Yorkshire Housing has given a warm welcome to Ambion, using our infrared heat panels as part of a £200,000 trial to embrace innovative heating solutions.
With Yorkshire Housing aiming to enhance all of its housing stock to an EPC band C by 2030, ahead of achieving net zero by 2050, this project is a vital step forward for the social landlord. Its commitment to using innovative tech to go green and improve the customer experience means Yorkshire Housing made the decision to replace electric panel heaters in 30 of its flats with Ambion’s low carbon heat panels.
The previous systems were bulky, inefficient and expensive to run. In contrast, Ambion’s solution is discreet, efficient and cost-effective, and ideally suited to smaller homes and multi-occupancy buildings.
Bob Spedding, Head of Asset Strategy at Yorkshire Housing, said: “Our 16,500 homes across Yorkshire produce around 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year and we plan to get that number to zero by 2050. To help us do that, we’re investing £30 million over the next five years in an extensive programme of energy efficiency and heating system upgrades.”
The £200,000 trial with Ambion is the first stage in what’s anticipated to be a wider rollout to more of Yorkshire Housing’s homes.
Bob continues: “We own and manage lots of different types of properties, from small flats in towns and cities, to large family homes in rural village locations, and when it comes to finding the right heating solutions there’s no ‘one size fits all’. That’s why we’re very open-minded and keen to explore all sorts of new and emerging technologies that will reduce the carbon footprint of our properties and make them warmer, healthier and more affordable for our customers.”
Heating the heart of homes
Ambion’s low carbon heat panels use constant dynamic pulsing technology to lower energy usage for residents and maintain a room’s temperature within 0.1oC of its target. The panels heat the fabric of a room, rather than the surrounding air, which can then escape through windows and doors. Instead, the home’s building materials absorb this infrared, before releasing this heat while the system is ‘pulsed off’. This keeps the room at the desired temperature at all times.
Daniel Jowett, Electrical Team Leader at Yorkshire Housing, explains: “Each individual room can be set to a different temperature, and can be controlled at different times. The low carbon heat panels from Ambion should bring all our customers’ bills down. Furthermore, because the panels heat the fabric of the building, there’s the added bonus that we can reduce damp and mould in the properties, which is a big problem for the social housing sector as a whole at the moment.”
Commenting on how the new infrared panels compare with previous systems, resident Susan Crome said: “The other heaters were very small and you didn’t get much heat from them, unlike Ambion’s heat panels.”
Meanwhile, another resident, Eddie Figura, commented: “They’re elegant and quite discreet. Yes, there’s still a panel, but they’re almost embedded within the wall. You forget they are there.”
Cost-effective comfort
The project covers two mid-rise blocks of 30 flats in total, which are a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes. Built in 2000, the mid-rise blocks offer residents affordable housing – and now affordable heating too. Residents can enjoy warm and comfortable homes, with a typical running cost of £45.78 a month for a two-bed flat.
Emma Norfolk, Sustainability Liaison Officer at Yorkshire Housing, added: “Ambion has been really helpful every step of the way; everything from the installation to data monitoring. The experience with the team has been so positive. They’ve placed importance on both the customer experience and the hard data, which has been particularly refreshing.”
It’s also worth noting that Ambion’s work with Yorkshire Housing was shortlisted in the 2024 Housing Digital Innovation Awards, in the category of ‘Most Innovative Retrofit or Refurbishment Scheme’.
Daniel Jowett added: “We’re looking at rolling out Ambion’s low carbon heat panels to more Yorkshire Housing properties as we go forward. With what we’ve seen so far, I would absolutely recommend them to other housing associations.”
A shared vision for homes
Commenting on the trial’s success, Oliver Baker, Chief Executive at Ambion, said: “We’re delighted to have worked with the Yorkshire Housing team on this project and share their vision of delivering net zero, with homes which are warmer, healthier and more affordable. Yorkshire Housing is to be applauded for pushing ahead with new technologies, and we’re thrilled to be working with them to improve the environment and the lives of people living in their homes.”