Tackling fuel poverty by lowering energy use for residents’ hot water and heating | Sunamp | Global - World leading thermal storage technologies

Public BETA Learn more

Skip to content
Global
  • Solutions

    Public housing

    Housing development

    Commercial and industrial

    Transport and logistics

  • Products & technology

    Hot water – Thermino

    Thermal storage for domestic hot water

    Heating – Central Bank

    Space-saving alternatives to hot water thermal stores

    Cooling – Permafrost

    Highly efficient, low carbon cooling

    How thermal batteries work

    Plentigrade

    Phase change technology

  • Company

    About Sunamp

    Careers

    News

    Latest news

    Archive

    Projects

    Accreditations

    Memberships

  • Case studies

    Replacing gas boilers in UK high-rise tower blocks

    Smart mini district heating network tackling fuel poverty for older people

    Tackling fuel poverty by lowering energy use for residents’ hot water and heating

    Case studies

    View all case studies

  • Blogs

    New opportunity for plumbers and heating installers to grow their businesses

    What is a phase change material and why is it important

    Revolutionary approach to gas removal in high-rise homes is catching on fast with social landlords

    All blogs

  • Contact

    Contact us

  • Region
Choose region

Global


Europe

France

Germany

Italy

Spain

UK

North America

USA

South America

Chile

Asia

China

Tackling fuel poverty by lowering energy use for residents’ hot water and heating

Hot water and space heating systems designed around compact thermal storage cut energy consumption and social landlord running costs in 625 homes across Scotland.

Installing thermal batteries at scale, including alongside solar PV and heat pumps
Replacing electric heating and hot water cylinders, and reducing gas use, in 625 social housing homes
Lowering energy use as heat storage needs less gas and electricity to make hot water

The challenge


Over 25% of Scottish households were living in fuel poverty in 2016. People living in social housing more likely to be in fuel poverty than those in private housing.

Could social landlords help reduce residents’ fuel bills by implementing local solutions designed around thermal energy storage?

The solution


In response, the Scottish Government’s Local Energy Challenge Fund backed EastHeat in 2016. It was the largest residential heat storage project in Europe at the time and saw Sunamp thermal storage installed in 625 homes.

Over 700 heat batteries were fitted in homes with no gas connection to replace electric heating and hot water, and in other properties to reduce gas and electricity use by being installed alongside solar PV and heat pumps.

The project selected houses and apartments of many sizes located in rural, semi-rural and urban settings across Edinburgh, Lothian and Falkirk managed by Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association (now called Places for People) and East Lothian Housing Association.

Residents with solar PV combined with Sunamp heat batteries had most of their hot water supplied by energy from their roof panels.

The benefits


The EastHeat trial interim report concludes that fuel poverty is being alleviated by using less energy to make hot water.

Surveys of residents at the time found that the majority saved money on their fuel bills.

In one- and two-bedroom properties with gas combi boilers and PV on the roof, solar consumption was much higher because of the heat batteries, with 55-63% of the hot water coming from solar PV. The Sunamp batteries dramatically reduced the amount of gas or electricity used to make hot water.

The old systems had poor water pressure. Residents liked that the Sunamp heat batteries gave them hot water at mains pressure on demand. Residents were also happy to have more cupboard space freed up by their bulky hot water cylinders being replaced with slimline heat batteries.

For the housing associations, costs were reduced because the batteries require no mandatory annual maintenance (unlike gas boilers and unvented cylinders) and no legionella testing is needed since each battery holds less than 5 litres of water. Additionally, the batteries’ compact size released storage space in each home, helping housing associations meet mandatory space standards.

A Sunamp heat battery fitting neatly below a combi gas boiler in a Castle Rock Edinvar home. (Stewart Attwood Photography).

“It has definitely made a difference to us. We are already seeing a dip in our fuel costs, and hot water seems to come through much faster than it did before. The installation went smoothly and the heat battery fits into a small cupboard.”

Resident of a two-bedroom house in Lothian

The technical details


  • Storage capacity: 766 heat batteries (4.4MWh)
  • Heating source: solar PV, electricity, gas and heat pumps connected to Sunamp heat batteries

Additional information

  • EastHeat project findings
  • Castle Rock Edinvar’s summary of the EastHeat project

Want to find out more?


Learn more about our offering for the public housing sector


Learn more

Contact our team for a bespoke assessment of your project


Contact us
Home
Cookies
Terms & conditions
Site map
Privacy
Contact us
Trademarks & patents

Sunamp Ltd. All rights reserved.