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Originally from Germany, Jens and Wencke Kirschner have brought their energy efficiency
ideals to Cambridge, where they have lived for the past
three years. The young couple
moved into their new-build home just 18 months ago and decided to install the combined
solar heating and hot water system at the earliest opportunity.
The couple’s eagerness to embrace solar heating technology isn’t a great surprise considering both Jens’ and Wencke’s parents installed solar panels back in Germany nearly twenty years ago.
“We always said we’d like a house with a similar system,” explains Jens, who goes on to say they would also like to incorporate a ground source heat pump in their energy saving approach in the future. “Theoretically it is possible to have a house that completely heats and produces electricity by itself. You can have solar powered electricity, powering the ground source heat pump. That’s what we would really
love at some point.”
The couple live in a modern mid-terrace, three-storey property on a new development to the north of the picturesque university city and despite having a house with limited roof space, there is definite scope for more solar panels.
“The number of tubes you have is basically calculated on the size of cylinder you can fit in your home,” continues Jens. “The size of our roof didn’t really matter even though it is quite narrow – there is still plenty of space left for more panels. If we had a large family in the future we would need a larger cylinder and this in turn would require more solar tubes.”
With energy preservation at the top of their agenda, the Kirschners believe the £9000 financial investment into their home will reap rewards in the future. “It’s difficult to accurately say just how much we’ve saved so far as we hadn’t lived in this house for very long before we had the solar panels installed. Saying that, we didn’t use the gas at all for about 5 months over the summer – the solar was more than adequate to heat our hot water.”
Jens and Wencke both agree their decision to use the solar energy in their home was about more than just “hard figures” and the pair are committed to reducing their energy consumption. “There is definitely the desire to do something beneficial,” they agree. “It does save on energy and that has to be worth something. If it also increases the value of the house by a few grand then that makes financial sense in any case.”
Meet Mr & Mrs Kirschener in Cambridge
Type of installation: Solar Heating
