Bletchley

Energy Conservationist Andrew has decided to put his money where his mouth is, by sinking all his savings into building a radical, self-heating home for his family – the first of its kind in the UK. Remarkably he aims to heat the house all year round by storing the warmth of the summer sun into insulated earth banks over and around the house, and then drawing the warmth back into the living spaces in winter. Heated by nature, there won’t be a single radiator in sight.  Whilst wife Margretta (a former midwife) yearns for a contemporary and beautiful house, Andrew’s focus will be primarily on his gigantic thermal experiment. As the house is built he will repeatedly collect data through a mass of probes, determined to push the boundaries of science.  

 

But from the start this pioneering construction seems an exercise in trial and error. Andrew's initial design is vetoed as ‘unsafe’ by his structural engineer before he’s even broken ground. In fact what begins as a seemingly simple, pure concept becomes a complicated feat of earth moving and engineering, testing their aggressively small £300k budget and Margretta’s patience to the limit. Even as the build spirals well over its 18-month schedule, and with Andrew’s professional reputation at stake, the question still remains - will the house even work?