Guest Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Does anyone here actually have either a domestic wind turbine, or solar panels? Our new house has all the bits and bobs in place to have both, which we intend to have fitted, but I was just wondering if anyone already had either, and if they had a noticed a difference in their electricity bills? The solar panel is purely for water heating, which I'm slightly dubious about - will a solar panel be efficient enough to heat water to wash dishes, for example, or bathe the children? I'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to things like this, and I'm not certain I understand how either would actually work, so am looking for some reassurance, I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Phil is a bit of an expert on this Chooks, I'll ask him for you. In the meantime, try a web search, you should be able to find loads of info like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 We have solar panels for our hot water and it is great. its really effective. In the summer it gets our water up to over 70' without any other type of heating. In the winter it gets it up over 20 - which given that it is coming in at 7 is pretty good and reduces the energy taken to get it to the temperature for showers etc (probably around 60). Today has been an overcast rainy day and the water temperature in our solar tank is 57'. this will feed straight into the main cylinder. Its well worth it - and great fun watching the temperatures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Try the INEBG forum Shona - a wealth of info. on there. ....or, you could get young Mr Strawbridge to come round and help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Hes on an island somewhere far away. Fiji! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Is he? - well Shona had best go and join him instead then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 Friends of mine installed a wind turbine outside their converted barn in Norfolk - it's on a 25m mast (I think - not too hot at metric!) anyway it's taller than the barn, it has to be on a specially erected mast because the stresses would be too great for an ordinary building. When it's windy, it powers all their electricity and even feeds some back to the national grid - but it does depend on wind conditions, they can't rely on it entirely. I am no expert, this is all stuff I gleaned from conversation with them, but as I understand it the sort of turbine you can fit on a domestic house will not generate very much power; if it did, then the house wouldn't withstand the strain. That said, any self-generated power at all is good - I'm really pleased to her that your house is set up for this. Why don't all new-builds come with solar panels/grey-water recycling, and so on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 That said, any self-generated power at all is good - I'm really pleased to her that your house is set up for this. Why don't all new-builds come with solar panels/grey-water recycling, and so on? Our house is a new build, and while the builders stopped short of installing the turbines and solar panels as standard, they did most of the hard (and expensive!) work by installing all the wiring for both, and, more importantly, building the house with the specialist reinforced steels for the turbine to be fitted on the roof. They've also ensured that all planning permissions are in place, so all we have to do is wait for the things to arrive. Things have been held up, as we wait to sort out the grants for both, but we're definatley going to go ahead with both. I did consider contacting the delish young Mr Strawbridge, as we want to terrace our back garden into raised vegetable beds as well, and we figured they could make a good episode out of eco-fying our eco friendlyish house, but I'm not sure that they are making another series... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 I would definately go with the solar panels, how brilliant that your house is all wired up to take them Not sure about the mini turbines for fixing onto houses, they sell them in B&Q, but I cannot imagine they create much energy. Don't they make a noise too? I went to the Home Building and Renovating show at the NEC in March, and can't recall seeing any wind turbines, plenty of solar panels and geothermal heating though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 My son subscribes to a magazine called Self-Build, there's often information in there. He used to buy it in WHSmith. We were going to be installing all manner of eco-lifestyle appliances when we sold our house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Not sure about the mini turbines for fixing onto houses, they sell them in B&Q, but I cannot imagine they create much energy. Don't they make a noise too? My nextdoor neighbor has a turbine, bigger than the B& Q one. He fitted it himself and it certainly is noisy. The first night it was there his sons couldn't sleep and told him to take it down the next day. He has changed the blades so it is quieter but on a windy day there is still a whistle coming from it. I quite like the noise though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoid Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 Dont forget, you can get goverment grants to pay for some of the price for solar panels, wind turbines etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milly Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I have read that the grants run out within a few hours (or less) of each allocation being released each month. But some people must be lucky, or they wouldn't run out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine C Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 That said, any self-generated power at all is good - I'm really pleased to her that your house is set up for this. Why don't all new-builds come with solar panels/grey-water recycling, and so on? Totally agree. Building regs should include these features as standard NOW! and especially as so much new housing development is proposed on the Thames Gateway in the near future. Water resources in this area will be stretched to the limit so grey-water recycling and rainwater harvesting particularly relevant. (might not seem so at the moment with all the rain though!) The govenment should be thinking for the future and in terms of adapting to climate change and this would surely go a long way to helping. Any household that can self-generate power also makes a contribution to potentially reducing CO2 emissions. Much cheaper to include options for power generation and water conservation in the building phase rather than trying to retro-fit in existing dwellings. I've had a look at installing solar panels for hot water for my place and even with any grants that I could receive currently there still seems to be a long payback period. I think if the government is serious about climate change then more incentive is needed to encourage people to a able to afford to take these options and these should be included in new builds as standard. Rant over. E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Richard, How much does the solar water heating system cost to install? I have just contacted a firm to do a no obligation survey but don't want the hard sell if I can't afford it. We have a combi boiler and no hot water tank does this matter? Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 We had ours done, about a year ago. It consists of a couple of panels which heat a tank of water in the loft. That then feeds into the normal tank. So in the summer the 'cold' feed to the normal hot water tank is over 60'. Even in the winter it means that the cold feed is over 20' (cf normal of, I think, about 7'). The cost was, I think, just over £3 grand, but I got about £400 grant I seem to remember. Sorry I can't be more precise - my memory isn't what it was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I started typing a response along the lines of 'mm, wish I could, but £3k is a lot to spend on something that won't repay itself for years'. Then I thought about the fact that I am probably going to spend £2k on having new windows fitted next year ... they are necessary as my present ones are leaking, and they will retain heat much better, but they won't actually repay the cost, either. And I'm also going to spend more than £3k replacing my car next month. (I have to have a car for work.) maybe this isn't quite the distant dream I thought it was! Will you keep us posted, Couperman - I'd be interested to know how much (if that's not rude) and which company? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 The great thing for me is that I can shower and bath in boiling hot water in the summer, as much as I like, without thinking it is costing me money! Our electricity bill fell quite considerably in the summer - and there are only two of us here at home. If we had children using hot water as well we would probably be better off! We did work out the payback time, but again I can't remember what it was, apart from that it was a single figure number of years and we decided that it was worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
