"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

I think the idea is that summer export pays for winter use. But it is tempting to see how many more panels can fit where - particularly when you see bits of the roof getting sun that could extend the day or increase the amount!

badmemory

I only have a small house & quite large usage.  They have managed to fill the roof & would have to develop 6" wide panels to get one more on.  Just me being greedy not unhappy.  I am still not really up to speed - but I will get there - eventually.  Even on the very worst day so far the solar has provided a third of my usage & in summer virtually all.  The only problem is the power shower (& my sons 30min showers which I can't reduce) which I can't do anything about because of the water pressure.

greenbee

I think the novelty will wear off eventually @badmemory, but it is nice to see the bills dropping dramatically after spending all that money!

I don't feel like I've achieved a huge amount this week. Although I have managed to do pilates most days and get lots of steps in on the treadmill during meetings (this also means my IT band is killing me and waking me up in the night - much to the delight of one of the cats last night who spent an hour cuddling, purring, and kneading - something she doesn't generally do). 

However - on Tuesday the sides of the porch were glassed in (there's some beading left to do when he sources some matching hardwood) which will mean deliveries - and people - get less wet. It is in no way weather-proof, but I'm also hoping it'll make the hall a little warmer too. If I need to do the rest over time then I can, but for now I think it will make a big difference.

Wednesday was a horrifically busy work day.

Yesterday the window cleaner came (he hadn't been since August) and cleaned the windows (he also does the frames properly and removes spiders/cobwebs/spider nests), and cleared the gutters. He puts the stuff from the gutters on the compost heap. And my lovely cleaner came. Horrible meetings in the afternoon and then bookclub in the evening - just down the end of my lane this time, so a nice walk in the fresh air and dark, and plenty of wine as well as company! One cat was in (but looking through the locked cat flap) most of the time I was out. The other must have been waiting for me and rushed in the cat flap as I came in through the door! 

Today the gardener/handyman is here. He's done something to one of the gutters where there's some lead that directs the flow from the valley into the downpipe (which I suspect is too small) and was causing problems. Hopefully that's now fixed. While he was up there he noticed the sealant above the bathroom window had gone, so that's now been dealt with. He's also planted some stuff he brought from my mum's (he goes to her on Thursdays, and she is abolishing a couple of beds, so this is working well), and dug out one of the laurel roots. He's now hoovering the shed (which he's de-spidered, we've treated with insect bombs, and I have been painting), ready for us to start putting the garden furniture in it. Then he'll be weeding/mulching/pruning in the sunshine while I'm working. 

It was very foggy this morning, but the solar isn't doing badly, and the battery is charging and the water heating. I could probably get more money for export than I save by heating the hot water, as oil isn't that expensive - but the oil tank size is the issue. I'll have to start using some oil for the water soon, but for now the solar is just about doing the job (although the airing cupboard is fairly cool, which suggests that the tank is no longer getting completely heated).

Work for the rest of today. My mum is coming over tomorrow as I need to sort out her phone case and apparently she's bringing a rug she doesn't need, which I can put on the vinyl in the garden room over the winter. Friends are coming over on Sunday lunchtime. I hoping for decent weather so I can get some scything done, as well as some clearing and sowing done in the veg plot, and maybe even finish painting the shed. 

greenbee

Oh... and I've paid the bill for the septic tank emptying!

greenbee

Horrible weather, so nothing much done outside. 

Free hour of electricity used to descale the WM, run the DW, add some heat with the electric towel rails, top up the hot water with the immersion, top up the battery, and batch cook almond cookies, peanut butter cookies, seeded crackers, and black bean & beetroot brownies. Brownies are in the freezer, the rest are for the next week to 10 days. Unsurprisingly DW is running again tonight on cheap rate. 

I really could do with weekends being longer. 

Other than that, I've ordered some thermal blinds for four windows that have privacy blinds. They can be swapped over in autumn/spring so they're warm in winter but reduce solar gain in the summer. 

I didn't get round to hoovering the garage, which I need to do in the next couple of days ready for a furniture delivery from my uncle. Hopefully the chairs I've sold will be picked up before then which will make a bit more space. I also need to arrange for someone to feed the cats a couple of times this week when I have to be out. 

greenbee

Forgot about the heating engineer coming this morning to service the boiler and hot water tank, so had to get up and tidy up and empty the airing cupboard. 

Can't do any pilates as he was late and I'm waiting for him to finish (it takes ages as he cleans all the turbines in the boiler properly). We also had a discussion about the most efficient way to run an oil boiler as they don't modulate, and have a flow temperature of around 55C. They like to be on full, for a decent amount of time. So I'm going to adjust some of the settings to see whether I can reduce oil consumption. 

I've also measured for some curtain poles, worked out what I can reuse and put those ready to go up on Friday, and listed the last remaining one on FBMP along with my old nespresso machine (which I tested this morning before listing it). Compost has been put out, and some amaryllis that have only recently died back have gone out to the greenhouse. 

greenbee

I got cold while the heating engineer was here, and combined with poor diet over the weekend and rather a lot of hanging around on Saturday I'm struggling this week. Just about managing work meetings but not much more. I'd love to take some time off sick, but some of these meetings have taken weeks to schedule.

I'm about to get up and shower (essential, as I need to wash my hair - I have an urgent video to record tonight as one segment really isn't good enough), then turn the batch of tomatoes that have finally ripened into sauce and do some ironing. Probably while watching Rivals . I have at least applied to switch my electricity from Flux to Agile import and fixed outgoing which should be a better deal over the winter as long as I get myself organised. I'm hoping it won't be too much of an issue, as the calculators all show I will save on import, and export is now low enough not to have an impact. I wasn't brave enough to go for Agile export, as I think that would take to much effort. 

greenbee

That was quick! Agile import starts at midday today. I'm still on the old export tariff which is confusing - I guess it may take longer to switch. 

greenbee

While my export tariff still doesn't appear to be sorted, I've managed to get Agile prices imported into my solar app, and set a price limit for grid charging for the battery and boost for the immersion. As tomorrow is a sunny day, and I also won't be using my electricity (and I don't know what I'll be paid for export!) I've set the limits fairly low, but enough to include some charge/boost in the next 24 hours. I can see that I'll need to tweak this, and it's mildly irritating that the feature I need is in the website not the app, but I the effort level is relatively low. Next job is to look at a. the weather and b. the agile graph and work out when to put on the towel rail and whether to do more than one. I'm sure I'll learn how to optimise it fairly quickly. 

greenbee

I had a delivery of furniture from my uncle (who is downsizing) on Thursday and am just getting round to sorting it out. Luckily I'd decided to have it delivered to the garage and then clean it up - some of it will be having woodworm treatment, some of it just needs a dust/hoover/polish, but most needs washing down at least on the untreated wood as it's clearly been stored somewhere damp (although my mum pointed out that his house wasn't exactly warm and could well have been damp!) and has mould and mildew inside. So a lot of cleaning going on, and an order of woodworm treatment on it's way. Some will end up being painted as it isn't worth restoring (well, none of it is really worth spending money on), other bits will clean up OK. And once I've worked through this I can make a list of furniture I need to acquire - hopefully there will be enough decent pieces that I can fill some gaps.

We had a brief break in the cloud earlier, so the battery has topped itself up a bit, but the cloud has come over again and I can feel that the temperature is dropping. It might just be an afternoon in front of the fire with a book...