"Innovative" electric wallpaper trialled in Royal Navy, Army and RAF houses in Fareham tackling damp and mould

Tests are being carried out at two properties in Fareham over the next six months. Dilapidated service family accommodation has been a long-standing issues for the forces over recent years.

VIVO Defence Services is overseeing the trials. Operations director James Forrester said: “We are constantly looking at innovative ways to improve the lived experience for military families living in the Service Family Accommodation we look after as they deserve a place they can live in happily and be proud to call their home.

“In our trials, we hope to be able to show how using graphene heating paper will help make the homes we look after warmer for the families that live in them, and a good deal cheaper to run – all while reducing carbon emissions.”

The wallpaper is designed by NexGen Heating and could be rolled out across other VIVO homes if the testing is successful. This electric graphene heated material be attached to walls or ceilings.

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It can be painted over uses an energy efficient low voltage system to produces low temperature far infrared waves of directional and radiant heat. VIVO said it replicates the “comfortable warmth of sunshine”. It’s hoped the product can reduce energy bills, as the wallpaper heats the area in a few minutes rather than gradually changing the temperature in the room.

Residents will then only heat the rooms they’re in, rather than the whole house. The paper also heats up the fabric of a building as the infrared from the system saturates the entire room. Previous tests showed lower rates of moisture saturation from 35 per cent to five per cent in five days. It’s also proven to kill mould spores.

VIVO provides maintenance for MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation, covering more than 27,000 homes in the southeast and southwest of England. A suite of upgrades are being installed in service family accommodation at pace.

Ian Sanderson, CEO at NexGen Carbon Zero Ltd, said: “As a British manufacturer, we are proud to be working with VIVO to trial our technology in military family homes as we believe this could help make them more comfortable, lower their energy bills significantly, and critically make these homes healthier to live in – as well as help the environment.”