A highly effective solar renewable energy solution is solar water heating. Solar panels are installed on the roof, and water is slowly pumped through them, collecting heat from the sun.

Yes, a correctly designed system will provide decades of hot water, giving approximately 60% of the hot water used each year. A well-designed system will provide 50-60% of annual domestic hot water needs, slashing bills & carbon emissions for around 30 years.

A heat pump is a machine which can replace your boiler, and heats the home using renewable energy taken from either the ground, or the air outside.

By far the cheapest and most eco-friendly home-heating technology currently available is the heat-pump. A heat-pump is a type of central heating system, which literally pumps heat from outside your home into your heating system, like a fridge-freezer in reverse. The ground or air outside your home is a vast reserve of energy, heated by the sun. Systems for heating the home do so with amazing efficiency – typically around 400%. That means for every unit of electric energy used by your heat-pump, you will get 4 units worth of heat in the house. Bills for oil heated homes drop by around 60%, electrically heated homes by 75%, with large reductions in CO2 emitted. The savings are potentially huge. 

Every house has individual needs.  Anybody using heating oil, LPG or electricity to heat their property should give consideration to fitting a heat pump, as in many cases this will dramatically slash the heating bill, as well as cutting carbon emission by around 50%.  Solar water heating is also appropriate for most UK homes. Solar photovoltaics is a nice technology, but the energy outputs and carbon savings are not normally as good as the other technologies, but is easier to fit to existing homes.

Large areas of Durham are ‘Conservation’ areas. Some renewables are not yet permitted in these areas (wind turbines and heat pumps).

With the change to the new unitary authority in April 2009, the planning department is in a state of flux, however, in the meantime, if you have a specific query about a particularproposal, or would like some general advice about planning in DurhamCity, you can contact the Durham City Council Planning Policy Departmenton 0191 301 8715 or UDG_DevelopmentPlans2@durhamcity.gov.uk.

General Planning Advice

Grants may also be available for your microgeneration

Privacy Statement   Terms of Reference  Contact 

design by invetec © climatedurham 2008