This house is not taking part in the Dorset Greener Homes event this year.

When Ray built the large extension on their house he wanted a comfortable but very efficient building; he chose high thermal standards for the thermal block walls and Argon filled double glazing with low-E glass. The flat upstairs is so well insulated that it only requires 1kW to heat it on the coldest days.

A 35kW wood pellet boiler with hot water storage tank warms the house, and a system to divert excess generated electricity to heat water (ImmerSUN).

Ray is an electrical engineer and inventor, developing energy-saving technology with his company, Acrogen. He uses his home as a test-bed for ideas, with several energy-saving schemes which he seeks to improve. A 10kWh battery backup operates at 48V and an Eddi system diverts spare PV-generated electricity to his hot water tanks. Smart switching allows them to use their generated power to the maximum.

Ray is full of ideas and a font of knowledge about ways of reducing energy loss and of generating electricity. He has detailed figures of the savings achieved in eight years of photovoltaic panels and five years of a wood pellet boiler.

Westfield House is a glimpse of the future.