...and got a figure of £9k-£18k which presumably ignores the disruption, re-decorating etc (? what me red-decorate? I should co-co). Oddly the heat pump wasn't costed though:
Recommendation
Typical savings per year
Typical costs
Insulate the ground floor
Insulate the ground floor
£136
£2,000 - £5,000
Upgrade your heating controls
Fit a programmer, thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves
£21
£350 - £450
Insulate your cavity walls
Inject insulation into the cavity in your external walls
£166
£1,000 - £3,000
Fit solar electric panels
Install PV panels on your roof to generate electricity
£587
£5,000 - £8,000
Install a heat pump
Heat pumps use the energy outside to heat your home and hot water
-
-
Insulate your loft
Add loft insulation to reach the recommended level of 300mm
£389
£400 - £1,200
...so presumably that adds another £nk. Where I wasn't certain (ie I think we have cavity wall insulation, but how long that lasts and how it is renewed I don't know (we did not install it, and there was no certificate from the previous owners). We do have some loft insulation - but the available loft space is loose boarded, so if I doubt is more than joist depth - where 300mm is what 12" or so? And then that would need re-boarding on top.
My concerns with that:
1) My roof is old - original 1930s - so would sensibly be done before adding solar panels (although then not part of the cost really, it would effectively add another £12k+)
2) The heat pump - if using rads - would need a rethink to increase their size - or to put in underfloor downstairs when the underfloor is insulated. Currently, I have a 35Kw boiler running 10 rads and HW (over powered).
3) Re-boarding roof over the 300mm insulation.
All of which sounds a lot as it will add up to what? £30k+? But if fossil prices do not revert back to 2021 prices and stay low, then what would be the excess I would pay anyway over say 20 years? (ie if prices stay at £2k+ pa above 2021 prices) - and that would be without any overall benefit. But where do I get a spare £30k+ when my pension just lost more than that amount because of energy!
I wonder what the true average cost of upgrade to an energy efficient state is for most houses in the UK? I can't be that much of an exception can I? A simple three bed, converted, semi detached bungalow.
Hosta, I can answer that. As you know we had solar panels installation in march,then you wait several months for smart meter,that was July. With octopus,were "getting"7.5p p kw export tarrif, went up on the 20th September to 15p, except the engineering has still not been sorted out. They confirmed smart meter reading every 30 minutes,so expect a back payment. One of hubbies work friends,he saw him yesterday,has the old system,he gets all his electricity, plus £1000 a year, export, for 20 years,so he hasn't got many to go. Old chap at the bottom of our garden....next road,gets a decent export, but panels were installed free,so he doesn't own them. They have no batteries,we have 2. Averages out we make 20kw per day. In the summer 30kw, unfortunately,smart meter wasn't installed at that point. Occasionally,rain,no sun 3kw. We had them installed on a local authority "green"scheme, which was just over £8k, with 2 batteries. Normally the panels alone would cost this....we have 12
We needed a new boiler, made do with gas fire/back boiler at our last house that was a tiny 3 bed cottage 1930s, it wasn't enough to have a radiator in every room. Moved here 30 year old potterton,you couldn't get parts, Prescott said a new boiler would save £300,per annum...it didn't! We're detached, have replaced boiler,rads,doors, windows, double or triple A rated,already had cavity wall insulation. Doubled the loft insulation, mostly boarded....access to the boiler, inverter and batteries.
OK - can I then ask why aren't all properties being converted to heat pumps now? What is the issue that is stopping it? Would my house be as warm, for the same cost, with a heat pump as with a boiler?
There are a number of issues, not just one, including lack of a robust supply chain for both equipment and installers in the UK, the way our energy prices are structured under the price caps / price guarantee, the very poor state of our housing stock and - not least - the vested interests in and connected to Government trying to delay in order to maximise short term profit and make it someone else's problem in 5 years, 10 years, whatever.
Yes your house would be as warm, but it may cost you more because gas is subsidised by electricity in the UK
As electricity prices are rising, presumably " feed in tariffs" for pv panels are going up too? If not , why not?
Some suppliers are paying more than others but it is not currently mandatory. Most PV systems need to be grid tied, and if they are, you can't not export to the grid when you generate a surplus. The energy companies effectively have a source of very low cost energy that they can sell on at a premium and for which they pay very little, so why would they choose to pay more for it, when you don't have a choice not to sell it to them? They do have some costs - the grid is not designed to take all the surplus and they need to invest. But mostly they are just greedy.
I wonder what the true average cost of upgrade to an energy efficient state is for most houses in the UK? I can't be that much of an exception can I? A simple three bed, converted, semi detached bungalow.
To get all the way to net zero, the average is estimated to be £26k or thereabouts, so not far off what you've guessed for yours. About 95% fall in a range between 10k and 50k.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
To add to my posts and raisins,it took a very long time to get through to the local "grid" area then to obtain the certificates required to then forward them to octopus for payment of our excess electricity. 7 months down the line,we still aren't being paid. It's not a massive amount, but that's not the point. In the height of summer,we were exporting 20kw a day,. You can sell to any energy supplier, octopus is the best payer at the moment,and we assumed it would be easier as we are already with them.
To add to my posts and raisins,it took a very long time to get through to the local "grid" area then to obtain the certificates required to then forward them to octopus for payment of our excess electricity. 7 months down the line,we still aren't being paid. It's not a massive amount, but that's not the point. In the height of summer,we were exporting 20kw a day,. You can sell to any energy supplier, octopus is the best payer at the moment,and we assumed it would be easier as we are already with them.
How unusual that THEY are so slow to pass on the payments? So much for Offgem the " regulator " Total bias .
Hi Hosta, course solar is fairly unusual, hubby isn't daft,he is very techi and hands on, but nothing is explained to you. The installation company put an app on my phone, naturally this doesn't say the "Same" as the smart meter or the meter shown on the inverter. Getting through to the grid was an absolute nightmare. Press 1 for this blah blah,there are several types of certificates depending on how large the capacity is. The "install"capacity isn't the same as the capacity. Woman from installation company was incredibly rude, said "it's quite simple", suggested she might come and do my last job on a hyperacute stroke unit. Before we had the smart meter,I used to put the reading in online on our account,2 days later,there was the bill, this month,we haven't even had a bill generated! It's not a problem in as such we are very in credit. We have had 2 refunded since march, but decided to keep 2 months in credit as a buffer. I did a 2 year fix last spring,and am aware how much more it will be next spring!
Seems to be the way of the world Hosta, customer service......... having said,Reading the b****y. Visit to Primark last week,and 2 branches of The Works, absolutely lovely, pleasant friendly staff, always! This isn't a one off,chat to the lady at the works, recommend books to each other.
Posts
Insulate the ground floor
Insulate the ground floor
Upgrade your heating controls
Fit a programmer, thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves
Insulate your cavity walls
Inject insulation into the cavity in your external walls
Fit solar electric panels
Install PV panels on your roof to generate electricity
Install a heat pump
Heat pumps use the energy outside to heat your home and hot water
Insulate your loft
Add loft insulation to reach the recommended level of 300mm
Yes your house would be as warm, but it may cost you more because gas is subsidised by electricity in the UK
Some suppliers are paying more than others but it is not currently mandatory. Most PV systems need to be grid tied, and if they are, you can't not export to the grid when you generate a surplus. The energy companies effectively have a source of very low cost energy that they can sell on at a premium and for which they pay very little, so why would they choose to pay more for it, when you don't have a choice not to sell it to them? They do have some costs - the grid is not designed to take all the surplus and they need to invest. But mostly they are just greedy.
To get all the way to net zero, the average is estimated to be £26k or thereabouts, so not far off what you've guessed for yours. About 95% fall in a range between 10k and 50k.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
So much for Offgem the " regulator " Total bias .