Social housing: net zero progress report - quarter 2 2024

Project Title: Smart Storage Heating Retrofit Project

Project Organisation: Trust Housing Association

Technology Type(s): Connected Response

Location(s): Multiple Councils across Scotland: Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Fife, Glasgow city, Highland, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, Western Isles

Grant Value: £244,090

Completion Date: Projected February 2025

Project Headline: Upgrading existing Electric Storage Heaters to improve energy efficiency in 345 homes across Scotland.

Project Description:

The project involves upgrading existing electric storage heaters to improve energy efficiency in 345 homes across Scotland. The project involves installing Connected Response HeatSage technology into each flat which remotely controls the charging of existing heaters using local weather forecasts to determine the most suitable charging times, increasing on colder days and reducing on milder days, moving the charge closer to tenants’ needs. It can also be customised to set specific temperatures in different flats if required to take account of property size, potential solar gain and tenants’ individual health needs. By re-purposing the existing heating and hot water systems and aligning charging with renewable energy the project will turn the existing storage heaters into zero emission systems.

The project has been designed to ensure those most likely to be in or at risk of fuel poverty and living in properties that are the least energy efficient are included.

The homes selected for intervention were failing the previous Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) and were located within a rural area; resulting in additional travel spend to allow householders to access vital amenities which further exacerbated the difficulties tenants faced in heating their homes.