Green & ethical MoneySaving

We had a 4kw PV system installed in 2015 with associated FIT rates. Bought an EV last year and intsalled a hypervolt charger and converted to IOG tariff - current fixed rates of 32.69 peak and 7.62p off peak and 51.33p standing charge. Outgoing Octopus tariff for export currently @12p. Peak annual usage is currently around…

Hoping someone might know something that can help me….. First off I have a rosemary bush that is sprawling across the drive. It's huge but laying down on the job and sets off the car's "warning you're going to hit something" sensors. It needs a severe haircut. And of course I know it can be used in cooking but I see no…

We had a phone call last Friday from an unknown caller wanting to arrange to read our solar ev energy meter. He wanted to come on Monday but we told him that today was the first available date. I felt somewhat patronised by the tone of the call! He arrived at the arrange time this morning and just had a perfuctory glance…

Hello! Right, as discussed elsewhere, battery storage for self generation (typically PV) is interesting (to some), and gathering momentum in the UK. So here's a thread to discuss it, and watch it develop. I've called it on-grid, as off-grid is so much more specialised. And domestic as commercial scale storage, or grid…

Greetings, The properties on our estate were built in the early 90's and so we (incorrectly) presumed that we have some sort of insulation within our 70+mm wall cavity. As the image below highlights, this is not the case. Our NE facing wall is, by far, the coldest - we can feel a draft coming through parts of the wall on…

The email I've been waiting (dreading?) has now arrived from Octopus. My day time electricity rate is going up by over 20%. But they've offered a one year fix at the new rate for a year. It appears that predictions are that prices are going to continue to go up in the new year so it may be worth doing. Anyone got any…

My annual usage is 2200 kwh at just over 25.1p per kwh, the cost is £552.50 a year. Been quoted £7900. The quote indicates we can generate 4500kwh a year. As the quote is via my energy supplier I would sell back at 20p per kwh. In theory if that rate stayed the same it would take just under 8 years to pay back, ignoring…

Hi everyone We've just published a new guide on solar batteries and we'd love to hear your feedback. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. Thanks for your help, MSE Clare

I live in quite a modern house down a road with lots of other houses on the outskirts of town. I believe the house has been supplied with electricity and gas ever since it was built. Until about five years ago, I used ebico to supply my energy. It was great because there was no standing charge. By not heating my house and…

I was just coming up to renewal time and finding that all large suppliers (I don't want to with a supplier at any risk of going under mid-fix) now need evidence of EV ownership (or at least the right to see evidence) to access tariffs with low overnight import rates. Except…EDF Pod Point Plug and Power. Half price Pod…

Hi all, I was all set on completing the last major piece of our home decarbonisation puzzle with a quote from Octopus for a heat pump. It was about £3.5k after grant for HP, hot water cylinder, a new radiator and replacing an existing radiator with a larger one. We already have 4.8 kWp of PV, 2x 15 kWh batteries and an EV,…

Hi, Whilst I wait for my DNO application to come back, I just wondered what other PW3 owners have managed to get approved? I realise that this is very much dependant on local grid constraints but thought it would be interesting. My installer has applied for 11kW. I'm hoping for 7kW approval.

I'm just about to start looking at getting quotes for a solar + battery system and was wondering if anyone had suggestions for good installers that cover the South Yorkshire area? Some other potentially useful information: Current yearly consumption is ~3500kWh, but is expected to rise slightly next year with additional…

Hi all, I'm getting myself confused so would welcome some direct advice, or suggestions on where to go for it We have a Growatt system, which is not ‘intelligent’. I can manually set it for timings (eg push export out during peak evening period). I am about to purchase an electric car, and install an EV charger. I am most…

If you have an LG battery pack attached to your solar inverter, check it isn't one of the ones involved in a safety recall from 2021/22. If your installer went bust, then you may not have been notified.…

Signed up to have a PW3 installed shortly in double garage. Really good deal with local installer. Currently no solar but want small solar array on the south side of garage roof at some point as house roof is annoyingly badly laid out. One side of garage roof could fit maybe 4-6 panels I thought. PW3 installer wants circa…

I'd always shrugged off doing this as the return time would be too long. But I've recently seen some near-new battery setups being sold on FbMarketplace for prices that are hard to ignore - sometimes as little as £1.5k for excess of 10kWh. The Q is, what would the additional costs be should I jump? Ie, installation, and…

Hi All, EDF have been and are usually really good with their turnaround of FIT readings into payments into the bank. This current payment seems to be slower though ….. and before someone starts. I know it’s only a week, I know that they say it can take up to 90 days etc. They usually pay extremely quickly and it shows as…

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice particularly around whether it is worth stretching my budget for a Tesla Powerwall 3. I've had a couple of quotes (going to get more) and have been doing a lot of research, but for the next stage of quotes I want to to try and be more specific rather than open ended. I'm in Norfolk and…

I have been selling my surplus solar power to Octopus for several years. I also have a Tesla battery that Octopus drain at peak times and recharge with off-peak electricty. Last week myenergi (makers of Zappi chargers) have invited me to export my power to them via their Gridpay app. I can't find any comparison of Gridpay…