The grand unveiling of our house happened just four weeks after the start of the eco-refurbishments. Representatives of the press, campaign supporters, and competition sponsors joined in with the celebrations at our house, as Campaign Director Simon McWhirter handed us back the keys to our 75% more energy efficient home.

No sooner than Cat and I had spent our first weekend in perfect comfort, I had been whisked over to Earl's Court in London for the 2010 EcoBuild conference. Speaking on a panel with Great British Refurb Campaign representative, Simon McWhirter, and representatives from Campaign sponsors Keepmoat, and Knauf Insulation, Journalist and BBC Radio 4's presenter of the Today Programme, Justin Webb, chaired a packed theatre discussion about eco-home refurbishment. Our house, The Home of the Future, was presented as a real example of the energy savings, emissions reductions and improvements to the quality of living than can be achieved in a typical Victorian terrace.

It seems like yesterday that Keepmoat workers descended on our home in Bristol, packed up belongings and stripped out old doors and kitchen and bathroom fittings. It's incredible to think of the extent of the refurbishments that have been achieved in such a short time frame - hats off to Keepmoat, SolarCentury and Knauf Insulation for working together to pull it off in such good time!

We had a lot of fun on our first day back in the house, with sponsors, parents, film crews and reporters all admiring the changes. We've only spent a few days back in the house now, but we're in no doubt that the house is a lot warmer and more comfortable in each room than we could have achieved prior to the refurb - no matter how much heating we may have wanted to use.

So you’ve seen Will’s solar home and are inspired?

(Will, we’re really glad you’re chuffed with your new mini power station).

The UK’s newly announced Feed-in tariff brings a new dawn for generating electricity with solar power in the UK. The new scheme means homeowners producing solar electricity will earn income from energy generation, benefit from significant savings on electricity bills and cut carbon emissions. It’s estimated that you can save and earn over £1,000 per year for 25 years, increasing with inflation, with a typical solar electric system.  Because of this, the Government hopes one in every ten homes will be solar by 2020.

So what next?

Check out your roof. It will need to be up to it, meaning not caving in with significant structural problems. As long as it’s not north facing or shaded for most of the day, you’re likely to be able to consider going solar.  

I remember when generating electricity from the sun seemed closer to science fiction fantasy than a realistic and practical means of micro-energy generation. That was up until yesterday; when I became another homeowner in the UK with the capacity to generate green electricity from an otherwise very ordinary rooftop. 

The refurbishment is well underway at our house in Bristol, which will make it the 10:10 and Great British Refurb Campaign's Home of the Future. 

A notable change so far has been the arrival of vast quantities of Knauf Insulation.

How do you start an eco refurb? As you mean to continue of course: with lofty environmental intentions.

In my case that means stripping out my home’s old fixtures and putting in steel joists and columns to improve its efficiency and circulation, and future proof it (more on that later).

We're really excited about the work starting now; we still couldn't quite believe all the refurbishments were really going to be happening until the builders arrived earlier this week and made a start on things. They plan to be here for 4 weeks, and in that time install extensive insulation, draft exclusion and solar voltaics. Needless to say we've had some sleepless nights in anticipation, thinking over the scale of the changes to come. Catherine and I have been moved into a very nice apartment near-by our house while the messiest part of the work is underway. Amongst other things our kitchen and bathroom is being completely removed to allow for the internal wall insulation to be fitted. After spending our first winter in our 130-year-old house, we're really excited about the heat savings these changes will make.
Meeting with campaign related press was a bit daunting but I'm pleased to say so far the TV, radio and newspaper journalists have all been very friendly and interested to see what's going on.

It's all good preparation for the Ecobuild conference in London next month, where I'll be talking about the refurbishment experience at Earls Court.