• In all homes significant Carbon savings were demonstrated

• Average CO2 savings for the sample homes were 16% and up to 19%

• Family homes, typical of target market, save 1.1-1.5 tonnes of CO2 annually

• The value of electricity generated can pay for the marginal investment in as little as 3 years in the typical family home

Since publication of this report additional data has been acquired and an updated report is available on the Carbon Trust web site.  It contains a great deal of valuable information and confirms the target market for Stirling engine based micro CHP as being for larger family homes and, in particular, those for which it is difficult to implement traditional energy efficiency measures such as cavity wall insulation.  This represents about half of the homes in the UK.

Since that time, the WhisperGen unit has undergone significant development and improvements in performance, so that the savings for current products are expected to be be somewhat better.  At the same time, other micro CHP products are becoming available so that the CT report represents a very conservative view of the potential benefits of this technology.