Deddington and Duns Tew Heat Pump Trial

A pioneering zero carbon energy system trial in Deddington and Duns Tew

The trial is now closed to new participants. If you’ve registered for the trial, then we’ll be in touch to talk through next stages.

Project LEO (Local Energy Oxfordshire) is conducting a Smart and Fair Neighbourhood Trial in Deddington and Duns Tew, focused on how to enable a zero carbon energy future for rural communities which are fully or partly off-grid. The trial is in partnership with local low carbon community groups Deddington Environment Network and Sustainable Duns Tew, as well as Cosy Homes Oxfordshire’s home retrofit service.

The trial includes exploring how heat pumps can be used to decarbonise heating in homes in rural communities, and we’re looking for local people to take part. The deadline for signing up is 31 January 2022.

To take part, you need to:

Already have a heat pump installed in your home (either Grant or Saumsung unit)
Want to install a heat pump by June 2022
Agree for us to monitor and test your use of the heat pump through to June 2023

The first step is to register your interest in the trial. We’ll then send you further information about the trial, the benefits of being involved – including financial incentives, and the process for taking part. If you’re still interested, we’ll send you an official sign up form to become a trial participant, and get you started on the installation process with a free home assessment and Whole House Plan from our delivery partners, Cosy Homes Oxfordshire.

What are the benefits of taking part in the trial?

Joining the trial means you are part of a ground-breaking trial exploring how off-gas rural areas can be decarbonised, and how the communities living in those areas can benefit from this decarbonisation of the energy system.

You’ll be part of a group of like-minded homeowners in your local community, and you’ll be helping your wider community to tackle climate change.

Alongside this, by being part of the trial you will access:

A free home assessment and whole house plan from Cosy Homes Oxfordshire (worth approx. £350), with expert support to determine which kind of heat pump is suitable for your home and identify any other energy improvements which would cut the carbon emissions of your home.
If you choose to go ahead with the trial and install a heat pump for your home, we’ll cover the cost of Cosy Homes Oxfordshire’s project management service (typically up to £750) and you’ll access their approved contractors to do the installation.
By installing a heat pump by March 2022, you may be eligible for the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). The Cosy Homes team can help with your application.
Additional communications and monitoring equipment for your heat pump, and training on how to use this to increase your control of the heat pump and your home heating. This will prepare you to benefit from the changing energy system. This may also unlock an additional one off payment from the RHI as part of the monitoring and maintenance service package (MMSP). This starts from £800.
A £300 compensation payment, to simulate the revenue which homeowners may be able to earn from providing flexibility to the electricity grid in the future energy system we’re trialling.
Insider knowledge, as we’ll keep you informed and updated throughout the trial period about our trials and our findings from them, and their implications for the smart, local, zero carbon energy system of the future.

What is the process?

If you don’t currently have a heat pump:

Sign up to the trial using this form.
If you’d like to use the Cosy Homes service, you need to register your home with the Plan Builder and they’ll get you booked in for your home assessment
You go through the normal Cosy Homes Oxfordshire process to install your heat pump (home assessment, Whole House Plan, Contractor visits and quotes, installation) –
If you want to install the heat pump yourself, that’s absolutely fine. Just get in touch to talk about the technical requirements to still be part of the trial.
At the appropriate point in the heat pump installation, our project team will also install communications and monitoring equipment to enable us to access data from your heat pump. If you already have a heat pump, we’ll skip to this stage.
Once installation is complete, we make the £300 compensation payment to you.
From then on, we monitor and test your heat pump use in the trial. You’ll always be made aware of any testing plans, and it will never impact your home comfort.
We’ll keep you informed periodically about how your heat pump is contributing to the trial – as well as the others participating from your community.
At the end of the trial period in June 2023, we’ll end the trial and ask for your feedback.

If you already have a heat pump (either Grant or Samsung) installed in your home, please get in touch to discuss the next steps.

Have a question?

If you have a question about participating in this trial please email us on info@lowcarbonhub.org or call us on 01865 246 099, and a member of the team will be in touch to help answer your query.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Project LEO?

Project LEO –Local Energy Oxfordshire –is a series of trials seeking to accelerate the UK’s transition to a decentralised, zero carbonenergy system. If we are to meet climate change targets, we’re going to have to change the way we use, store, and generate energy –and Project LEO is exploring different potential ways of doing this in a green and fair way.

This heat pump trial is part of a wider series of trials called ‘Smart and Fair Neighbourhood Trials’ being run by Project LEO and the Low Carbon Hub –aiming to put communities at the heart of the transition to a zero carbon energy system, looking at different ways they can participate in and benefit from the energy system of the future.

Who else is involved?

The project is part-funded by Innovate UK until 2023, and is a collaborative project involving: Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks, Low Carbon Hub, University of Oxford,Oxford Brookes University, EDF energy, Piclo, Oxfordshire County Council, Nuvve, Oxford City Council, Origami.

On this specific trial, the Low Carbon Hub are taking the lead, working closely with Deddington Environment Network and Sustainable Duns Tew. We are also working in partnership with Cosy Homes Oxfordshire, a home retrofit service part-run by the Low Carbon Hub which will support the trial with assessing our participants’ homes and installing the heat pumps.

The Low Carbon Hub is a social enterprise out to prove we can meet our energy needs in a way that’s good for people and good for the planet –developing community-owned renewable installations and reducing energy demand too.

Data protection

All data will be stored by the Low Carbon Hub in accordance to GDPR regulation –and removed when the trial concludes in June 2023. This is outlined in full detail on the consent form, which is signed when you become a trial participant. You can also read our Low Carbon Hub privacy statement at: https://www.lowcarbonhub.org/privacy-statement/