Fully Electric Home: Transforming a 1930s House

⚡ Fully Electric Home: Transforming a 1930s House

To help support the launch of the Sheffield Energy Hub I was asked to write a short blog post about my own renewable journey from nothing, to a fully electric home.

I was delighted to be asked and excited to share what we have managed to achieve since 2018 in our regular 1930s 3 bed semi detached house in Sheffield.

So I started penning a summary of my thoughts and jotted some key points down in rough draft before throwing the whole lot at ChatGPT asking it to also pull in facts from my Energy Stats website.

After a little tidying up, the result of that AI intervention is displayed below.

🌱 Sheffield Energy Hub

Sheffield Energy Hub – a city-centre space dedicated to helping people make the transition to cleaner, more energy-efficient homes and buildings.

Lots of local companies including IMS Heat Pumps have helped prepare the hub for launch and are supporting it moving forward.

The Hub will provide free, independent advice on:
✔️ Energy efficiency and retrofit options
✔️ Renewable technologies – including heat pumps
✔️ Grant support and green skills training
✔️ Real-world examples of low-carbon solutions in action

If you’re in Sheffield and interested in how to lower energy bills, reduce carbon emissions, or explore renewable heating for your home or business – make sure to visit.

They are located at 30 Cambridge Street in Sheffield city centre, where the old John Lewis toy shop was, for those old enough to remember that.  And close to Leah’s Yard.

Opening times are Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm and they are closed Sunday and Monday.

They can also be followed on their own Facebook Page.

✏️ Introduction

In the hills of Loxley, Sheffield, Mick Wall has spent the last several years transforming his 1930s 3 bedroom semi-detached home into a model of low-carbon living and a fully electric home.

What began in 2018 with a solar panel installation has grown into a fully electrified household—gas-free since early 2024—and a shining example of how even older homes can successfully decarbonise.

He has taken to documenting the journey and back this up with transparent real world statistics for others to use and digest.

🏠 A Step-by-Step Transition

Mick’s renewable journey began with the installation of a 5.1 kW rooftop solar PV array, paired with a 3.68 kW SolarEdge inverter. Over time, he gradually added components to expand the energy capabilities of his home:

• Battery storage: Growing to five 3.2 kWh Hanchu batteries (16 kWh total) via a Lux AC 3600 inverter
  
• EV charging: Myenergi Zappi smart charger, solar-aware and time-of-use optimised
  
• Hot water: 250 Litre Mixergy smart cylinder with heat pump kit and solar integration
• Solar diverter: Myenergi Eddi, directing surplus solar to heat water
  
• Heating system: 5 kW Vaillant Arotherm air-source heat pump (installed Oct 2022)
• Laundry: Replacing an old condenser model with a heat pump tumble dryer

The final step was replacing the gas cooker with an induction hob, making the home completely gas-free. The gas meter was formally removed by Octopus Energy in February 2024, marking the completion of Mick’s transition.

🔥 Heat Pump Performance in a 1930s Home

The heat pump installation was designed and installed by Damon Blakemore of Blakemore Plumbing, Heating and Renewables, an award winning local specialist in low-carbon heating. Despite common concerns about heat pumps in older homes, Mick’s system performs exceptionally well.

In 2024 alone, it delivered 11,559 kWh of heat output using just 2,735 kWh of electricity, achieving a seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) of 4.23—a standout result for a UK air-source system. This performance is not just theory; the system is fully monitored with a billing-grade Open Energy Monitor setup, providing transparency and accountability.

You can explore the day to day data from his heat pump yourself via his own personal Open Energy Monitor public dashboard.

His heat pump also features the on Open Energy Monitor HeatpumpMonitor.org table with hundreds of other heat pumps around the UK.

Mick and his family also reported significantly improved comfort and temperature consistency compared to the previous gas combi boiler.

And the heat pump had no problem heating the home when it hit a low of -5.6C outside in January 2025.

💧 Mixergy Cylinder: Smarter Hot Water

His 250 litre Mixergy cylinder is fitted with a heat pump interface including a plate heat exchanger and smart controls. This setup has yielded an average efficiency across the whole of 2024 of over 380% for hot water. 

It also provides enough hot water to keep the family of four happy, including two teenagers.

🚗 Smart Tariff Savvy

Mick makes full use of Octopus Energy’s time-of-use tariffs.

In 2024, he’s on Intelligent Go, which enables cheap overnight EV charging and flexible usage. He has also previously experimented with Octopus Agile, a dynamic tariff that prices electricity every 30 minutes.

For solar exports, Mick benefits from the Octopus Outgoing tariff, having switched from deemed export to metered export in 2024 to improve returns and take part in savings sessions and other grid flexibility events.

🔍 Energy Stats UK: Sharing the Journey

In 2019, Mick founded Energy Stats UK to track smart tariff pricing of Octopus Energy time of use tariffs, but the site has since evolved into a valuable resource for homeowners and energy enthusiasts.

His blog includes:

• Solar performance records (2018–present)
• Heat pump performance breakdowns (2022–present)
• Full installation details of his 5kW Vaillant Heat Pump

You can explore a substantial amount of articles in the Blog Post section of the website.

He has also appeared on leading podcasts, including:

🎙️ Heatio Home Energy Show (2024) – Solar, heat pumps, tariffs

 🎙️ BetaTalk: The Low Carbon Heating Podcast (May 2025) – EVs, data-driven control systems, home optimisation

🎙️ Gary Does Solar YouTube Channel (2025) – discussing Energy Stats UK

🎙️ The Renewable Heating Hub Homeowner Podcast (2025) – Solar, batteries and heat pumps

🎙️ And even appeared on the BBC News website in 2023 featuring in an article called “Heat Pumps: The geeks obsessing over their new heating systems”.

✅ Equipment Summary from our Fully Electric Home

🌍 Inspiration for Sheffield and Beyond

Mick Wall’s home proves that with thoughtful planning and reliable data, even century-old homes in Sheffield can be modernised to run fully on electricity—reducing both emissions and running costs.

His transparent reporting, commitment to smart technology, and community contributions via Energy Stats UK make him a standout figure in the UK’s domestic energy transition.

He’s driven to provide real world facts and figures to dispel myths and prove this technology can work for everyone.

Whether you’re a homeowner, installer, or policymaker, Mick’s journey offers a replicable model—and a clear message: heat pumps do work in older homes when designed and installed correctly.