How to live without heating - save £000s

chris_n

@HertsLad, as a matter of interest have you been skiing this season, if so where did you go.

littlemoney

matt_drummer said:

HertsLad said:

Maybe I need to think of other ways to enjoy my savings. Anyone who spends something like £2500 on energy because they can't think of anything better to do with the money - I'm speechless.

People spend money on heating because they need or like it, not because they can't think of anything else to do with the money.

You would rather not heat your home so you can spend the money elsewhere, which is fine with me.

By the same logic, some of us would rather have a heated home and sacrifice other things to have it.

A person who spends their money on heating their home is no more right or wrong than you, I don't why you are speechless?

If somebody said they were left speechless by your approach to heating, I'm not sure you would have liked it?


I spend zero on electricity or gas but our house is heated all day every day when required. We also have air conditioning in the whole house when we need it and we have a hot tub that our son loves to play in and that we can heat whenever we want at no cost.

So we have achieved a slightly better result than you in financial terms, we haven't had to endure multiple layers of outdoor clothing to manage it and we haven't risked our health for it.

How do you spend zero on gas and electricity and still have a heated house, air con, and a hot tub.?

HertsLad

chris_n said:

@HertsLad, as a matter of interest have you been skiing this season, if so where did you go.

I stayed in Canazei, Italy in January 2023 and used a ski pass which covers the entire Dolomites region. It was my third visit there and I love it. The scenery is fabulous, for a start. I was even thinking it's probably superior to my previous favourite resort, being Zermatt in Switzerland.

matt_drummer

littlemoney said:

How do you spend zero on gas and electricity and still have a heated house, air con, and a hot tub.?

Solar panels, battery storage and heat pumps.

Before you tell me, yes there is a capital outlay, but over the lifetime of the equipment the cost will be zero.

HertsLad

matt_drummer said:

littlemoney said:

How do you spend zero on gas and electricity and still have a heated house, air con, and a hot tub.?

Solar panels, battery storage and heat pumps.

Before you tell me, yes there is a capital outlay, but over the lifetime of the equipment the cost will be zero.

Please tell us more. Your system sounds impressive if solar power alone is sufficient for heating, air con and a hot tub. All those devices consume a lot of energy. And why do you say the cost will be zero? The capital cost needs to be accounted for, normally in the form of depreciation. Or was it installed at no cost to you, perhaps under some kind of scheme whereby the installer claims all the feed in tariffs?

Eldi_Dos

matt_drummer said:

littlemoney said:

How do you spend zero on gas and electricity and still have a heated house, air con, and a hot tub.?

Solar panels, battery storage and heat pumps.

Before you tell me, yes there is a capital outlay, but over the lifetime of the equipment the cost will be zero.

Are you looking for a house sitter next winter if HertsLad can convince you of the benefits of a two month ski holiday.

matt_drummer

HertsLad said:

Please tell us more. Your system sounds impressive if solar power alone is sufficient for heating, air con and a hot tub. All those devices consume a lot of energy. And why do you say the cost will be zero? The capital cost needs to be accounted for, normally in the form of depreciation. Or was it installed at no cost to you, perhaps under some kind of scheme whereby the installer claims all the feed in tariffs?

The income from the large amount I export and the FIT payments will cover the capital cost.

The heat pumps consume less than you think, the house is extremely well insulated and our heat loss is very low.

The hot tub is quite small, it's an inflatable one, my wife works at Morissons and we got a large staff discount.

I am accountant, I can assure you I have factored in the capital cost over the lifetime of the equipment.

I am very familiar with the battery technology and because we have a fairly large amount of storage, the batteries have a gentle life, they are not charged and discharged heavily and I keep them charged in their `happy' zone.

matt_drummer

Eldi_Dos said:

Are you looking for a house sitter next winter if HertsLad can convince you of the benefits of a two month ski holiday.

I would rather pay for him to go skiing than go myself

matt_drummer

HertsLad said:

Please tell us more. Your system sounds impressive if solar power alone is sufficient for heating, air con and a hot tub. All those devices consume a lot of energy. And why do you say the cost will be zero? The capital cost needs to be accounted for, normally in the form of depreciation. Or was it installed at no cost to you, perhaps under some kind of scheme whereby the installer claims all the feed in tariffs?

Of course, I could do even better financially if I adopted your lifestyle, I would consume less, export more and therefore have more money for other things.

I am still actually spending money by giving up export payments to heat the house.

HertsLad

matt_drummer said:

HertsLad said:

Please tell us more. Your system sounds impressive if solar power alone is sufficient for heating, air con and a hot tub. All those devices consume a lot of energy. And why do you say the cost will be zero? The capital cost needs to be accounted for, normally in the form of depreciation. Or was it installed at no cost to you, perhaps under some kind of scheme whereby the installer claims all the feed in tariffs?

The income from the large amount I export and the FIT payments will cover the capital cost.

The heat pumps consume less than you think, the house is extremely well insulated and our heat loss is very low.

The hot tub is quite small, it's an inflatable one, my wife works at Morissons and we got a large staff discount.

I am accountant, I can assure you I have factored in the capital cost over the lifetime of the equipment.

I am very familiar with the battery technology and because we have a fairly large amount of storage, the batteries have a gentle life, they are not charged and discharged heavily and I keep them charged in their `happy' zone.

Even more interesting, thanks. So roughly how many kwh of solar energy does your heat pump use per annum? Is it ground or air source? Are your batteries Lithium? If so, a fairly large amount of storage must have been expensive. I too am considering the happy zone for 2 lithium batteries I have added recently to my quite large bank of lead acid batteries. My aim is to keep the lead acid batteries within a happy zone too, by using the Lithiums to support the voltage during the period with no sunlight, each night, It seems to be working well so far.