Switched Energy Tariffs

[Old Hack]

Ground source heat pump, PV panels, and Solar water has seen my bills plummet over the past year. Also looks good for a payback within 8 years, then I am in profit.

[EternalOptimist]

Ground source heat pump, PV panels, and Solar water has seen my bills plummet over the past year. Also looks good for a payback within 8 years, then I am in profit.

similar here, I am thinking about getting a backup genny in the garage as well

[Old Hack]

similar here, I am thinking about getting a backup genny in the garage as well

I am toying with the idea of one when we move into the smallholding. But I am also hoping for a stream as well, so to keep the options open.

[Old Hack]

Microhydro can be very effective, depending on the head of water available.

We have been looking at the measurements where it starts making sense, and, to be frank, it has to be a fair stream, head and drop. Trying to source these places is hard though, so it might be a long wait.

We have a place in France, and there's another English family who have a house in the village, and it's the old mill and he generates an awful lot of electricity through the water wheel. Cost him, I believe £30k odd, but the money is flying back in.

[Old Hack]

The moustachioed Major Sawbridge built a water wheel in his Cornish hideaway.

However, a proper turbine would be many times more efficient.

You can get these Archimedes screws now which are, £ for £, the most efficient, but if the water wheel is top fed, its about as efficient as they can be. The bottom fed ones are pretty much maxing out at 20% efficiency.

I read a book about sustainable energy, and the crux of it, was that to do it successfully, you had to do as much as you can, no matter how small it may be, advocating all approaches, used together. It's persuaded us to look at maintaining a 1 acre willow copse, as it keeps on regenerating and after 2 years, you can pretty, much, have all the fuel you need for a back boiler.

In the future, if we don't get a big deal out of fracking, we're going to be held to ransom by Russia and others, in my opinion, and if you don't start addressing it soon, then you're going to be paying through the nose.

EDIT:
Oh, and it's that Major that started me seriously thinking about our footprint. I used one of his designs to build a solar food dryer. It works fantastically!

[Troll]

Ground source heat pump, PV panels, and Solar water has seen my bills plummet over the past year. Also looks good for a payback within 8 years, then I am in profit.

On your solar water did you make the tubes yourself (I'm considering) or buy off the shelf - if off the shelf which solar collector technology did you go for - evacuated tube or flat panel? (prices would be useful too )

[Old Hack]

On your solar water did you make the tubes yourself (I'm considering) or buy off the shelf - if off the shelf which solar collector technology did you go for - evacuated tube or flat panel? (prices would be useful too )

Evactuated Tubes, around 12 I think? We had all the work done at the same time (8m2 PV panels, ET, ground source heat pump and central controller) and it came to about £24k iirc, but then we had a £6k grant so about 18k, but we're getting about £2200 a year back from feed in tarifs.

EDIT:
Sorry missed the Q about how they were made - Bought in. Company did the job lot. I know a good friend who put his on PV panels in, and wired them all up, but if I tried it, I'd probably be dead. I do not like working with electricity, since a childhood skirmish with plug socket and screwdriver...

[Troll]

Evactuated Tubes, around 12 I think? We had all the work done at the same time (8m2 PV panels, ET, ground source heat pump and central controller) and it came to about £24k iirc, but then we had a £6k grant so about 18k, but we're getting about £2200 a year back from feed in tarifs.

Plan B it is then!

• Dig up mains supply for gas & electricity
• Install meter bypass circuit

[Old Hack]

Plan B it is then!

• Dig up mains supply for gas & electricity
• Install meter bypass circuit

Luckily we caught the last FIT, as the current one (hehe), isn't has much. It's still worthwhile, but payback takes a bit longer. I'd get in before 2014, for they're bound to lower it further.

[Zippy]

Microhydro can be very effective, depending on the head of water available.

I thought it was seriously expensive to install?

The moustachioed Major Sawbridge built a water wheel in his Cornish hideaway.

However, a proper turbine would be many times more efficient.

And the moustachioed Major's water company charged him to borrow the water

OldHack - does your ground source heat pump use a lot of electricity? And can you generate enough to cover it? Do you buy the most energy-efficient appliances?