Renewable energy’s time is here it seems. What with gas and electricity bills going through the roof, and climate change looming large, there has never been a better time to consider investing in renewable energy technology for your own home.

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.

Another 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. Harvesting the sun’s heat is up to 5 times more efficient than using the same area of solar photovoltaics to generate electricity. A well-designed system will provide 50-60% of annual domestic hot water needs, slashing bills & carbon emissions for around 30 years.