From Oil Man to Retrofit Rebel: Chris And The Big Switch
For oil salesman to retrofit rebel: A poster boy for renewables
Chris Cole didn’t just rip the oil tank out of his garden. He ripped oil out of his future.
For years, he was the guy people called when they needed heating oil. He even ran a local buying group to beat the price swings. Oil was his trade, his community, his livelihood.
The Heating Oil Buying Group Chris Cole Established
But here’s the plot twist: Chris has walked away from oil, and he’s dragging his customers with him.
His Wiltshire home was once a classic oil-heated, draft-ridden nightmare. The boiler stank, the bills soared, the wind howled through the walls. Most people would just moan about it. Chris retrofitted it.
Fabric first. Internal wall insulation. Cavity fill.
Power shift. Solar on the roof, batteries in the utility, infrared panels where radiators once cluttered the walls.
Hot water, no boiler. A thermodynamic panel feeding a retrofit heat pump system.
Since June? He’s pulled just 5 kilowatt-hours from the grid. That’s not a typo.
And now? He’s setting up Carbon Reduction Solutions a new company with a mission to take everyone else off oil, too. From the same customers he once supplied with fuel, he’s offering a future that doesn’t reek, doesn’t bankrupt you, and doesn’t torch the planet.
Chris Cole Set Up His New Renewable Company
This is what the retrofit fight looks like: people who know the old system inside-out walking away and building the new one.
Chris isn’t selling oil anymore. He’s selling escape.