Steve Hunt, 42, a pilot, and his partner Kate live in a three-bedroom house in West Sussex without a single energy bill. They live in the first of one of Octopus’s new Zero Bill homes. Here, Hunt shares the downsides and the upsides of life without a boiler
It felt like something we might need to do soon. The Government has made noises about banning gas boilers altogether, so we didn’t want to buy a home and then have to throw away a brand new boiler. I thought it made sense to look for homes which we could easily add a heat pump, allowing us to use the latest government grant that covers the cost.
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Rising bills have been a concern for some time. In 2023, when bills went crazy, it created a lot of worry for me for the first time. As a pilot, I’m away from the house a lot, but still, our bills were averaging about £150 a month for a three-bedroom house. That was working out at £1,800 a year.
Steve Hunt outside his new zero bills home in West Sussex (Photo: Nikki Goodeve)
We bought the house in September for £565,000. We were the first people to move on to the housing development, which was very weird at first. But the major drawback was the price. We definitely paid a premium for the house. We were essentially paying up front for the cost of all the equipment that goes into the house to make zero bills possible, which was more than we planned to pay but it’s a worthwhile investment. Our solar panels, for example, are fully integrated into the house, and all their wiring is already set up.
As time goes on, and heat pumps become more popular, I think it will be a very big selling point when the house goes back on the market. But right now, the market price is definitely more expensive because the house has all this equipment. In five to 10 years, it should pay for itself.
At the moment, we have a contract with our energy tariff provider that promises our bills will be zero for five years. They still control our battery storage from the national grid. After our contract is up, they will decide if they want to carry on with our zero tariff. But even if we go to a non-zero bill tariff, it would still be very economical compared to what we were paying before.
The best thing is that I know we will have no variability in our bills. It doesn’t matter what happens in the world. For the next five years, it will cost nothing.
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