Micro-CHP case study

Terry, his wife and their son live in a detached, four year old house in Preston.  They were among the first to have a Baxi Ecogen installed in November 2006 and the unit is being monitored by the Carbon Trust to measure its energy efficiency, electrical generation and carbon savings.

The unit was installed in the garage by a local registered gas installer.  "The installation took about two days and was very similar to a standard boiler installation.  The difference is that a qualified electrician was needed to do the electrical connections" says Terry. 

"I have always shopped around to get the best deal from my energy supplier, so I chose a provider that would buy back the extra electricity we generate and don't use.  We saw financial benefits as soon as the unit was installed. 

"We keep the engine in the boiler running as long as possible so the Ecogen is constantly generating electricity.  During the day, when there is no-one at home to use the power, we set the timer on the boiler to heat the water in our cylinder.  While the boiler is heating the water, it is also generating electricity.  This means we are running the fridge and freezer etc for nothing, and the electricity that is not used is sold back to the grid.

"Then in the evening, when we have the heating on, we generate our evening's electricity.  The boiler modulates so that even when the water and heating get near to the set temperatures, it turns itself right down, rather than off, so it carries on generating electricity.

"It's just like living with a conventional boiler, really, except we have our own power station in the garage, and we get paid for the electricity we don't use ourselves", adds Terry.

Since May 2008, when Terry's Baxi Ecogen started being monitored by the Carbon Trust, it has generated 1238kWh electricity, after the electricity it uses to run the pump, fan and controls is taken into consideration, and returned 644kWh back to the grid.