Sheila Martin enjoyed a trip to London to spend a little quality time with her grandchildren last year, taking them on days out to Legoland and other attractions.
In September she's planning a visit to the Isles of Scilly for a little fun in the late summer sun.
Remarkably, the money to pay for both trips will have been plucked - quite literally - out of thin air.
Mrs Martin lives in the village of Mawnan Smith, a small Cornish community between Falmouth and Helford, and is one of a growing number of ‘off gas’ Coastline Housing tenants who have opted to switch from oil and conventional electric heaters, to air source heat pumps.
The pumps extract warmth from the atmosphere to heat water and radiators, and are being offered to Coastline’s customers as part of a rolling programme to help lift people out of ‘fuel poverty.’
Mrs Martin says the impact on her bills has been dramatic, with the difference between what she was paying, and what she is paying now, being enough to fund the occasional holiday.
She hasn’t had to sacrifice any of her home comforts either. Throughout December’s fierce cold snap her one bedroom bungalow remained at a snug 18º C despite having no additional heating. When it got really arctic she raised the temperature to 20ºC.
“I lived in Africa for 40 years, and really feel the cold. When I was relying on night storage heaters I was paying E-on £25 a month, with another one-off payment of about £150. In addition I was spending another £20 every ten days for a portable gas heater during the winter months,” she said.
“Now I don’t use the portable heater at all, and my monthly payments to E-on are just £16. I’m saving between £50 and £70 a quarter, and it really is great.
“Even the shower is heated by air sourced heat, and it’s as hot as you would want it.”
From being a sceptic, Mrs Martin is now a total convert, persuading friends and neighbours to switch to air source pumps if they are offered the chance.
“When I was first given the opportunity my inclination was to say no, because I didn’t want to put up with the mess and inconvenience,” she explained.
“But in fact there was no inconvenience at all, and if the workmen did make a little bit of mess they cleaned it up straight away.
“I was very pleasantly surprised.”