How to live without heating - save £000s

greenbee

HertsLad said:

Something else they suggest is solar thermal water heating. I thought it might be going out of fashion because I was able to pick up dozens of tubes (multiple transactions) at a knock down price. I have carried out tests using a few tubes in the garden. Even in December, I could boil water so it works. I was thinking of installing a house width array of tubes on my roof. A few houses have a few tubes but I doubt if the assessor would ever have seen a house with so many tubes, with anywhere near the capacity to produce bath loads of hot water. But again, as it wouldn't have been installed by registered, accredited contractor would it also count for nothing? A more pressing concern and probably the reason I haven't yet gone ahead, is the weight of all these vacuum tubes. Is the house roof likely to be able to support it? 

This is one of the things the installers have to work out - whether the roof can take the weight of the installation without compromising it's integrity. And they have insurance to cover them if there is a problem. 

I'm not sure you'd need to cover the roof for solar thermal - unless you were planning on having a lot of baths, or using the hot water to pre-heat central heating. 

chris_n

People here are removing water systems and replacing them with PV and a heatpump for heating and DHW.

silverwhistle

It does strike me that the OP doesn't have a particularly well insulated house. I haven't used the central heating yet this season and only one test fire of the wood burner when entertaining but the rooms I monitor haven't gone below 18 this season . £50 a month for all my energy and motoring seems reasonable and I'm not going to sweat it down any more, and the account is well in credit. [Just checked on an app: purchased 2980 kWh of electricity and 2,190 kWh of gas last year, the former covering my motoring too.]

Since skiing has been mentioned, to put that monthly payment in perspective, it's about £30 less than a day pass at Verbier. Much as I used to like a powder day on Tortin, I'm not going to give up a reasonable level of comfort at home, and yes I do wear merino vests and jumpers inside when it gets really cold!

PS: OP, you never answered my question about how any guests cope with your house? When my sister visits from warmer climes I put my CH on more!

Green_hopeful

I just don’t understand how anyone can heat their house for 2190 kWh in gas. Looking at the ofgem figures. That’s 1/3 of the average for a one bedroom flat. We have a big house and three people  We are relatively careful and even with the relatively mild winter last year we have used 11500 kWh of gas. In fact 2190 is 6 kWh per day. We use 6kwh a day in the summer just on water heating and cooking  

silverwhistle

Hot water from solar panels using an iboost, a wood burner in the lounge using scrounged wood that I season myself plus occasional assistance from direct acting electrical space heating when Agile is very cheap or negative.

Ex-council 1950s 3-bed terrace with (now) reasonable insulation and single occupancy. Full disclosure there! :-)

HertsLad

silverwhistle said:

Hot water from solar panels using an iboost, a wood burner in the lounge using scrounged wood that I season myself plus occasional assistance from direct acting electrical space heating when Agile is very cheap or negative.

Ex-council 1950s 3-bed terrace with (now) reasonable insulation and single occupancy. Full disclosure there! :-)

Ah, that helps explain the relatively low cost of your energy if you use a wood burner. I could do that, to try and take the chill off the house. I did consider it, a few years ago but dismissed it for the following reasons: (1) it would probably amount to heating a single room, in effect - in my case the kitchen. And (2) the effort of loading the burner every few hours and, even worse, having to dispose of the ash. Quite simply, I can't be bothered. I am far more comfortable and happy when my whole house is almost all at the same temperature, whether it's 22C or 2C,

I have already explained why I really don't like the idea of heating a single room or area of the house.

I skied in Verbier once, in the 1980s. I loved it but would never return unless the Swiss Franc is revalued in our favour. The costs are now absurd so I go to Italy where the costs are far more reasonable.

HertsLad

silverwhistle said:

It does strike me that the OP doesn't have a particularly well insulated house.

PS: OP, you never answered my question about how any guests cope with your house? When my sister visits from warmer climes I put my CH on more!

I will soon provide some figures on the energy required to heat my house, how well it is thought to be insulated, etc based on energy data for neighbouring houses. 

As I said before, nobody visits me. The discomfort of visitors is not a concern!

FreeBear

HertsLad said:

silverwhistle said:

Hot water from solar panels using an iboost, a wood burner in the lounge using scrounged wood that I season myself plus occasional assistance from direct acting electrical space heating when Agile is very cheap or negative.

Ex-council 1950s 3-bed terrace with (now) reasonable insulation and single occupancy. Full disclosure there! :-)

Ah, that helps explain the relatively low cost of your energy if you use a wood burner. I could do that, to try and take the chill off the house. I did consider it, a few years ago but dismissed it for the following reasons: (1) it would probably amount to heating a single room, in effect - in my case the kitchen. And (2) the effort of loading the burner every few hours and, even worse, having to dispose of the ash. Quite simply, I can't be bothered. I am far more comfortable and happy when my whole house is almost all at the same temperature, whether it's 22C or 2C,

I also have a (multi)fuel stove. A bit overpowered for the lounge, so with the door open, it helps to heat the rest of the house. Bedroom directly above benefits from heat being radiated by the flue (which also acts as a thermal store).

Yes, cutting, stacking, and carting logs in is a bit of a chore, but the ash can be scattered on the garden as long as no coal has been burnt. One also needs a decent amount of space under cover to store logs..

wrf12345

If you advertise on Gumtree or FB Marketplace then it is a good way to get rid of waste wood rather than paying some ruffian to come take it away, plenty of people need it for their woodburners etc. For me, difficult to fit an outside flue as I have a lean-to going around two sides of the residence and the other side would be next to the neighbour's front door, which would probably not go down well. 

FreeBear

wrf12345 said: If you advertise on Gumtree or FB Marketplace then it is a good way to get rid of waste wood rather than paying some ruffian to come take it away, plenty of people need it for their woodburners etc.

The following is aimed at people burning waste wood rather than those trying to get rid of it - You should never burn treated, painted, or reconstituted (plywood, mdf, OSB, etc). Doing so releases toxic fumes in to the atmosphere and could incur the wrath of your neighbours. If the local council get wind of it, you could face prosecution. Just burn well seasoned & untreated wood.