Home Property & Construction Latest renewable technology to heat Thirteen homes in Whitby

Latest renewable technology to heat Thirteen homes in Whitby

aniel Gardiner - Gamcap fund manager of HeatRHIght, Stuart Hawthorn – Travis Perkins Plumbing and Heating Division, Tom Garnett- Toriga Energy, part of Travis Perkins, Wes McGeeney - Thirteen, Paul Jenkins- Thirteen, Cliff Laherty- Thirteen, Graham Bland- RBlands, Takayuki Sugimoto- Daikin, Andy Grace - Thirteen, Andy Barker – Head of Social Housing Sector, Travis Perkins Plumbing and Heating Division, Michael Dixon- Daikin, Takehisa Kawata - Daikin and David Velen - Travis Perkins Plumbing and Heating Division.

Thirteen has installed the latest renewable technology to provide green, cost-effective heating for a number of residents in Whitby.

As part of an ongoing supply chain arrangement with Travis Perkins, and in partnership with Travis Perkins Plumbing & Heating Division, Thirteen has provided 16 properties in St. Hildas Court with renewable air source heat pumps to fuel their heating and hot water, instead of a traditional boiler.

Thirteen is the first registered provider in the country to access the new HeatRHIght funding scheme, designed by Travis Perkins as an effective way to fund, design and install sustainable energy efficient air source heat pumps.

The scheme works by trading seven years of government-funded renewable heat incentive payments for an upfront payment, making it easy to install technologies that cut fuel costs for customers, as well as reducing carbon emissions. As a result, Thirteen was able to recoup 50% of the overall capital cost of the scheme following completion, money that can be put towards delivering other such schemes elsewhere within its housing portfolio.
Working closely with Travis Perkins, heat pump manufacturer Daikin, and specialist plumbing, heating and mechanical services contractor R Bland, Thirteen has provided customers with efficient heating systems.


Using this technology means that there was no need to lay pipes to supply gas to properties. It’s safe and reliable for the customers, with no carbon monoxide, greenhouse emissions or fear of gas leaks.

The air source heat pumps work by extracting the heat from the air outside the house and pumping it through the heat exchanger providing up to 30% renewable heat.

Thirteen’s executive director for property services, Russell Thompson said: “This is one of the most efficient and reliable ways to heat a home and it’s becoming more popular as it is fully controllable by our customers.

“As the largest social housing provider in the North East we’re making a real difference to our customers and that’s something we’re very proud of. We’ve already installed over 200 air source heat pumps to our properties across the North East and we’ve had some excellent feedback from our customers.

“The team and our partners at Travis Perkins have done a great job. This is a fantastic example of partnership working.

“These properties in Whitby now have a heating system which meet the needs of our customers with easy to use controls.

“We’re always looking at how we can provide more efficient ways of keeping our customer’s heating bills as low as possible. With so many people facing fuel poverty and energy bills constantly rising this is one of our top priorities.

“By using this technology, people have just one fuel bill and a system that’s four times more efficient than a traditional gas heating system.”

Travis Perkins Plumbing & Heating Division provided Thirteen with complete support including product selection and specification, as well as access to HeatRHIght a new and innovative funding scheme, which reduces the cost of installation.

Andrew Harrison, Deputy CEO, Plumbing & Heating Division at Travis Perkins, said: “We’re delighted that our support and partnership with Thirteen has helped them deliver warm homes with lower bills for their customers.”

Thirteen is now using the HeatRHIght scheme to install renewable heating systems at a variety of other properties across the Tees Valley, including accommodation for homeless families in Penrith Road, Middlesbrough, helping its customers to enjoy warm homes and avoid fuel poverty.