Clare Naylor and her family have moved from watching every kilowatt-hour to effectively insulating themselves from volatile energy prices. The Naylors’ four-bedroom home in Milton Keynes has been fitted with solar panels, a battery storage system and a heat pump, changes the family say mean they will not receive an energy bill this year.
Last winter, Clare Naylor closely monitored household consumption, filling hot-water bottles and bringing out extra blankets to keep usage — and costs — down. With the new installations in place, the family says those measures are no longer necessary, because the home now generates and stores much of its own electricity and uses a heat pump for heating.
The changes come as millions of British households face higher energy costs: the domestic price cap rose by 4% from today, according to industry announcements, and some forecasters predict a further rise of about 16% in January. Those moves have pushed interest in home energy upgrades into the spotlight as consumers look for ways to reduce exposure to bill increases.
While the Naylors’ experience highlights the potential of solar, storage and heat-pump technology to cut bills, such retrofits typically involve an upfront investment and may not be practical for all households. Policymakers and industry groups have pointed to a range of measures — from insulation to low-carbon heating — that homeowners and landlords can consider to manage future energy costs, but access and affordability remain significant barriers for many.
The Naylor household represents one example of how individual homeowners are responding to rising prices by adopting generation and storage technologies. Whether that approach becomes widely achievable for the wider population will depend on factors including installation costs, incentives, and the availability of skilled installers, as well as broader movements in wholesale energy prices and regulatory policy.