Mulberry House, East Grinstead Ordered in 2004 and completed in August 2006 after many battles with UK building “experts”, Mulberry House was one of GreenTec’s first installations – indeed, it was one of the very first houses in the country to have a Ground Source Heat Pump installed. Throughout the planning and design stage discussions, we were helped and supported – both on-site and on visits to Sweden - by the Swedish Heat Pump manufacturer, NIBE. Built on the site of an old farmhouse with gorgeous views across the countryside, Mulberry House covers 850M 2 over 3 floors. Its 6 bedrooms are all en-suite; the basement has an indoor pool, along with a spa, gym, shower room and sauna. Originally to be heated by an oil-burning boiler, GreenTec were late on the scene. Owners Nick and Maddie were impressed by GreenTec’s ecologically-sound proposals, but were concerned that the technologies involved were labelled as unproven. Research by Nick quickly established that 90% of houses in Sweden utilise Heat Pumps. The clinching argument was the estimate for annual oil costs of £8-10,000, compared to expected Heat Pump electricity bills of £2-2,500; the payback period for the extra cost of the Heat Pump system would be less than 3 years - and the system included whole-house ventilation and cooling for the gym! |
Mulberry House's GreenTec System
Heating: The 34kW NIBE Ground Source Heat Pump is connected up to 2.6Km of ground loop buried 1.2M underground. It provides all the domestic hot water (using 2 x 700ltr tanks), Under Floor Heating to all 3 floors, plus heating the pool, spa and pool air. The ventilation system extracts stale air from wet areas – kitchens, bathrooms and the pool – which is replaced by fresh, filtered air fed into the living areas. In colder weather, the incoming air is warmed by heat recovered from the outgoing stale air (Heat Recovery Ventilation), further adding to energy efficiency.
Cooling: As the outside temperature rises, the GreenTec System initially turns off the Under Floor Heating and the Heat Recovery Ventilation. If the temperature in the house continues to rise, the system directs cold Ground Loop fluid to cool incoming air; the same system cools the indoor gymnasium.
Environment: Mulberry House costs approximately 25% of the annual cost expected from an oil-burning installation – plus there are no local CO 2 emissions.
Remote Access enables monitoring and adjustment of the system over the Internet – a facility that enables rapid diagnosis and rectification of problems, without the need for the owners to wait for an Engineer to visit the site.
Did the GreenTec System deliver? Emphatically YES – Nick and Maddie tell us that their running costs in Year 1 were £1,780, and in Year 2 £1,550.
“Mulberry House – a stunning home in beautiful surroundings, superbly equipped and with a healthy living environment. All achieved with a minimal carbon footprint and with very low running costs.”