Tim Meadows lives with his wife and two teenage daughters in a three bedroom detached house near Reading.
Their home
One of the first things that Tim and his wife did when they moved into their home was to install solar panels. After buying their first electric car they bought a car charger that could pull energy directly from their panels and more recently have installed batteries so that they can use the generated energy more flexibly.
Tim is a self confessed environmental techy and has created his own bespoke data monitoring system so that he can see how hard his home is working at any given time.
Low carbon heating options
Knowing that they wanted to remove the gas from their property The Meadows considered several low carbon options. “We were interested in changing our heating system because we wanted to be a bit more environmentally friendly, do a bit for the planet and we’ve got two children so we wanted to make the world a better place for them.”
Tim researched different types of heat pumps alongside looking at the ZEB. He decided that a heat pump wasn’t the right choice for their home because they didn’t want to sacrifice any outside space in addition to the microbore pipes throughout their home which they were told would have to be replaced if they wanted a heat pump.
The survey and installation
“The survey process (was) really simple. We filled out an online form and then tepeo came around to the house, looked at the proposed location and helped us work out where it would fit within the fabric of the house.”
The ZEB is located within their study, tucked away in the corner underneath a cupboard. Tim was able to remove a radiator freeing up space for an additional filing cabinet.
“It (the installation) was scheduled for two days but in the end it only took a day.”
What’s next?
The Meadow’s are in the process of buying a share in a wind farm to offset any additional electricity they pull from the grid throughout the year and are looking forward to when the ZEB will be able to pull directly from their solar panels later this year.
“We’ve had the ZEB for just under a year, so we’ve had this winter (2022-2023) using it properly. The ZEB really is keeping the house warm.”