When we think rural heating, some of us might cast our minds to Aga sagas and a certain long-running Radio 4 serial about the lives of rural folk. 

But as we witness the energy-driven cost of living crisis bring new levels of anxiety to households forced to prioritise between heating and eating or turning of the fridge and other life-supporting appliances for long stretches of the day, this becomes no laughing matter.

Indeed, this should not be a fringe issue. In England there are 1.1 million homes off the gas grid that rely on fossil fuel heating, a figure which stretches to four million households – 15% of the total, across the UK.