How Brian matched renewable tech with smart tariff to slash his energy bills

Brian didn’t start with a heat pump. After switching to an EV, he improved his home step by step. His main goal wasn’t quick savings. He wanted to cut carbon, improve comfort and future‑proof his home.

“I wanted to get a heat pump after the EV,” Brian explains. “But it took me so long to find the right installer, so I went for solar panels first – because that was easier to find someone.”

Brian got a battery at the same time because he “liked the idea of having one” to make the most of the electricity generated by his solar panels.

And while this has saved money, it was the climate emergency that drove Brian’s renewable technology journey: “it’s the knowledge that I’m doing what I think needs to be done.”

The solar panel installation was quick and straightforward. Brian says it took “a couple of days”, once everything had been booked in.

“I installed a very big solar array – partly because I knew I was getting a heat pump and had the electric car. So, I knew there was plenty of electricity to be saved. Plus, bungalows have big roofs!”

With the solar panel (plus battery) installed, it was onto the heat pump. However, that process was slightly more complex.

Planning permission also affected the timeline. Brian explains that “the site for the heat pump technically didn’t meet the noise constraints,” but he got permission and now, in the house, “it’s not louder than the boiler was.”

Onto the installation itself: it was supposed to be three days. But it ended up taking a bit longer because “some of the bits didn’t arrive when they were supposed to.”

Brian says: “there was no problem with the installation, it just took longer than planned.”

Following installation, there was a brief handover: “the installer set it up appropriately and they did talk about how it should be run.” But with his expertise, Brian was able to tailor it even more for his home.

It’s an important step: when working with an installer, you should make sure the heat pump system is designed to meet your needs. It’s not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

Brian’s heat pump was installed during the coldest week of the year. “The heat pump was trying to heat up a freezing cold house in freezing cold weather,” Brian says.

“It did take a couple of days to be honest, but our house is like that. It takes a long time to heat up and a long time to cool down. Even with gas heating, it would be the same.”

Brian gives an example of coming back from holiday: “you don’t turn the heating on an hour before you get home from holiday. You can turn it on a day before you get home.”

But once things were up to temperature, Brian noticed the difference straight away. The heat feels even and steady: “It really is constant and more comfortable than the gas boiler. I’ve got to an age where I enjoy a warm home – I think it’s about 21° C in the warmer rooms for me now.”

“The house is warm all day, too. You’re not trying to work out whether to turn the heating on or off during the day and whether to just keep the house warm. It just is.”

Brian says that comfort has been one of the biggest things he’s noticed with the heat pump. His house stays warm all day without having to constantly adjust timers or controls. It feels consistently warm rather than heating up and cooling down.

Plus, by running an integrated electric home and choosing the right tariff, Brian is making huge savings on energy bills.

Brian says: “my bills before were something like £230 a month for energy in total. Now I’m paying around £70 a month, which includes the heat pump annual service charge and running my car.

“What I’m spending on actual energy for the house is probably somewhere between nothing and £30 a month.”

While his electric car might need the occasional top up on the road, Brian is still saving almost £2,000 a year on his bills.

But the benefits aren’t just financial. Brian now has a future-proof home. As he says, “it’s going to happen. Why not do it now and get more benefit from it?”

The important thing Brian says is to “think long term.” Heat pumps are “long-term investments in your home.”

Knowing why you want a heat pump is important, too. This will help when it comes to designing your system and how you’ll run it.

And what about switching from a gas boiler (which many of us know) to a new way of heating your home?

Brian says: “I’d heard of the benefit of people enjoying the constant heat from a heat pump. And I thought you can get that by gas boiler anyway.

“But now I’ve got it, I know what they mean. It is more comfortable. I didn’t think I needed to change, but now I’ve got it I think: it’s a real benefit, not a made-up one.”

If you’re thinking of making the switch, here are three guides to read before you do:

• solar panel installation guide
• heat pump installation guide
• battery storage

Absolutely. By switching to an integrated electric home, Brian now has:

• a warmer, zero-carbon home
• lower energy bills
• technology that works with his lifestyle

It’s important to remember: there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to heat pumps. But something crucial to making it an affordable option for many is choosing the right tariff. Here are Brian’s key points on finding the right electricity tariff.

I’m on a three-level heat pump tariff* and a fixed Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) for export. I chose the heat pump tariff because it’s well suited to a heat pump / battery combination. Then I got the SEG from the same company, because you get a better rate if you use the same company for both.

What is a ‘three-level heat pump tariff’?

*A ‘three-level heat pump tariff’ is a time of use (TOU) tariff that offers three super off-peak windows of cheap electricity daily (usually early morning, afternoon and late evening). You can use this to charge a battery when electricity is cheap. You can then use this stored energy to power your home (and heat pump) for less during peak hours where electricity is more expensive. It’s also called a ‘three-rate tariff.’

I set the battery to charge up during off-peak periods and to discharge during peak periods. In between times, it charges up if there’s surplus generation from my solar panels.

Yes. This happens anyway, given how I’ve set the battery to charge and discharge.

Yes, especially if you’ve got a heat pump or a particularly high electricity use for some other reason.

It does sound complicated, but if you look at our guide to choosing a TOU tariff, you can read the advice that matches your technology set-up and ignore the rest. Then ask your installer for help in setting up the system controls to make the most of the tariff you have.

I wish we’d written this report a couple of years earlier! Before that I was pretty much guessing which was the best tariff combination for me.

Brian’s story shows that it’s possible to save significant money on energy bills with a heat pump. But one thing we hear a lot is: “I’m not getting the savings I expected after switching to a heat pump.” That can happen, but it’s often due to some things that you can fix by:

• Choosing the right tariff
• Getting your heat pump installed correctly
• Making sure your heat pump is set up to suit your needs
• Combining a heat pump with solar panels and batteries if you can

With the right tariff, a heat pump could pay for itself within two to four years.

Find out more about more about what really cuts energy bills.