Tenants in four blocks of flats in Swinnow are set to benefit from lower fuel bills thanks to the installation of ground source heat pumps by Leeds City Council.
The pumps use pipes that are buried underground to extract heat from the ground, and will help reduce heating bills by as much as 30%. The project includes new heating pipework, a ground source heat array and new heating system.
They will replace the existing electric storage heating and hot water systems in the flats and will be installed in Rycroft Green, Rycroft Towers, Rycroft Court and Rycroft Place.
Work is due to start in September 2021 and finish in March 2022.
The work has been welcomed by Pudsey councillor Trish Smith (Cons). She told WLD:
“I noticed other areas of the city getting cheaper, greener fuel types but nothing was forthcoming for our residents in Pudsey.
“We have homes being heated by outdated and inefficient storage heaters, and people just aren’t able to keep warm in their own homes.”
Cllr Smith said she had pushed for the work to be brought forward from the 2024/25 budget and managed to to pull it into the 2022/23 budget. She added:
“I’m absolutely delighted council officers have managed to pull this still further forward, with work now due to start this September.
“Bringing this new heating and hot water system forward in this way has meant so much to our residents. They will be able to heat their homes efficiently without a huge cost to themselves or our environment.”
As previously reported by WLD, The Heights East and The Heights West piloted the technology as part of a £1.85m project last year. This was followed by Westerly Rise and Croft in Armley.