A warm welcome for £1m Win Pine House project
Below are some comments from tenants at Win Pine House following a project to upgrade the heating and lighting at the Independent Living scheme in Hythe.
"The difference in the heating and water system is noticeable and appears to be much more efficient. The heating is much easier to control."
"The contractors were friendly and obliging. I didn’t really understand everything, so they took their time to explain everything."
"My bill is less than the service charge I used to pay! I’m hot so don’t put the heating on much but its easy to use."
All 44 flats in the scheme, plus all communal areas, are heated via a communal boiler. There had been several issues with the heating and hot water at Win Pine House over the last couple of years, caused not by the boiler, but by the pipework leading from the boiler to tenants’ individual flats and to the communal areas.
The council invested ￡1m in the project which involved installing new pipework throughout the building and fitting a Heat Interface Unit (HIU) in all flats. These HIUs transfer heat from the communal boiler to each tenant’s flat, allowing them to have full control of their heating.
Each HIU is fitted with a heat meter, which measures the exact amount of heating and hot water each tenant uses, and ensures they only pay for their own usage. This is a much fairer approach than previously, where each tenant paid a fixed charge as part of their rent, regardless of the amount of energy they used themselves.
This project has ensured the council will recover the true cost of energy used, and by tenants being able to see how much energy they are using, this should encourage them to use less energy, which will save them money and also reduce carbon emissions.
The works were completed in March 2025 and as part of our contractor’s social value commitments, they carried out a complete refurbishment of the communal lounge, which has been very well received by the residents.
Win Pine House has also benefitted from new energy efficient LED lighting in all communal areas and the installation of CCTV throughout the building.