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Now Fossil Fuel Free

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Our home,  the Old Post Office Kempley Green, Kempley, Gloucestershire (within the Forest of Dean AURORA Demonstration Pilot Area) is now fossil fuel free.

We have commissioned our new Air Source Heat Pumps, applied for and received a Government Grant and raided our savings to pay for the new heating system. It replaces our failing propane gas boiler. The boiler was using BioLPG (now called Futuria Liquid Gas) which has a 45% lower carbon footprint than propane gas made completely from fossil fuels, but still had 60% fossil fuel. By switching to Air Source heat pumps we have been able to decommission our propane powered boiler and the associated propane gas supply system.

Our space heating system is now carbon neutral as the electricity to power the air source heat pumps is either produced by our solar panels and solar cladding or we purchase renewable energy from the UK national grid. At the same time we have completed cavity wall installation on the older parts of our property and we are in the process of upgrading our loft installation.

Pressurised water tank and control systems for the Air Source Heat Pump
Such a major change to our space heating system is not simple in a property dating from circa 1820 and drives further changes to our water supply system as we switch from gravity water supply from a tank in our loft to a pressurised water supply system. This requires changing out our low pressure power shower to a mixer shower and further changes are required to the size of our radiators due to the changes in heat supply. We plan to make these further changes as finance allows. We are fortunate in also using a biomass burner as a secondary heat source during our transition.
 
We began our journey away from fossil fuels by installing solar panels and we complete it with the installation of air source heat pumps. It proves that even in an old property it is possible to go carbon free.
 
Do we save money as well as carbon? For our Electricty supply the answer is most definitely yes and even today with the tariffs we receive for electric produced from our solar panels we balance our costs for energy purchased from the grid. Time will tell if the air source heat pumps prove to be an equally good financial decision, but we are future proofing our property and will no longer be at the mercy of fossil fuel supplies.
 
Finally in our village we are now meeting in café format so that those in our community who have started their journey to zero carbon for heating and powering their homes can share their experiences with those who are at the start of that journey.
LG Air Source Heat Pump arriving on site ready for installation
Project AURORA will help those on that journey when the AURORA app is released in February and we can all measure the actual carbon footprint from our homes. We also expect to be able to invest in a community solar energy scheme that will lower the costs of heating and powering both a local school, local leisure centre and swimming pool struggling to meet the escalating costs of energy.
 
Project AURORA is starting to generate interest in our rural communities on whether the solar community model planned for those buildings could be extended to other public and private buildings across the Forest of Dean. 
 
We do not have to wait for Governments to make these changes, communities can drive these changes for themselves, drive down costs and carbon emissions as well as banish fossil fuels from the power and heat supplies to our homes. 
LG Air Source Heat pump operational. The Unit is a 16kW LG Therma heat pump (M/N: HM161MR.U34).
 We can say with a smile on our faces that we are no longer Fossil Fools.  My wife and I hope you will start on your journey to be fossil fuel free and that project AURORA can help you on that journey.
 
Martin and Margaret Brocklehurst
Forest of Dean Pilot Area – Project AURORA
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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101036418.

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