New house: what would you do?

ahw23

Please forgive the vagueness of the question- I am new here! We are aiming to buy a house next year in Oxfordshire, and for a long time I've been hoping to make it as green as possible. Our timing is poor, I know, since the latest FiT cut, but I was still hoping for solar PV, although I know my DH will need to be convinced about the payback time. What else would you consider, besides the obvious roof insulation and draft-proofing? Are there any books or websites that you would recommend as preliminary reading for someone in this situation? And if you were in the position of being able to choose a house knowing that you wanted to make it as green as you could without being a bottomless money-pit, what would you look for? Of course we do have other criteria, but it would be good to have some ideas to bear in mind when we start to look. Thank you!

EricMears

It's really aimed at 'self builders' but Mark Brinkley's 'House Builders Bible'
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Housebuilders-Bible-11-Mark-Brinkley/dp/1905959559 is full of info of that nature.

But don't give up on Solar, there's every chance that with negligible returns on FIT but bags of panels still being available, prices will drop even further - perhaps even to the point where they're a worthwhile investment without subsidies.

ahw23

Thank you. I will see if the library has that book. Whilst I can't choose a house purely on the orientation of the roof, we might be able to get something worthwhile!

JimLad

We bought a new house and the one of the first things we did was replace most of the light bulbs with LED ones. They use loads less electricity and are not as expensive as they once were. You might find that the house comes with strange fittings that take very expensive bulbs. Check out LedHut.co.uk for good deals on bulbs. :cool:

Davesnave

The most basic thing to check with any house purchase is its aspect and the availability of direct sunlight.

For that reason, near the bottom of a moderate north facing slope is a no-no, as is any situation where sunshine is very limited, say by trees or other buildings.

Since buying a property with nothing other than cloud cover limiting sunshine availability, we have noticed a real difference, especially in the darker months.