From foundations to lifetime service
One build. One chance to get the whole system right.
A new build is the one point in a home’s life where nothing has to be worked around. The ground array can go in before the landscaping. The underfloor heating can be designed into the slab. Solar, battery and MVHR can be specified alongside the electrics, not retrofitted after the fact. We work with self-builders, architects and their contractors on private projects, not housing estates.
Designing whole-house systems
Since 2009
Ground and air source
Specialists
Accreditation
MCS | RECC
We specify
Maxa & Ecoforest
Why This is Different
Volume housebuilders fit whatever hits the compliance number. A one-off build deserves better than that.
Developer housing gets its heating specified for cost and Part L compliance at scale: the same package repeated across a hundred plots, chosen because it’s cheap to buy in bulk, not because it’s right for any single house. That’s a reasonable approach for a housing estate. It’s the wrong approach for a project you’re building once, to live in for decades.
A private self-build or architect-led project can do something a developer never will: treat the heating, hot water, ventilation and energy system as part of the building’s design, not an afterthought bought once the walls are up. We work directly with self-builders and their architects, usually from design stage onward, so the system is sized against the building’s actual specification rather than a generic new-build assumption.
The Technology
Every system we design and install.
Every retrofit is different, so we don’t start from a fixed product list, we start from the survey. Depending on what the home and site allow, a retrofit can draw on any combination of the following, specified to work as one system.
01
Air source heat pumps
The right call where land is more limited, sized against the building’s actual heat loss.
02
Ground source heat pumps
Where garden or land allows, often the strongest fit for a new build, since the array can go in before landscaping.
03
Underfloor heating
Designed into the slab from the outset, avoiding almost every complication that makes retrofitting it difficult.
04
Solar PV
Specified alongside the roof design itself, not added afterwards.
05
Battery storage
Sized against the home’s expected usage from the start.
06
Smart-tariff integration
Controls specified alongside the electrical design.
07
MVHR
Increasingly necessary as new builds are built more airtight; ventilation designed in properly rather than left to trickle vents.
08
EV charging
Part of the same energy system from day one.
09
Hot water
Designed as part of the whole system, not a separate cylinder decision made late.
Timed To Your Build Programme
Getting a system into a new build well means being involved at the right point.
Not just the point most installers wait for. We coordinate directly with architects and main contractors on this timing, rather than arriving once the building’s finished.
Before Groundworks
Ground array position agreed before landscaping starts, so it isn't disrupting a finished garden later.
Before Screed
Underfloor heating pipework needs to be down and pressure-tested before the screed goes on.
First Fix
Electrical containment for controls and monitoring is easiest to route during first fix, not after plasterboard's up.
Comission
System tuned and tested once the build's watertight and services are live.
How We Apprach It
Designed in, not retrofitted.
The renewable source
Sized from the building's actual specification and heat loss calculation, agreed with your architect before groundworks begin, not assumed from a generic new-build figure.
What the system delivers
Heating, hot water, and increasingly cooling and ventilation, engineered into the building's services from the start rather than bolted on once construction's underway.
How energy meets the room
Underfloor heating designed into the slab, not retrofitted around existing pipework. The single biggest advantage of doing the design work at new build stage.
The intelligence that ties it together
Controls, monitoring and smart-tariff integration specified alongside the electrical design, so the system runs as one thing from day one.
The Proof
Designed in from the start.
The Equipment
Two manufacturers, chosen on merit.
We specify Ecoforest and Maxa only. Chosen for their advanced specification: smart-tariff ready, hybridisation capable and built to integrate with solar and battery. We lead with ground source: our signature expertise.
Ground Source · Our Signature
Ecoforest ecoGEO+
The only Spanish manufacturer of ground-source heat pumps, and a global leader in inverter geothermal technology.
A+++
Efficiency
R290
Refrigerant
-80%
Energy use
Air Source
Maxa i-290
Flagship R290 air-source range with genuine fossil-fuel-replacement performance. We’re one of only two UK distributors.
60°C+
Flow temp
–20°C
Rated to
R290
Low GWP
The Investment
Funding for genuine self-builds.
Built mainly using the owner’s own labour or resources, and never owned by a business or developer, a genuine self-build remains eligible for the same grant toward a qualifying air or ground source heat pump. Title deeds or equivalent build evidence stand in for the Energy Performance Certificate the standard route normally requires. This doesn’t apply to developer-built spec homes or housing estate plots.
£7,500
Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant — towards an air or ground source heat pump, plus 0% VAT on qualifying work.
How We Work
From design stage to lifetime service.
One relationship across both divisions. We design and install it, then look after it for the life of the system.
01
Design consultation
Ideally alongside your architect, at design stage rather than after the build’s underway.
02
Design
Heat loss calculated from the building’s actual specification.
03
Install
Timed to your build programme: groundworks, screed, first fix.
04
Commission
Our own in-house engineers, installed to MCS standards, tuned and tested.
05
Lifetime service
Diagnostics, maintenance and repair for as long as you own it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions.
How is the size of my system worked out?
From a site visit, not a postcode. Roof orientation, shading, structural condition, and how much electricity the household actually uses through the day all factor in, then the array and battery get sized against that. A 1kWp array typically needs around 8m² of roof, but the number that matters is the one built from your usage, not a rule of thumb.
Why can't I just get a price over the phone or online?
Because it wouldn’t be accurate. Roof condition, shading, existing wiring, and what else the system needs to support, a heat pump, an EV charger, all change the right answer, and none of that shows up from a postcode. The design survey covers it properly, and it’s free.
I've already got solar. Can you add a battery or EV charger to it?
Usually, yes. We check what inverter and system you’ve already got as part of the survey, and design the addition around it rather than replacing something that still works fine.
Does solar work with a heat pump and smart tariff, or do they compete for the same power?
They’re meant to work together. The battery holds what the panels generate, or cheap overnight electricity, and the smart tariff controls decide when to release it, including to run a heat pump efficiently. Most of the value gets lost when these are bought as three separate products instead of one system, which is largely why we design them together from the start.
What if my roof isn't in great shape?
Panels themselves are rarely heavy enough to cause a problem. It’s more a timing question: if the roof needs work anyway, doing it alongside the solar install usually costs less than treating them as two separate jobs later.
Where does the inverter actually go?
Somewhere ventilated, ideally. Inverters run warm, so a sealed cupboard isn’t ideal. A loft usually works well; if you can’t get up there, we’ll find another spot during the survey.
Do you cover new builds, or just existing houses?
Both, along with retro-modernisations and light commercial projects. The technology doesn’t change; what changes is how early we get involved.
How long should the system last?
Twenty years plus if it’s specified properly. Most of what we install carries a manufacturer warranty on top of the ten-year insurance-backed workmanship guarantee that comes with MCS-compliant work.
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The First Step
Bring us in before the foundations go in.
The earlier we’re involved, the more of the design we can actually influence. Tell us about the project, or book a design survey directly if you’re ready.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call 01271 850040.