O/t Solar panels

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

If we can get free panels from someone like ashadegreener.com then we'll go for it, cos any maintenance cost is down to them.

But we had decided before the visit/survey, if we have to pay we'll never get payback in our lifetime, so it's a no no.

My house is well insulated, it's a 3 bed detached and my duel fuel bills are around £800 a year, and yes I've got a gas boiler, and it's 13 years old

I'm a tight   and nothing gets left on standby.

Thanks for all the comments/advice, your just confirming what I allready knew

[Lyonspride]

If we can get free panels from someone like ashadegreener.com then we'll go for it, cos any maintenance cost is down to them.

But we had decided before the visit/survey, if we have to pay we'll never get payback in our lifetime, so it's a no no.

My house is well insulated, it's a 3 bed detached and my duel fuel bills are around £800 a year, and yes I've got a gas boiler, and it's 13 years old

I'm a tight   and nothing gets left on standby.

Thanks for all the comments/advice, your just confirming what I allready knew

 

Get yourself one of those plug in power meters, a lot of people don't realise what exactly uses power and what exactly is perfectly fine to leave on standby.

 

My father (now in his late 70's), basically thinks that anything that emits light (LED or otherwise) or makes a noise uses tonnes of power.

He also doesn't understand how a thermostat works, so he'll sit their with all the lights off in the house, with the heating turned up to 35 degrees, 2kw oil filled radiators on, opening the windows every time it gets too warm.

 

He also does that annoying thing of only putting 1 cup of water in the kettle........

I'll explain, because most people think im mad when I say that 

 

Let me put some thermodynamics into laymans terms, brimming the kettle at any time when we have cold weather (that's 3/4 of the year in the UK), is NOT a waste of electricity, the extra heat in that water simply dissipates into the room, thus saving a small amount of money on your gas bill, plus any and all electric heating devices are 98%+ efficient at producing heat (including the kettle), so in the winter you can brim that kettle all you like and never waste money.

 

It drives me nuts that the TV/media bang on about stuff that barely uses any power at all and don't tell people how to really save money on their bills.

For example, electric showers are the biggest user of electricity in your home, at around 20p per 10 minutes (assuming around 14p per unit cost and a 9kw shower), this money is further wasted because that heat is going straight down the drain, but you can save a little back by showering with the plug in the bath and not letting the water out until it's cold (thus heating the house with it), but who does that?

 

Anyway, I'm going to shut up now as I'm probably confusing the hell out of everyone

[Lawrie]

I think a conservatory is the answer.  It was over 30 degrees yesterday.  Just a bit of sun and the boiler goes off.  No sun and you shut the kitchen door

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Got a conservatory (south facing), yesterday it was scorching in there so we leave the doors open and it warms the whole house

No lecky shower, we have a mira thermostatic mixer straight from the hot water tank, we never run out of hot water, even though the boiler is only on for 1 hr in the morning and 3 hours at night

[corsechris]

Moved a while back and opted to have a 'Smart meter' installed with the new supply. May come to regret that when it gets hacked by some 11 year old in Russia, but for now it's a nice wee item to have. I know well enough what uses lots of power and what doesn't, but having that display showing you exactly what it's costnig you to run the house from moment to moment is really quite effective.

 

We've got a small conservatory on the south side and do exactly the same - the solar gain on that is remarkable. I did very briefly look at solar PV but dismissed it PDQ. I'd rather spend some cash on good loft insulation and an efficient boiler.No surprise that both those jobs are on the list for this year. Fancy a Viessmann system boiler, nice big HW tank and lose the electric shower. Currently the place has an ageing oil fired boiler and that's pretty expensive to run - the past 6 months since we've been there it's used about £900 worth of oil. Ouch. It's not a big place either and we don't have it that hot, stat set to 22C

[SootySport]

I had a conservatory in a previous house, I absolutely hated it,   Too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, needed a/c and heaters to make it a usable room.  

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

We've got a small conservatory on the south side and do exactly the same - the solar gain on that is remarkable. I did very briefly look at solar PV but dismissed it PDQ. I'd rather spend some cash on good loft insulation and an efficient boiler.No surprise that both those jobs are on the list for this year. Fancy a Viessmann system boiler, nice big HW tank and lose the electric shower. Currently the place has an ageing oil fired boiler and that's pretty expensive to run - the past 6 months since we've been there it's used about £900 worth of oil. Ouch. It's not a big place either and we don't have it that hot, stat set to 22C

Jeez thats more than I pay in a year for both lecky and gas

I've owned this house for 10 years and the two best things I've built are the conservatory and a small extension on the back to provide a downstairs loo and utility area with space for the washer and freezer,

[alexander72]

I would go RHI woodchip fired boiler - it will earn you money as long as you live.  Handy for heating ones pool as well, or orangery.  RHI = Renewable Heat Initiative .

 

Have a look at Fuel Chip UK Ltd - i work for them now... top chaps 

[alexander72]

meant Fuel Chip Ltd doh !!!

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

I was a Joiner for 47 years, quite a few of my workmates had woodburners, it saved the company loads of money on skips, the guys were filling their boots every day with offcuts

[alexander72]

best thing with the RHI is that for every KWh of energy you make with a woodchip boiler you get paid - one client of mine had a boiler installed for £80k and is earning £14,000 per anuum heating his house/pool/grarage 

[corsechris]

Jeez thats more than I pay in a year for both lecky and gas

I've owned this house for 10 years and the two best things I've built are the conservatory and a small extension on the back to provide a downstairs loo and utility area with space for the washer and freezer,

 

Tell me about it!  My last place was mostly heated by LPG from 47kg cylinders and I thought that was bad enough.  There was about £300 worth of oil in the tank when we moved in, we used that, and had two further £300 deliveries, almost used that up now. Pretty damn poor for such a mild winter too. New place has mains gas now so figure that's the way to go....but, will look into the Fuel Chip/RHI thing, thanks Alexander.

 

The conservatory on my place isn't a particularly appealing thing TBH - it's quite old and not that well done, the dwarf walls are more like Orc walls (taller) so the views are a bit limited, it's got one solid brick wall and a crappy flat roof in 3 cell polycarb....but it does provide a bit of warmth and there's a door to close to keep any excess ehat (or cold) out of the utility it conencts to. Main redeeming feature is it came with the house.

[Justin767]

I got my 11 panels up 2 days before the rate dropped.!.

Despite facing 220' and being surrounded by woods here, they make about 2000 units or £1000 a year and have knocked a useful chunk off the elec bill.

(I've changed a few habits and now run the dishwasher / washing machine by day and similarly top up the underfloor electric heating then..)

Obviously I don't currently need all the energy I generate in a summer heatwave, but when I have an electric motorbike I'll be refilling it for free :-)

Some houses still have electricity meters that run backwards when the panels are generating a lot of juice ;-)

I was told that my inverter might need replacing at some point in the middle of the 25 years - but the installation will still pay for itself more than twice over..

[corsechris]

That's a key point though isn't it - all these systems are at the mercy of goverment policy regarding the FIT. And they do like to change their minds....

 

Like so many things, I think I've missed the boat.