lapal_fan Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Can find some that are around 5/6 years now, especially with this round of utility increases. Battery storage is something most households should have a look at, as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted March 23, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 23, 2022 8 minutes ago, ender4 said: I think it was down to 12 years before this years increases in energy prices. Must be down to around 8 years by now with current prices. We looked into solar panels a number of years ago and were told our house faces the wrong direction. Is this really the case? Only N/S aligned houses really benefit from solar panels? We have plenty of sun in the back garden really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 5 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: We looked into solar panels a number of years ago and were told our house faces the wrong direction. Is this really the case? Only N/S aligned houses really benefit from solar panels? We have plenty of sun in the back garden really. It depends more on whether your roof is shaded by other houses/flats/tall buildings or trees, more than the orientation.. You can always have them on the front or back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 7 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: We looked into solar panels a number of years ago and were told our house faces the wrong direction. Is this really the case? Only N/S aligned houses really benefit from solar panels? We have plenty of sun in the back garden really. If you have a good roof both sides of the house then the panels can go either side. If your house is twisted E/W or W/E then it might not be as efficient but the solar company would take that into account when deciding where to place the panels. I've seen some houses have panels on both sides of their house due to the way the roof is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 23, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 23, 2022 31 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: Can find some that are around 5/6 years now, especially with this round of utility increases. Battery storage is something most households should have a look at, as well. There is a brilliant video on youtube about choosing a battery before you even get Solar. A lot of utility companies have a tariff which gives REALLY cheap electricity for 4 hours in the dead of night. Most people choose this tariff to charge electric cars at night. Energy companies like offering it because it helps them balance their demand. The example he gave was Octopus Energy who only charge 5p per KWh (I think it's 7.5p now). So basically you fill your battery in that 4 hour slot with the dirt cheap electricity and then run your house from the battery in the day when electricity is expensive. He worked out a 4 year payback and I'm pretty sure that was before the April hikes. He said it would be the first thing to do before even thinking abiout solar. I'll try and dig out a link later. I think batteries are now VAT free as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rob182 Posted March 23, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted March 23, 2022 51 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: We looked into solar panels a number of years ago and were told our house faces the wrong direction. Is this really the case? Only N/S aligned houses really benefit from solar panels? We have plenty of sun in the back garden really. You’ve got bigger problems than energy bills if you’re house is upside down. 1 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 23, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 23, 2022 Here's that link. It was actually posted up in October 21 so the prices will have rocketed since then. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart_75 Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 15 hours ago, sidcow said: The example he gave was Octopus Energy who only charge 5p per KWh (I think it's 7.5p now). So basically you fill your battery in that 4 hour slot with the dirt cheap electricity and then run your house from the battery in the day when electricity is expensive. This is exactly the tariff I'm currently on. I get 4 hrs of 5p/kwh for charging the car, using the washing machine & dishwasher. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 24, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) 45 minutes ago, stuart_75 said: This is exactly the tariff I'm currently on. I get 4 hrs of 5p/kwh for charging the car, using the washing machine & dishwasher. Out of interest what are the cheap hours? Edited March 24, 2022 by sidcow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 30 minutes ago, sidcow said: Out of interest what are the cheap hours? Generally between 10pm and 8am. "Red" times are 5-8pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 24, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 24, 2022 29 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: Generally between 10pm and 8am. "Red" times are 5-8pm. Not sure on that, it's only 4 cheap hours and I got the impression it's in the dead of night. I was thinking its midnight till 4 am or 1 to 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart_75 Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 1 hour ago, sidcow said: Out of interest what are the cheap hours? I'm on a beta tariff where the hours at 5p are 20.30 - 00.30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 24, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 24, 2022 40 minutes ago, stuart_75 said: I'm on a beta tariff where the hours at 5p are 20.30 - 00.30 Wow. That's much earlier than I thought it would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 Middle of the night would be ok for charging the car as I guess it could be done on a timer. It’s not ideal to have a washing machine or tumble dryer going at 2am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 24, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 24, 2022 1 minute ago, Genie said: Middle of the night would be ok for charging the car as I guess it could be done on a timer. It’s not ideal to have a washing machine or tumble dryer going at 2am. Tumble dryer? You made of money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 Just now, sidcow said: Tumble dryer? You made of money? Nope, just lazy. (we don’t use it that often tbh). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 19 minutes ago, sidcow said: Wow. That's much earlier than I thought it would be. It changes company to company, which is why I said "generally" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted March 24, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 24, 2022 12 minutes ago, lapal_fan said: It changes company to company, which is why I said "generally" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 44 minutes ago, Genie said: Middle of the night would be ok for charging the car as I guess it could be done on a timer. It’s not ideal to have a washing machine or tumble dryer going at 2am. Indeed, what one saves on electricity, one loses on paying the butler night-rates for staying up to move the laundry from one machine to the other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 4 hours ago, stuart_75 said: I'm on a beta tariff where the hours at 5p are 20.30 - 00.30 That's pretty decent. On British Gastards, it's midnight to 7am during the winter, and 1am to 8am in the summer, which is no use at all really for anything other than charging an electric car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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