Ablecare Homes: a 27% verified saving that became a six-home rollout
The challenge
Care homes are among the hardest buildings in the country to run efficiently. Heating and hot water operate around the clock, resident comfort is non-negotiable, and energy has become one of the largest controllable costs a group carries.
Ablecare Homes, a family-run group of six care homes in the Bristol area, was spending £9,858 a year on heating and hot water at Belvedere Lodge alone. They wanted lower energy costs without invasive works, disruption to residents, or promises they couldn't check.
What we did
We started with one home, Belvedere Lodge, in April 2024, and agreed the measurement method before anything was installed: consumption from the home's own meters, compared like-for-like against the pre-install baseline and adjusted for degree days. The system was wrapped around the heating pipework. No cutting, no draining, no downtime; the home ran exactly as normal throughout.
The result
Across the year from April 2024, gas consumption fell from 138,768 kWh to 101,076 kWh. Excluding the gas used by the site's cooking facilities, that is a 27% verified reduction, worth £2,623.23 in year one. Not projected, not modelled: measured. On the strength of that number, and only after it, Ablecare instructed us to fit the system across all six of its homes.
“Ablecare were approached in early 2024 by OH4 to create a case study at Belvedere Lodge, one of our 6 care homes in the Bristol area. After a year of having OH4 fitted we can clearly see the results in the reduction in our fuel usage for heating and hot water. Ablecare have instructed OH4 to fit their Energy Saving System to the remaining 5 care homes in the group. We have the evidence that OH4 provides a better than 20% saving at Belvedere Lodge, and with the external auditing and ESG reporting provided as part of the installation we can evidence the savings in our annual accounts and environmental and social statements. Ablecare are happy to recommend OH4 to any business looking to reduce their carbon footprint and save money.”
Belvedere Lodge, Bristol
Annual heating energy, indexed (baseline year = 100)
How this was measured: baseline agreed pre-install; post-install consumption from the same meters; like-for-like comparison, weather-adjusted using degree days. Ablecare can watch the same data we see in the V1 Savings App. Want the detail? Ask for the measurement walkthrough.
The V1 system is the OH4 Energy Saving System, so client quotes and the full case-study documents refer to it as OH4.
Run a care home or a group?
Start with one home and an agreed measurement method, exactly as Ablecare did.