What are the best ways to heat and cool my property?

The short answer is that the best way to heat and cool your property is with highly renewable electricity, and that is best achieved by running your heating and cooling during the daytime. This is because that is when wind and solar generation is highest, on average.

That said, the best way for you to achieve that depends on the thermal stability of your building (i.e. whether the temperature stays constant or changes rapidly). Depending on this answer, you may need different heating or cooling solutions that are either:

  • energy efficient, or
  • energy flexible.

If you have a thermally stable building then the best choice is to install an RCAC (Reverse Cycle Air Conditioner). RCACs can both heat and cool, and are extremely energy efficient. Also, if your home is thermally stable then you should be able to use them to pre-heat and pre-cool your building during the daytime, and keep that temperature for several hours without much loss.

If you do not have a thermally stable building and cannot improve the thermal stability by draught proofing or installing insulation, then the next best choice is to install a storage heater. Storage heaters are not energy efficient but they are extremely energy flexible, because they are designed to charge and discharge at different times by storing heat for later release. So with a storage heater you could power it on affordable renewable energy during the daytime, and release the heat later in the evening at the moment you need it.

We can help you organise both of these solutions, as we sell both storage heaters and smart remote controls that enable you to program old RCACs from your phone.