A1 housing trials micro-CHP to reduce fuel poverty and carbon emissions
A1 Housing, an ALMO (arms’ length management organisation) based in Nottinghamshire, is trialling the Baxi Ecogen micro-CHP appliance to reduce fuel poverty and carbon emissions. A1 manages 7000 properties for Bassetlaw District Council. In line with its objectives to upgrade all its housing stock to Decent Homes Standard by 2013 and reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2020, A1 is trialling a micro-CHP unit in a 4-bedroom family home in the village of Misterton.
This semi-detached home was built in the 1950s and is home to
a family with four children. The trial will be monitored by Baxi and A1.
This micro-CHP unit is based on a free-piston Stirling engine to provide central heating, domestic hot water and up to 1 kW of electricity. Intelligent controls ensure maximum electricity generation and comfort while minimising fuel costs.
Extensive field trials have shown that these units can satisfy up to two thirds of a typical household’s electricity requirements. About half of the electricity generated can be used in the home and the other half exported to the grid at 10 p/kWh using the Feed-in Tariff.
