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Barratt Redrow has teamed-up with British Gas to deliver homes with free energy to a new development in Grantham as the first step of a wider partnership roll-out over the coming year.

The trial at the Pastures Place development will see 10 homeowners pay no energy bills on their homes for two years in return for sharing data on the use of their home’s eco technology and their home in use. The data will enable the builder and the energy company to understand how consumers adapt to living in a home with renewable energy.

The homes’ eco technology will be provided by Hive, whose Intelligent Energy Management system uses software to control smart devices that are connected to the grid. This will optimise customers’ air source heat pumps, maximum-fit solar panels and batteries, smart sensors and lights. It is designed to help ensure more of a home’s energy needs are met from the energy generated from a home and use more energy when the grid is quieter and can deliver cheaper energy.

Homeowners won’t pay electricity bills for heating, hot water, lighting, cooking and household appliances for two years, saving them an estimated  £105 per month, on average. The deal doesn’t include electrical car charging and also carries a fair usage agreement of 5,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) in total over the year.

If a home generates more electricity than a consumer uses, they can, after the two-year trial, sell the extra energy through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). Homeowners should continue to see low bills, with those generating more electricity than they use achieving zero bills or even earning money.

The data from the trial homes will also be analysed by researchers at the University of Salford, home of the Energy House 2.0 climate chamber where Barratt Redrow has for the past two years been researching technologies in its net zero carbon concept house.

Oliver Novakovic, head of technical & innovation at Barratt Redrow, said: “The partnership will see Barratt Redrow and British Gas test a template for delivering low to no bill homes at scale. The trial of free energy bill homes at Corby Glen is an important step forward from the concept homes that we have built at the University of Salford to delivering the learnings into customers’ homes. We are designing and delivering innovative, energy efficient, low carbon homes that enable customers to live comfortably with advanced fabric and heating technology, so that they can gain the benefits of both lower bills.”

Hamish Phillips, net zero business development director at Centrica, which owns British Gas and Hive, added: “We understand the meaningful difference that smart home solutions can make – not only helping customers save money, but also supporting their ambitions to live more sustainably. Our partnership with Barratt Redrow is a strong example of how the right eco-tech empowers people to take control of their energy use and get even more from their homes.”

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