As well as bringing the costs down, Richard was also keen to reduce the amount of heat being lost from his home and to improve its energy efficiency.

That’s where he discovered the Petersfield Area SuperHomes project.

Ran by Petersfield Climate Action Network (PeCAN), the project involved having a professional retrofit coordinator carry out a Whole House Retrofit Plan on your home to help you see what changes you could make.

It ran alongside the Winchester Area SuperHomes project, which is run by Winchester Action on The Climate Crisis (WinACC). Both projects receive funding from the National Energy Foundation (NEF).

Richard, who lives in a detached property in Midhurst, said: “I wanted to put some solar panels up and I wanted a heat pump but I didn’t know what to do first.

“With the energy bills going up I thought it was costing quite a lot of money and hoped this would make a big difference."

Richard had the survey carried out and was advised to get his home fully insulated first.

He then went on to get 11 solar panels fitted as well as a battery and the final step was the installation of an air source heat pump.

He said having a report with step by step advice about how and in which order to get the work carried out was very worthwhile.

“It was extremely useful,” he added.

“Without that I had no idea what steps to take, how to approach it and what was the best order to do it in. That was invaluable, I wouldn’t have done it without that.

“I had everything I wanted to move forward.”

Now, Richard is hoping to encourage other people to follow in his footsteps.

“I’m very pleased I did it all and I have spoken to quite a lot of other people about it who are now thinking about doing the same thing,” he said.

“I would certainly recommend it. You can do it bits at a time.

“It all happened a lot quicker than I thought it might do. I think you need a project like SuperHomes because it’s a bit of a minefield otherwise.

“I’m very pleased with what we’ve done.”

A professional retrofit coordinator carries out an independent, impartial assessment looking at the energy efficiency of your home. They take that assessment and produce a plan of the changes that you could make to you home to reduce your energy bills, increase your comfort levels and reduce your carbon footprint. Recommendations will vary from house to house but will often include the following measures:

• Loft insulation
• Cavity wall insulation
• Double glazing
• Ventilation
• Solar panels to generate renewable energy on the roof
• Changing a gas or oil heating system for a low carbon heat system such as a heat pump

Critically the plan gives you a whole house view and is independent, giving you the confidence to engage with installers when it is right for you. PeCAN can provide a list of qualified Retrofit Coordinators and installers that operate in the local area for you to engage with.

To find out more, contact us.