Progress is...

rtandon27

When we costed up the panels (we could only do the in-roof ones due to local regs wrt historic profile) plus the scaffolding fees and the council building permit, we were looking at about 35000 - which for us is 25 years of current electric/gas costs. (Yes I realize that does not include inflation) For a ten year net zero cost, we'd be looking at 14400 or under which when we checked last, was still not even remotely near what that set-up would cost. When we first moved here, it was only a five year plan & then we would contemplate renting it out or selling up & moving. Though the five year plan has been a bit jinxed, it is sadly a moot point as with OH convalescing at home, the last thing we'd be able to contemplate is having work done on the house!

On a slightly different topic - I'm livid with the neighbour, who in the 1/2 hour we were away from the house the other morning, managed to damage one of the pavers on our side of the shared staircase with his middle-age-crisis bike. I've told him flat out to keep his bike and himself on his side of the property line but quite honestly he is a pratt. She of the plastic grass, panicked and called the neighbour on the other side who came to put it back in place (it's not attached - just cosmetic). OH witnessed it through the window and front door, having just returned from dropping me off at the station, but given that he was fighting nausea at the time and felt ready to pass out, he didn't get involved - just messaged me as I was on the way to work. So all that to say I have yet another expense to deal with that the moron next door has caused.

I'm on a role with moaning atm! Regular service will return soon complete with over ambitious lists!

(ETA - is the filter broken with the new editor? I could have sworn the word pratt used to get !!!!!)

badmemory

Experimentally stopcock & edited stop !!!!!!

Yes it used to do it for stopcock but no longer does!!

greenbee

I'm allergic to spreadsheets :) The installers have to use a template mandates by the MCS, so worked out ROI for the first lot based on my usage at the time. The second lot was slightly different, as the whole system is now oversized for my current needs - but it was more cost effective to do it all at once to reduce scaffolding/installation costs (the original lot would have needed separate scaffolding anyway so it didn't actually make much difference doing it in two phases). I now have enough capacity to charge an EV and run a heatpump. I'll need another battery for the heatpump as winter generation is low (and I do still have one more south-facing roof that I could do, but it's a bit in the face of my neighbours and totally invisible to me as it's on the cart shed in front of the house by the road).

Heat pump would always have been my preference for replacing the boiler but I've moved it up the list because a. the boiler flue is positioned so all the fumes drop into the garden and blow in through the windows and b. the oil tank is stupidly small. I'll also get more consistent, comfortable heating with a heatpump (demonstrated by the fact that the house is much more comfortable now the boiler is running very inefficiently at a constant low(ish) temperature).

No idea about impact on value - it's more about what I want the house to be for me. Prices have dropped anyway since I moved here. And much of the work I've had done (electrics, garden) and am going to do (garage conversion, larger downstairs cloakroom, reconfigured utility room, better organised kitchen) won't impact value particularly either, but will make the house work better for me. I don't plan on moving ever again after all this hassle in a house that was supposed to just need a lick of paint…

badmemory

My roof is east/west facing small & partly overshadowed especially in winter. As I believe a heat pump needs to be a certain distance from neighbours that cannot happen either. It was a decision made in haste but for once not repented at leisure. I am not going to get rich or even save a fortune, but on the other hand the ever increasing electricity bills are not going to bankrupt me either. With an annual usage from the grid of over 7000kWh already down to around 3000, much at cheaper rates. I am happy & I have spreadsheets!

rtandon27

@badmemory - haha - you'd think we were under 10 with all this testing of the swear filter! Wonder what happens when I say !!!!!!? - on the subject of your solar - are you in your forever house? - lol and I love that you have a spreadsheet!

@greenbee - I get that you have an allergy! I'm a bit odd with my love of analysis! To me everything is patterns and numbers. thank-you so much for sharing your whys! I think that sort of circumstance also weighs in on the viability of alternative power - the real question is if it is worth the long-term investment & I'm quickly realizing that this is not the case for us! Maybe one day when I find my forever house it would be worth it!

greenbee

I spend all day with spreadsheets, looking at data, working with pivot tables, and making sense of patterns. But when it comes to my personal life it's not just down to pure financials - I added a solar diverter to heat the hot water so I could turn the oil boiler off in summer and it would reduce oil usage in the sunnier winter months. People kept telling me that the maths didn't work - but having the stinky boiler off, and reducing the stress of having such a small oil tank were worthwhile benefits for me. The solar panels and battery were because power cuts mean getting in the car to find somewhere else to work (and memorably, I once had a powercut in the middle of an online pre-travel covid test) and having to reschedule meetings and move deadlines. I realise I'm lucky that I can make decisions on that basis. And hopefully all this stuff will mean that the running costs for the house later in life are manageable!

Cherryfudge

Sorry your neighbour is being a pain again.

I had a break from spreadsheets due to being busy and needing to be fully awake as well as available, but I've just filled in one to record my work hours. Wouldn't have done it if it weren't a requirement, it's not that I'm allergic, it's more that I'm a dinosaur. :) I haven't given up, I just need time and energy to focus.

On the subject of censorship, I noticed various native birds are now allowed on the forum, regardless of whether they are blue, long-tailed, coal or great.

Cheery_Daff

I love a spreadsheet, although I actually tend to use them more for words than numbers, especially at work 😂

Sorryto hear about your stupid neighbour @rtandon27 I hope your paving gets sorted without incident x

Greying_Pilgrim

Cherryfudge said:

On the subject of censorship, I noticed various native birds are now allowed on the forum, regardless of whether they are blue, long-tailed, coal or great.

Oooh, this is good news the rate I talk about all the birdies in our garden 😁

rt - really sad to hear about your neighbours attitude and behaviour - that and the delivery driver, just pathetic.

Greying X

badmemory

Unless I have a serious win on the lottery I am in my forever house. We have been here now for 30 years & have some lovely neighbours & at 79 I can't see me gathering enough steam to power a house move. I am seriously trying to declutter hindered by resident DS.