Sun is shining bright on Portglenone home

THE WEATHER in the borough might not have been very sunny this summer but things are a lot sunnier now for one householder from Portglenone.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Sep 2010, 11:34 BST
Updated 13th Sep 2010, 15:24 BST

Patsy McPeake has installed a solar water heating system on the South facing roof of his home with a little help from the Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) SMART Programme.

The solar panels will contribute to Mr McPeake’s household hot water requirements helping to reduce not only the household’s heating bill but also its carbon footprint. The solar panels were funded through the NIE SMART Programme which has continued to support solar water heating in Northern Ireland following the closure of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme at the end of May 2010. The scheme offers householders a grant of 400 towards the cost of a solar water heating system. Terms and conditions do apply but please log on to www.nie-yourenergy.co.uk for more details.

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Mr McPeake says, “We installed the solar water heating system mainly to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for our hot water needs and to make our home more sustainable. Thanks to the solar panels we are not only making considerable savings on our heating bill but it feels good to be embracing a renewable ‘clean’ energy. The grant support available from the NIE SMART programme certainly gave us the incentive to install the solar panels and we were very pleased with how quick and easy they were to install.”

Jemma Geary, from NIE Energy, visited Mr McPeake’s home this week to see the solar panels in action. She is delighted that the support from the NIE SMART Programme is helping local homeowners to install renewable energy technologies.

She said: “I am really pleased to see homeowners incorporating renewable energy technologies in their homes. A solar water heating system is capable of providing up to 60% of a household’s hot water needs every year, so significant savings can be made on heating bills. We hope that this example in Portglenone will encourage more homeowners to recognise the economic and environmental benefits of using renewable energy and to take advantage of the grant support available from the SMART Programme. ”

To find out more about saving energy and renewable energy solutions for your home, school or business check out the NIE Energy website www.nie-yourenergy.co.uk. The NIE SMART Programme is funded by Northern Ireland Electricity and managed by NIE Energy.

Related topics:Weather