Amy and her husband Andy bought their three bedroomed 1930s semi in Barton on the outskirts of Cambridge 2 years ago, a family home for the couple and their two young daughters. It soon became apparent that the heating system they'd inherited wasn't going to meet the family's needs, as Amy explains;

"The house had electric storage heaters which weren't very effective at all, the bedroom the girls share was really chilly. Not only that, there was a separate hot water heater, so small that if just one of us took a shower or bath it completely emptied and you had to wait ages for it to fill up again!"

On top of this, with electricity bills of over £1,000 a year, something obviously needed to be done, and the couple set about researching the options for central heating.

"We're not especially green, just the usual bit of recycling, but when we started looking into what would suit us best we narrowed it down to either an air source heat pump system or a biomass boiler. Roly and Shane from Eco Installer, our local Organic Energy Approved Installer, came out to survey the house and recommended an ÖkoFEN wood pellet boiler. Installation of the new system, including 12 new radiators and a new, larger hot water tank fed by the ÖkoFEN boiler, took around two weeks, although the family was enjoying hot water on demand after just a week.

" It's not easy having major work like this done when there are small children in the house," says Amy, "but the team from Eco Installer were great, very considerate - we even sent them an Easter Egg afterwards to say thank you!"

So what's the verdict on the new system? "Brilliant!" says Amy. "The boiler is on a timer and it's really easy to use. The house is warm when we want it, and much more pleasant for us all to live in. On top of that, we've cut our £1,000 a year electricity bill to £30 a month, and the wood pellets, which we have delivered 2 or 3 times a year, are much more cost-effective. We've been so pleased with what Eco Installer have done for us and our new ÖkoFEN boiler we've been recommending it to other parents at the school gates!"