The Cullerns, Highworth

Our 1980s semi was drafty and cold, especially in the badly built extension above the garage. We felt we needed to act to be warmer but also to tread more lightly on the planet in the face of a climate emergency. We started by draftproofing and adding insulation to reduce energy leakage. We added new double glazing with tripple glazing on the cold aspect. We put solar panels on our East and West facing roofs - totalling 8.4kw - which also supplies electricity to an electric car we bought second hand. We have now also swapped the gas boiler for a heat pump, and have an unusual second heat pump for hot water without an external unit - very useful for flats in particular and saves the big unit in the summer, even providing some cooling when required.