project involved a mix of bungalows and semi-detached houses, in two and three-bedroom configurations and built between the 1950s and the 1970s. All were below modern standards for insulation and heating. Depending on property size of the properties, 5kW or 7kW Daikin Altherma Monobloc systems were installed. These compact systems include all the necessary hydraulic components and are simply connected to the heating water circuit and a power supply. The properties were also fitted with 200-litre Daikin hot water cylinders.