(Daily Mail) Millions of pounds of public money
have been spent installing a ‘green’ central heating system that residents
claim doesn’t work properly – and that has made their heating bills four times
higher than expected.
Annual running costs had been estimated at £500,
but instead some housing association tenants have been saddled with bills of up
to £2,000 a year – nearly twice the UK average. Some families in ‘affordable homes’ said their
electricity bills last winter were so high that they had to choose between
heating and eating.
The
so-called exhaust air system works by sucking heat from waste air leaving the
house and pumping it back in to provide heating and hot water.
But if it does not raise the boiler water
temperature enough, an electric immersion heater kicks in, sending bills
rocketing.
Government grants were spent on the all-electric
Swedish NIBE systems but experts say they are wrong for most British homes,
which are not as well insulated as those in Sweden. Heating expert Geoff Morgan, of Rodney
Environmental Consultants, has inspected homes in the UK with NIBE heating and
said:
To be
eligible for public money for new housing from the Government’s Homes and
Community Agency, housebuilders have to follow its Code for Sustainable Homes,
which urges low-carbon solutions. But residents have reported problems on at
least 15 estates from East Anglia to Orkney, and various Facebook sites have
been set up by disgruntled householders.
Mother-of-four
Sam Claussen said she and her partner Jeff were excited in May 2010 when they
moved into a three-bedroom house in St Neots, on an estate owned by the
Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association (BPHA).
‘I loved
the idea of having this modern and green heating system which we were told was
going to give us really low bills,’
said Ms
Claussen, 40. Indeed, Energy Performance Certificates issued on the new
properties estimated annual electricity costs for heating and water at between
£400 and £500.
But after living in the property for two months, Ms
Claussen was shocked to receive an electricity bill for £252. Costs continued
to mount for Ms Claussen and her neighbours on the Loves Farm Estate, and
eventually the BPHA stepped in to help meet tenants’ bills – to the tune of
£45,000.
By last Christmas, the Claussen family had unpaid
bills of £1,500 and were on a key meter. They found that during a cold snap they were having
to spend £10 a day.
‘With such a high electricity bill, we had to choose
between eating or keeping the house warm,’ Ms Claussen said. ‘The children were
fed, but I hardly ate at all. It was an awful Christmas.’
A spokesman for the BPHA said the NIBE system was
recommended by the contractor, Kier Homes, to comply with the Government’s
green code.
‘We had representations from NIBE and as a result
we were convinced that it was a very good solution. Unfortunately that has not
been our experience. Some residents have reported excessive bills, and also
there wasn’t enough hot water for their needs.
‘We are currently replacing 43 of the systems with
gas boilers. We are also taking legal advice on the next step forward.’
Kier admitted that some NIBE systems were found to
be undersized and that some houses had two wall vents rather than one, which
meant more heat was escaping.
The company has agreed to underwrite the cost of
replacing undersized units with gas boilers, replacing all vents and
contributing towards a hardship fund for residents.
A statement added:
‘Since the issues with the NIBE
system came to light, we have stopped specifying the boilers.’
NIBE managing director Phil Hurley said:
‘These
systems are working brilliantly in thousands of homes across the UK without
increased energy costs and, according to independent research, have
dramatically reduced costs in many cases.
‘Where costs are high, the issue isn’t with the
system, it’s with the way it has been installed or is being used.’
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