This is a Grade II listed farmhouse which we refurbished and extended into adjacent barns in 2003.

We installed a Water Furnace heat pump as the main heat source, with a back boiler in the lounge stove connected into the same thermal store that the heat pump supplied. This provided a back-up in the event of a power cut - the pumps and controls for the heating system were backed up to a small petrol generator and the back boiler provided sufficient heat to keep the property habitable even during prolonged periods without mains electricity.

Rather than extract heat from the ground, we gathered a number of small springs from around the property and used these to supply water to the heat pump - increasing the efficiency of the system efficiency by a considerable factor.

Installing a heat pump into such an old property is not normally viable, but because the property underwent extensive refurbishment we were able to incorporate a reasonable amount of insulation and install underfloor heating - which is the most efficient way to distribute the low-temperature heat that such a system provides.

Farmhouse refurbishment - before...

...and after

Farmhouse refurbishment - internal photos