Mike Hanks – case study

Air conditioning saved up to 60% on our heating costs, says happy customer Mike Hanks.

MAC customer Mike Hanks is a retired electrical engineer, which is perhaps why he’s kept such close track of his heating costs since installing an air conditioning system in August 2021.

Mike is pretty clued up about sustainability and invested in a pellet boiler seven years ago under the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. He has also invested in PV (Photovoltaic devices such as solar panels that convert sunlight into electrical energy). The replacement of his pellet boiler with air-to-air heating is the latest move in Mike’s quest to achieve the greenest, most cost-effective system for his home.

“I’ve been planning towards retirement for a while,” Mike explains. “That’s why I installed PV. I wanted to ensure we had the most affordable, efficient and comfortable method of heating in place, but also my wife Michele is disabled, so it was important too for us to have a system that was clean and easy for her to operate.”

With advice from MAC, Mike opted for a single split system, which is better for delivering heating and cooling, and had 4 Mitsubishi LN units installed at his home in Whitchurch.

Keen to prove to himself that the air conditioning system would save him money, Mike set about comparing typical pellet consumption (£124.32 over the 64 day trial period) with the cost of air conditioning (£49.89 over the 64 day period). Even without including the impact of PV use, he made a total saving over the 2 month period  £74.43. His calculations showed that the cost for air conditioning had been a mere £24.17 per month, averaging 74p per day in electricity costs – delivering a massive 60% saving!

“The cost is ridiculously cheap,” Mike says. “Over and above the savings, we also have a system that maintains a constant temperature – in our case, 24 degrees – whatever the weather outside. We don’t have to wait for rooms to warm up, neither do they become stuffy and need temperatures turning down. Of course, in summer we have the added bonus of being kept comfortably cool at all times too!”

He concludes, “I’m delighted with my decision to install air conditioning, it’s very green and not difficult or expensive to install. Added to PV, it gives a real ‘bang for your buck’ – there were barely any days during the trial where the PV generated was less than consumption, making actual running costs incredibly low in our case. I’d definitely recommend making the move!”