Solar Power-is it worth it?

amtrakuk

hmmm all this heat pump solution sounds a bit expensive to me. I'd say a wooly jumper is a bit cheaper than £15k for a heat source. Whats the expected lifespan of it?

Cardew

amtrakuk wrote: »

hmmm all this heat pump solution sounds a bit expensive to me. I'd say a wooly jumper is a bit cheaper than £15k for a heat source. Whats the expected lifespan of it?

In the USA where heat pumps are used quite a bit, a 5 year warranty on the unit itself is normal, some have up to 10 years.

Of course even if the heat pump itself needs replacing, that will only be a a fraction of the total installation costs.

The principle of the heat pump is quite simple, in that it acts like a fridge in reverse, it tries to cool down the 'ground' or 'air' and the heat it extracts is fed to the house.

mech_2

amtrakuk wrote: »

hmmm all this heat pump solution sounds a bit expensive to me. I'd say a wooly jumper is a bit cheaper than £15k for a heat source.

I agree. I've only spent £5k in the last 9 years on gas and electricity combined.

looby-loo_2

I don't know about houses but my son has connected the small solar panel from a Knex toy to my old radio. Works perfectly on my alottment. At the same time the rechargable batteries are charged so I can use it in the house in the evening.

Only saving a few pence but very convenient as I can listen up there all day.

The same little panel is used to charge our mobile phones and torch batteries.

amtrakuk

mech wrote: »

I agree. I've only spent £5k in the last 9 years on gas and electricity combined.

sounds pretty good to me... I'm about the same with an average of 60.00/month for electric :rolleyes:

I do feel sorry for those guys with oil... God knows how they can afford it

amtrakuk

looby-loo wrote: »

I don't know about houses but my son has connected the small solar panel from a Knex toy to my old radio. Works perfectly on my alottment. At the same time the rechargable batteries are charged so I can use it in the house in the evening.

Only saving a few pence but very convenient as I can listen up there all day.

The same little panel is used to charge our mobile phones and torch batteries.

Id think electric solar has its place with smaller low power applications (Calculators, battery chargers, Radios etc), but they haven't been developed enough to provide any benefit for an alternative whole house power source, especially in the UK due to the inclement weather and the cost of the panels themselves. There maybe a benefit if you live in a very sunny place, like the USA.

knightstyle

What a fascinating thread I have read but not always understood the arguments. So has anyone thought of connecting a heat pump to the solar panels to make them more efficient in winter?
The air/air heat exchangers in the loft work well particularly if you have a bungalow and I would thought this plus insulation/draftproofing the most cost efficient energy saving installations.
Several friends have Air/Water heat pumps but are cagey about savings, if any.
Just bought a pool (kit) and wonder how to heat it, can I use it as a heat dump for a solar system designed primarily to heat domestic water? If so how, DIY? Will I need a heat exchanger?
What happens to these systems if I go away for a couple of months? Family in NZ. We usually drain down water and switch electric off at the mains.
Hope you experts are more gentle with me than you are with some other contributors.

Stuckupahill

Some really interesting arguments on this thread......
We had been thinking about solar panels but having second thoughts now - thanks to advice posted.
Wondered what advice people would have for our situation.

We moved into v old mid terrace cottage with stone walls and floors (freezing cold even on the hottest of days).
LPG boiler runs CH and heats hot water tank - cooker runs off LPG and electric (oven). There's also an electric immersion in the HW tank.

In an ideal world we'd like to stop using the LPG and instead install a thermal store which would be heated via solar panels, solid fuel rayburn and wood burning stove (in lounge). Possibly also connecting up the LPG as a back up...
The thermal store would run underfloor heating downstairs and a few rads upstairs....it's a small house (two beds)

We've had a few quotes ......the cheapest one (ahem!) was ... £3,500 to install the solar panels (3), £2,500 to install thermal store (277l), £500 for u/floor heating and £600 for the electrical wizadry needed. Add in £500 to power flush CH, £500 to connect LPG and £500 to connect rayburn and we're looking at £8,600...and that's before we've bought the rayburn or the woodstove!.... obviously we're rethinking the plan!

with the price of LPG shooting up we'd like to use something else - we're thinking now along the lines of just the rayburn, woodstove and thermal store...
Any thoughts or ideas appreciated....
Andy

amtrakuk

have you thought of a wood pellet boiler? My friend has been toying with the idea of one of these for months. the figures look good, as long as you've got somewhere for the stock of pellets.

He's also got a wood burner in his front room. Needless to say when he first got it 6 months ago he decided to stretch its legs. Baring in mind the central heating wasn't on and it was -2 outside, he had to open the patio doors after a few hours as it was a baking 32 degrees in the front room and a very respectable 25 degrees in the hallway.

Stuckupahill

Hi amtrakuk
yeh I quite fancied pellet boiler - for ease and conveniance - but my wife has set her heart on a range cooker - and a solid fuel one at that (though i suspect she'll be less keen chopping logs and hauling coal when it's freezing out there...:rolleyes:)

The installers at the local shop weren't exactly raving about pellet boilers either...apparently they're tricky to set up and can be a bit temperamental - they said they get called back to almost all their installs - sometimes 4 or 5 times...but maybe that's the installers fault not the machines.....

Also on a few forums I've read people are dubious about the price of pellets - they can be controlled like oil, gas and lpg and a few doomsdayers reckon they will go up in price once enough people have pellet boilers installed - and can't use anything else.

Having said that if someone invented a water heating range cooker which ran on both pellets and solid fuel I'd be v interested (I reckon they'd make a fortune too judging by the numbers of people looking to switch back to solid fuel now).
The only one i found is this ...http://www.lohberger.co.uk/...but they're a bit too modern looking for our taste...oh and they also cost more than £5k! :eek: