A £1.6 million scheme to create homes of the future is helping housing association tenants save hundreds of pounds a year by harnessing solar power.
The 30 Cartrefi Conwy properties in Maes y Dre, Abergele, are now teeming with technology.
As a result tenants can hook up to the internet, DAB radio and satellite television in all the main rooms, including the bedrooms.
Meanwhile, solar panels on the roof ensure that approximately 70 per cent of their hot water is free.
The massive project was prompted by floor subsidence and wall tie problems in the properties which Cartrefi Conwy inherited from Conwy County Borough Council.
The housing association, which came into being three years ago, is responsible for 3,800 houses and flats in the county.
All of them are being brought up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by 2012.
But the houses in Maes y Dre needed to be completely gutted because of the severity of the structural problems there.
Cartrefi Conwy have worked in partnership with Conwy County Borough Council while the Welsh Government have contributed towards the solar powered renewable energy via their Arbed scheme.
The contractors, G Purchase, worked on four houses at a time and completed properties were used to accommodate tenants whose homes were being worked on.
Adrian Johnson, Cartrefi Conwy’s Asset and Sustainability Manager, is extremely proud of the project’s success.
He said: “We’ve renewed the floors, wall ties and insulated the cavity walls and roof spaces and then we’ve rewired them, and installed new kitchens and bathrooms.
“We’ve also installed new gas central heating systems with solar panels actually feeding the hot water.
“About 70 per cent of the hot water is free and we have installed high spec, Cat 5 cables which means tenants can have a satellite television internet access, DAB radio and telephones in every room.
“These are the homes of the future and it’s like moving into a brand new home for the tenants.
“We also installed Surestop remote water valves which are designed so that the water supply to which they are connected can be switched on and off at the flick of a switch.
“What we have done is bring these houses up to Welsh Housing Quality Standard – and beyond. They have been future-proofed.”
Delighted tenant Jean Hogan, a widow, aged 60, lives with her sister, Elizabeth Owen, 52.
She said: “The house is beautiful, absolutely beautiful – the carpet, everything is wonderful, and the solar power is terrific.
“We have not put any gas in the meter since we moved back on the 6th of June. It’s amazing, I mean you’re talking about 10 weeks ago now so that’s a £100 that we’ve saved already.”
“My kitchen was a mess before, you couldn’t work in it, and now I’ve got plenty of work space too because I like cooking and baking, it’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I’m made up with it.”
Fellow tenant Debbie Mock, 46, who lives with her daughter, Hayley, 20, and her son, Peter, 16, was equally thrilled.
She said: “It was like moving back into a new home, it’s absolutely fantastic. I am 100 per cent pleased.
“The fact that it is so energy efficient is brilliant. Where I was putting in anything in-between £40 and £80 a month in gas I’m now putting in anything between £10 and £20. That much of a difference.”
“It makes a big difference when you are keeping a family. Cartrefi Conwy are fantastic. It’s a job well done.”
