“Shammy was a great help, I understand everything better now” – Dorothy’s Story

When Dorothy had a heat pump installed in her home by Manchester City Council, she found the new technology hard to understand, as she was only given a complicated manual by the installer. As a result, she was scared to use her new heating system and feared leaving the house in case something were to happen.

Luckily, Dorothy met Shammy, one of Groundwork’s Green Doctors, through the In Our Nature programme. Shammy helped Dot to feel more confident using her heat pump, collaborating with external installers to give Dorothy and her neighbours a proper run through of the controls and the best way to use the system.

I was setting it to thirty, which I needn’t have done once it was explained to me, it was a great help

Dorothy had also had her radiators changed from gas to electric, and as a result had let the gas board know about the change. Unfortunately, her gas company were still continuing to charge her the same prices and Dorothy didn’t know how to get the money back:

Shammy got on the phone to British Gas, and asked them would they put that money back into my bank that I had in credit, so she did all that for me as well

In the end, Dorothy received £400 of credit back into her bank account with Shammy’s support and guidance. She now feels more confident using her heat pump and feels safe leaving the house.

When asked what advice she’d give to others struggling to understand new retrofit measures, Dorothy said:

The only thing I can say is to try and get in touch with somebody that does know about them and can explain it to you, because it’s just so different