Could These Clean Energy Technologies Work In Your Home?

Not knowing where to start or what home energy technologies could work in their homes was a common question we received from visitors to our Fully Charged LIVE Home Energy Advice Team (H.E.A.T) stand this year.
So to help answer these questions, who better to ask than you, our audience?!
In this week’s episode, the first of a new and ongoing showcase series, we venture out with new presenter Emilie Romain to meet Alison who improved her EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) from a low C to a high B.
Find out which technologies were installed and the benefits they have delivered.
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[@michalrybinski3233]

It is really encouraging that someone who might be seen by many as from "old generation" - often portrayed as technologically illiterate - talks with so much experience and knowledge around those energy systems and their set-up and functionality, really well done Alison!

[@ShortVersion1]

We were out trimming a tree the other week, and had a couple in their 80s stop to ask us about our solar/batteries. They said they were installing geothermal and considering batteries as well! It was really impressive!

[@justinstephenson9360]

What is needed is professional advisers who can go round a house, explain the options and in what order changes should be made if you are not doing it all at once. What we have is a series of trades who each understand reasonably well their particular niche (but as the videos highlights are uncomfortable about new stuff and pretty average, at best, on the software side) but are unable to see the bigger picture.

[@Umski]

And reluctance to change - I wonder how many gas fitters are telling homeowners that they can’t have a heatpump or that they’ll cost a fortune to run because they’re not clued up enough and want to protect their industry 🙄

[@justinstephenson9360]

@@Umski Good point, completely agree

[@recumbentrocks2929]

Great interview! That lady knows her stuff and has a clear and understandable way of explaining it. Get her on the team Bob.

[@TheAegisClaw]

Well done, I can't help thinking this is way beyond the means of most people though, even in the middle classes.

[@OVB_NL]

This lady really knows her stuff. Impressed with how knowledgeable she is across every single aspect of her home energy setup, battery, EV, heat exchange etc. She clearly did her research and has made smart choices. She could give many 'professional' advisers a run for their money :)

[@JustMeTalking]

Our house is EPC A+ (Scored 107 out of 100) on a 1996 3 bed detached in West Midlands. Learned a lot over the two years getting it from a D rating.

[@IDann1]

That’s pretty good going for an upgrade, i’m struggling every day to achieve that on new builds.

[@JustMeTalking]

@Daniel Farrant ... I learned a trick. EPC Ratings are based on two things. 1) How much energy your home saves, through insulation, efficient devices etc 2) How much energy your home generates, like Solar Panels etc. So one of the biggest point scoring areas is a massive solar array... Our house has been calculated at an annual Co2 level of minus... so we're carbon negative.

[@DavidKnowles0]

@@JustMeTalking Many house builders don't like putting massive arrays on houses. They put the bare minimum they can get away with.

[@JustMeTalking]

@David Knowles Yes this is true, even Solar Panel installers don't like big arrays. The reason is they can only self-certify the job up to 3.7 kWp export. Which is pretty average, and usually about 10 panels on one side of the house. But East / West Facing houses can have double that... at least. Anything bigger and they need DNO Approval which causes delays and potential complications. We had our house upgraded to 3 Phase, which allows us to move massive quantities of electric during the night time cheap rate tariff... to be stored in Tesla Powerwall batteries and used during the day.

[@malcolmfowler8972]

What is frustrating is our useless government is still allowing new houses to be built with gas central heating, no solar, no batteries, inadequate insulation. They will all need an expensive retrofit in the future.

[@matthewmcmullan9669]

Insulation is part of building regs and needs to be a minimum of 270mm in the loft

[@Umski]

But how many builders actually install it properly without gaps and cold bridges I wonder?

[@williamlawrenson8345]

At the very least, they should be preparing houses to be fitted with panels and a battery, and then ask prospective buyers during building what panels they want and fit them while the scaffolding is up!

[@IDann1]

Funny thing is ..the better I do my job, the less solar is needed to pass a good EPC.. but if I do a rubbish job and forced my clients to put more solar I will probably lose work. You are right, the government needs to set a better standards, most houses are built by housebuilders, they’re only looking at the bottom line, and at the moment gas is cheaper than electricity in our SAP ratings. At the moment, many sap assessors are leaving as from this year, because the government has forced a new SAP 10” regulation and the Computer program is not working, and on top of that the two major assessment companies are merging because the software is part usable.

[@paxundpeace9970]

Gas central heating is still the state of the art and continues to be so for many years...

[@squeak142]

This video is like watching myself. I have just renovated an older property, and installed exactly all of the same hardware apart from the heat exchanger. I’ll have to look into one of those. 9.24kw solar with power wall, ecodan heat pump with underfloor, Tesla car charger and should soon also be on Tesla energy plan. Great to see. I can’t wait to see my summertime solar results, as it’s only been running for a month.

[@buelentzeyben4316]

Great episode. I would love to see more of how individual homeowners have gone through the process and the decisions they made. It would also help to outline what it takes to get from a D or C rating to an A rating.

[@richardgoldsmith7278]

I’ve done a similar set of alterations to a fifties built Semi-detached 3 bedroom home, but with the original or upgraded radiators. No Gas since 2017. Beautifully comfortable and stable home temperature even without the underfloor heating. Solar PV added 2011 when FIT was at top rate. Powerwall 1 added in 2016. Heat pump added in 2017. Net energy costs : £10 / month averaged out over the year. Until RHI expires. FIT runs for 24 years 3 months from installation.

[@toyotaprius79]

At this point, the housing crisis in the UK (and in almost ever other western country) is in a dire situation where retrofitting will be seen and received in a hostile light that only the wealthy can afford; even when the barriers to both retrofitting and housing is a product of the market

[@416to613]

The real irony of all this is that somebody living in a multifamily dwelling in a walkable neighbourhood, using public transit, will have a footprint that is as low or lower. At this point, talking about hundreds of thousands in upgrades (supportred by government grants too) is sort of laughably out of touch when a lot of people can't afford to pay their basic bills.

[@devonbikefilms]

@@416to613 so you’re saying even if you can do it, you shouldn’t? Some of this can be done cheaply and by yourself. Insulation for instance. We can all learn new skills at any time of life.

[@bugsygoo]

@@devonbikefilms I think he's saying that it's great to see the wealthy middle classes saving the planet one power wall at a time, but this isn't most of us.

[@416to613]

@@devonbikefilms Insulation sure. I'm not sure the average person can put in solar panels, underfloor heating and battery storage systems. There's also an economic equity issue here when everybody pays carbon taxes but the only people who can afford to access grants for all these systems are the folks who have money to begin with. This is how you create a backlash against climate policy.

[@ShortVersion1]

@@416to613 Recently went on vacation to Mexico, and was surprised how many solar panels they had mounted on very shanty shacks. There is a problem with affordability, but that's why people who can't afford to make an investment should push for better policies from the grid/government. We are very privileged to live with these technologies, but many of the upgrades we made were only a slight premium to renovating an incredibly aged and somewhat dilapidated house. People might see it as a display of wealth, but they wouldn't have even blinked if we replaced everything with disposable fossil-fuel junk that cost maybe 1/3 less and stuck around polluting for decades. Good news is, say we spent 30k on some heatpump two years ago, it'll cost half that in a couple more years. If someone were building new construction, it would be a no brainer.

[@djlondon7956]

I need this woman's help, she's excellent inspiration !

[@milesdakin3540]

Hey EES, great video and I think it highlights how things CAN be done with todays tech if you have the desire, and I think that’s great. One observation is though alot of these stories come from a position of privilege and I think lots of viewers will feel (myself included) this is a solution we want to try and help with too but is inaccessible. Would you consider making some content on how non-homeowners and those less privileged can start making their homes more eco friendly? I feel like you’d do a great job of making them. With the cost of living & housing crisis, now feels like a great time to really educate a lot of people and help bring about the sustainable future we’re hoping for.. but alot of this kind of content definitely feels very privileged, white middle class and broadly unobtainable. Would love to hear your opinion on this? Climate change is a social justice issue, not just an environmental and financial one.

[@ashtontechhelp]

My brother earns more than I do - yet never seems to have any money. I suggested to him that he works out how much he is paying at the moment and take out a loan that works out to be the same per month as the savings on his bills - so it's cost-neutral for however long the loan is, then he gets almost-free power for, potentially, the rest of his life (he is 52). He wasn't initially convinced until I pointed out that purchasing a battery is potentially a 25+ year payoff, for an initial investment period of only 7-8 years. So, he gets massive savings on his energy for 18+ years. I worked out that, at current prices, he will save £26,000 over the period. If (when) the price of electricity goes up his payment time comes down and his savings go up as a result. He has contacted a few installers who have pointed out that, if you have even a small solar array, then you pay no VAT on the install, so he's not just getting a battery but a free solar array as well. So, during the summer, he will probably pay nothing for electricity for much of the year.

[@milesdakin3540]

That’s an interesting point, and definitely one I can appreciate I understand there are ways of making it work to your advantage. Out of interest though, is your brother a homeowner and (roughly) how much PA does he earn? There’s no judgement I’m just intrigued, as point I’m trying to raise is, that we need to start broadening our scope to enabling those who aren’t in these kind of positions to get involved too. My thoughts are that actually, your method is great but not particularly easy maths - I understand your explanation? But a lot of people wouldn’t. And as someone who has battled to get on the property ladder, if we want to make our world greener as you’ve encouraged your brother to do; HOW can we help educate those who aren’t privileged enough to own a home, or able to access significant investment, to do their bit? Those with the inclination and some money to invest will do eventually, I will when I can, but we need channels like this to tackle a broader demographic as it grows. What do you think EES? 🤘

[@ashtontechhelp]

@@milesdakin3540 I believe their total household income is somewhere near the £100k mark. He lives in Kent, 4-bedroom house, hot tub, fancy phones and gems etc for children's birthdays / achievements. He has no reason to be short of cash, yet makes choices that just boggle my mind. The tax-free allowance that they have between them is almost as much as I earn in total. He and I both own our own homes, yes. The maths: Thinking about making the presentation easier to understand - you are spending the money anyway, and will be for the rest of your life. So why not buy the gear, make the payments over whatever term makes sense you you, then when it's paid off you wind up with bills 75% smaller for 15-20 years after that. At the end of that 25-30 year period you should still have 70% capacity in your system, minimum, and batteries should be much cheaper by long before then anyway if you wish to replace / augment the system. So: You buy electricity cheaply - overnight, or some sort of Agile pricing - and store that electricity in your battery, ready for when electricity is expensive. Then, you use the cheap power you stored earlier in your house, saving vast quantities of cash. The savings pay for the loan. Once the loan is paid, you have a means of living very cheaply, potentially for the rest of your life (depending upon how old you are) or possibly making life very much easier when you are young and everything is hard. You can do this even in a rented property, with the permission of the landlord. If you need to move, you ask an electrician to disconnect everything for you and re-install at your next home. That's not massively expensive but it's non-trivial either, you would not want to be doing that every year. But from your old landlord's point of view this is good because the property is now ready to have another battery fitted, you really only need to do the bulk of the work once at each property, so it's not like they are inconvenienced and can more easily let it to someone else who might want to do this. Or, you can go for portable units and just run from the output of those. Bluetti do some pretty monstrous units now I believe, though they are not cheap. To give a concrete example of how cheap this can be - I do use gas for heating and some of my cooking, so my electrical costs are for running everything else. My last 3 bills were £31, at 7.5p/KWh. You cannot get prices that low any more but I think Octopus are still offering 10p/KWh. Given that many people are now paying more than 35p/KWh a battery is very much a good idea. I think that my last 3 gas bills were about £75. On the down side - good luck finding an installer at the moment, they are rushed off their feet, dealing with people such as my brother, who did not move fast enough. And next year the current materials shortage will apparently be much worse. We're already short of lithium, carbon and nickel are about to be in shortage next. If you're going to do it, start now. You're already too late and it's only going to get worse.

[@jamiefox54]

This idea that the low carbon lifestyle is a privilege of the wealthy sometimes misses the point that all $ spent lead to some carbon and poorer people automatically have a lower carbon footprint. The rich, Tesla driving solar panel owning people actually have a similar footprint to poor people that have taken no environmental actions at all. If you are quite poor, perhaps not in a large house, all you need to do is be vegetarian (or if that doesn´t feel like something you want to do try 80% or 90% less meat) and not fly (or at most one short haul every 2-3 years) and you will have a low footprint. You can look for a loan for solar panels and a heat pump where you pay back the same each month as the energy savings. If that doesn´t work out, get involved in activism instead to make a difference.

[@jamiefox54]

I do think this channel´s next video of an eco homeowner should look at younger people, perhaps consider ethnic diversity, renters as well as owners etc however to make it more accessible.

[@jteau2239]

Alison, Alison! My admiration and respect for you knows no bounds!

[@MrKlawUK]

Loving your new presenter - way with words and explains things very clearly. Emilie is pretty good too ;)

[@bernardcharlesworth9860]

That 9kw of solar seems to be the golden number for winter solar energy in the UK.Great video

[@accesser]

Well-done Great to see people interested in making a difference

[@buckles29]

Fantastic to see what can be done. Yes we know lots of the kit is an expensive upfront cost, but I'm sure will pay dividends in the long run. The flush fit solar panels look great. Emilie is a great new presenting asset to the fully charged/everything electric team. Roll on Fully Charged Live UK.

[@teranova5566]

Please if you do such show at least give people 2 most important information: 1 How much did it cost ? 2. What is the energy use by the house for heating and appliances? Thank you.

[@xyredmax]

Sounds like our 3 bed 1930 bungalow in Somerset, except we did it all 10 years ago and also put in solar thermal hot water and we store 20,000 litres of rainwater, fully pumped

[@pinkelephants1421]

Despite all of the extra expenses at the time, given the cost of living crisis, I'm betting that you're mightily relieved to have done it when you did.

[@xyredmax]

@@pinkelephants1421 Definitely - We had to refurbish the tired bungalow, so the additional expense was well absorbed at the time. We only have electricity and mains water, so the solar PV and storage battery have made the CoL crisis something we just hear on the news. A real shame the government isn't doing more to future proof houses for all

[@teranova5566]

@@xyredmax How much energy do you use for heating and how much electricity for the rest of the house per year?

[@pinkelephants1421]

@@xyredmax I grew up on a farm. The only water supply was rooftop rainwater harvesting and stored in a 12,000 gallon in-ground concrete water tank. I'm in my late 50's but it has taken up until about 3-5yrs ago for me to stop noticing the taste of chlorinated tap water. Funny how childhood experiences can persist well into adulthood; that's assuming I ever grew up in the 1st place...🤪

[@xyredmax]

@@pinkelephants1421 I know the feeling, we are around the same age!

[@bloodynorahvan2203]

Great video Em. I completely agree about the installers not being fully familiar with installation and software. Both the Hive install and the Givnenergy install felt very wet behind the ears as it were. Very interesting on the tray install of the solar panels and makes a lot of sense. I guess this means you can also re-sell on the spare tiles. Do you know which company supplied this? Definitely worth fitting this stuff on a home refurb 100%

[@EugeneLambert]

The in-roof system we used is GSE (French, I think). Some of the flashing kit isn't great, but roofers can improve it.

[@Jrambo51]

Hi Emilie, this was very interesting but could you do more on heat recovery systems and single room heat recovery as i think this is needed especially in older properties and air tightness prevents fresh air from getting into properties. I was thinking about infrared heating and single room heat recovery plus a heat battery for hot water only. Great to see you again. Take care.

[@willm5814]

Wow this woman knows her stuff!!!

[@michaelmcclafferty3346]

A lovely and informative video,thanks.

[@Gerardalba]

This is just brilliant, how all houses should and will be in the future. Great job.

[@richardlphillips]

Really resonated with my own experience of installing solar, batteries, heat batteries, MVHR and heat pump tech. Good for them 👍

[@johndunlop4790]

Did you use the SunAmp heat battery?

[@richardlphillips]

@@johndunlop4790 Yes, I have a Uniq 9. Installed in 2018.

[@EugeneLambert]

Excellent episode, and full marks to the couple for everything they have done. Alison explained it all very well too; Emily asked the right questions and let her talk. Fab. 👍

[@DC9848]

What a lovely video on switching to using renewables at home!

[@sawf6962]

It'd be interesting to hear more about the heat recovery system as I've never heard of it before

[@ecoworrier]

Search for MVHR or mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Companies such as Paul or zehnder

[@richardlphillips]

Having installed MVHR myself can confirm it's great tech that reduces humidity, removes particulates, helps allergies, stops mould/humidity, reduces CO2 and VOCs. Impressive stuff.

[@ecoworrier]

@@richardlphillips I agree. I have a Paul unit which has been running for the last 10 years. I paired it up with a ground source heat exchanger (not a heat pump, just a 45m horizontal air pipe buried 2m deep in the ground) and it pre-heats the inbound air in winter and pre-cools in summer. Its like free air-con.

[@richardlphillips]

@@ecoworrier 😎👌

[@DavidKnowles0]

@@richardlphillips I suspect MVHR companies might be getting a lot of business in the next few years as housing associations and landlords realise that if they don't deal with mold and really deal with it, not just slap a bit of paint on it and call it a day, they might well be facing corporate manslaughter charges.

[@frejaresund3770]

I have been enjoyed, so thank you for delivering.

[@jamiefox54]

Congrats and thank to this homeowner for doing a great job with the carbon savings, and lovely looking house.

[@Mikecpking]

Great to see retrofitting like this. We did exactly the same, but with 14kWp of solar and with running 2 electric cars is just about carbon neutral and an EPC rating better than A92.

[@ross00207]

Who did you use to fit your solar panels??

[@allesdurchprobiert]

What a smart lady! 👍

[@AdamCiernicki]

Half the builders we talked to were always in the lines of "you want insulation? But then you gonna have damp inside your house!!" With this attitude to technology we would have been still driving mule carts. Even new builds in UK don't have ventilation system as standard, at least I haven't seen any. Then you watch folks on TV showing black walls and scratching their heads.

[@David-bl1bt]

I have a reservation on a new build that has a MVHR system installed as well as solar panels and no gas. Hopefully I will be moving in early January.

[@TomTom-cm2oq]

Wow, Alison is an increasingly wonderful speaker! No pauses, no “ummm,” no “you know,” no run on sentences that don’t end before switching to a different sentence altogether…You should get her to be one of the presenters; she is a delight to listen to. Did you catch that Robert? :)

[@Riktenstein]

She is right the installers don’t get the apps. This was also our problem, even though some of them are registered with myenergi/mixergy etc.

[@DavidKnowles0]

Thing is why are myenergi/Mixergy registering people who don't get the apps. It seems to me they need to get their act together an get tough with the qualifications needed to get on to the register.

[@philjennings974]

Who installed the MVHR? The ducts in the loft appear to be above the insulation, flexible and loose. Have you had any condensation pooling in them?

[@matthewseymour8972]

Great to hear from someone so clued up and has clearly really thought this through.

[@dalroth10]

Great video showing what forward thinking people, who clearly care about the environment have done. They have put their own hard-earned cash into creating a home they are rightly be proud of.

[@jespencer7805]

All lovely in theory, but, the cost of such an undertaking is out of reach for most people who can barely afford to get on the housing ladder. I’m not knocking it just adding a dose of reality.

[@robertpounds4842]

I agree with your comment for a lot of people but there are alot of people in this country that could afford this . If we had a government that took a longer term view with there incentives I think we could put this in the hands of a lot more homeowners without the taxpayer forking out for it all in the form of a loan paid back in the form of savings made on your energy bill , just a though .

[@flyingpanhandle]

She could have her own show! Wonder what it recommended to take her to an A 92 EPC.

[@kalebdaark100]

Yes, that intrigued me too.

[@Umski]

EPCs gave always been a bit of a joke - it wouldn’t surprise me if it suggested something ridiculous like having a wind turbine or being Passive House retrofitted 🙄🤦‍♂️

[@JustMeTalking]

Most probably a Solar Water Heater, or Wall Insulation. Our house has a EPC Rating of A+ (scored 107 out of 100), we're actually Carbon Negative. First A+ rating our EPC guy had ever done... and he's on the EPC committee

[@B0jangle5]

@@Umski My EPC states "Cavity Wall Insulation (assumed)" which seems like a massive thing to be assuming given the amount of heat loss that can occur without it.

[@David-bl1bt]

@@B0jangle5 yep, too much "assuming" going on these days. My father used to drum into me as u grew up "never assume anything"

[@Yorkshiremadmick]

What a fantastic use of modern technology on an older property. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻🙏🏻

[@jrisner6535]

Sounds like they did everything right, amazing

[@mikemellor759]

Interesting episode Emily - looking forward to seeing more from you. 😊👏

[@WirelessGriff]

Good episode, we have followed a similar path, but have built a ‘business case’ for each piece of kit over the last decade.

[@mikebarry229]

Inspired choice of presenter and a perfect fit for EES given Emilies knowledge and background in green tech. Should have seen that coming when Emilie was on Fully Charged back in April and again in August

[@BHBeckenbauer]

Great episode! What a nice lady too

[@clivepierce1816]

Excellent, but no mention of the costs involved. If this is to be a template for the many rather than the wealthy few, subsidies and incentives will have to be considerably higher than they are now. We undertook similar retrofitting work on our house over a period of five years - underfloor heating, solar PV, solar diverter, a smart water tank, a heat pump and an EV charger, but the costs today are in the tens of thousands - well beyond the means of those most in need. Though nothing that another windfall tax on the oil industry couldn’t fix.

[@DavidKnowles0]

Not really, the government be better off taking the Chinese approach to how they crash the solar panel prices and brought prices tumbling down, they did it by funding the construction of silicon wafer factories specifically for the solar industry. The UK should consider doing the same for battery and heat pump factories by directly funding their entire construction. An create the market for them by banning new builds that don't include batteries and heat pumps. I suspect the UK would benefit far more building heat pump factories and home batteries than the investment it is making in nuclear, which will be by far the most expensive fuel on the grid by the 2030s.

[@jraevans]

People watching this are already sold on the idea of electric homes, what we need is advice on cost, different products available, and the process of getting it installed.

[@54mgtf22]

Love your work 👍

[@paulcummings55]

Wonderful episode! I appreciate those who can afford it, to do all that this family has done! Solar panels are a no brainer- you are just trading the cost of paying the electric utility for paying off the solar panels- but, unfortunately, not everyone can afford the power walls and EVs just yet- but this is a positive glimpse of what is possible in the homes of the (near) future!

[@Nujja1967]

You might be interested in our all-electric home. We've retrofitted a 1690s stone cottage and are having great success with heat pump, battery, solar and EV!

[@billyray323]

Wondering what the cost was ?

[@douggray169]

great video - very impressive

[@PaPaJ77]

Alison seemed so well versed, knowledgeable and well spoken, she'd make a fantastic presenter..! Would be a boon for your older demographic. Not that Robert doesn't fill that role, but as a woman, I'm sure she'd inspire a lot more Boomer types to pay attention.

[@tinrobot1746]

We're doing exactly the same currently. (Well just started). Insulation for us is key. Getting good advice is very tough and getting trades is even worse. Would love to see the figures for what is being produced.

[@mralistair737]

be carefull not to fall too far down the "insulate first" mantra... unless your house is a shell, you will come up against the diminishing returns where you'd be better spending on generation vs insulation. This post is sacreligious to many but for many houses is absolutely true.

[@Umski]

Wish this was my mother-in-law's attitude to a house refurb - well done Alison!

[@rtfazeberdee3519]

send her a link to the video :)

[@Umski]

Falls on deaf ears sadly - architect claims house they are doing up ‘can’t’ have a heatpump, she doesn’t like the ‘look’ of solar panels, reads the Daily Mail etc 🙄

[@rtfazeberdee3519]

@@Umski thats unfortunate, tell the architect about thermal storage if they can't have a heat pump

[@DavidKnowles0]

@@Umski even the solar panels design to look like roof tiles?

[@Umski]

@@DavidKnowles0 well ironically she did mention that she didn’t ‘mind’ the look of those once until I explained the inefficiencies and the extra cost for both the tiles and the labour to which she decided she’d rather not bother 🙄

[@stephenpeat3885]

If you are on a low income funding solar panels and heat pumps are out of these income range. People could insulate their home include fitting a gas/mix hydrogen boiler include planing trees to sock up the carbon dioxide.

[@eastcoast4233]

Such a great video. This is the sort of content which is both interesting and so useful for looking at things can do in own home. More please!

[@jamesw5719]

Solar panels in trays, great idea!

[@presterjohn71]

I think that could be my dream home.

[@willeisinga2089]

It is Easy. Solar Panels on the Roof. Easy. Inductioncooking Easy. Heatpump 65 degrees Celsius for heating and warm water. Easy. Installation one Day. I have this system for 10 years now. No Gas.

[@mike.n.davies]

Interesting to show what can be done with time and money. Sample costs or even the real costs to the householder would have shown how achievable (or not) this is to people with average financial means. Your show is very informative but rarely touches on the affordability of the tech you feature. How much did that solar array cost? Battery storage, thousands more.... ASHP will cost at least double the price of a fossil boiler plus installation. To go low carbon is expensive and I think you need to talk a lot more about this.

[@pinkelephants1421]

That may be because every project is different so it's hard to give an 'average' ballpark figure for each bit of tech & installation costs. Also government grants/incentives keep changing formats & amounts almost as often as Downing Street's No.10 front door revolves Prime Minister's; very hard to keep track of. 👣

[@martyndavies1482]

It would be hard to figure the average cost, but I'd say it ranges from 'expensive' to 'are you kidding me?!'

[@andymccabe6712]

They NEVER talk about the cost! The is the green 'Achilles Heel'.....!!

[@Greguk444]

It’s a bit scary to even think about how much all that work on heat pumps, solar etc cost apart from the house renovations. I wish I could afford to do it

[@B0jangle5]

Excellent video. Was really nice hearing the homeowner talk about this with so much enjoyment. Are there plans to do videos on MVHR in the future and what's involved in retrofitting it?

[@Jaw0lf]

We have followed a very similar route for our 1970 detatched home having upgraded to a 4kWh solar PV on our west facing roof along with a solar hot water Immersun. Later added another 4kWh Solar PV on to East facing roof, with Tesla Powerwall 2 an upgrade to MyEnrgi Eddi and installation of a Zappi for our EV. Then came the ASHP to get off LPG and remove the horrble bulk storage tank from our garden! With this the roof insulation was fully upgraded to 270mm and all of our original radiators were upgraded to work better with the ASHP. I have truned the whole home heating from 19 degrees to 18 as it was too warm. With a 6 degree ambient outdoor temperaturewe have been using around 21 kWh for heating from 8am to 11pm at 18 and dropping by 2 overnight. The whole house has been set at this level and is heating at the same time to help get the most from our ASHP.

[@DGT73]

You need to get rid of that blending valve at the UFH manifold, losing heat there .

[@Nikoo033]

Could we have more info about the heat exchange system the lady mentioned from 02:55 ?

[@anthonys6976]

Well done for what you have done. I have been trying to get a Tesla Powerwall fitted for 3 years to add to our existing solar PV system. Sadly it seems we will be waiting a few years more and as a retrofit to our existing system we are going to be hammered with 20 percent vat Thanks for that Rishi Sunak and Co ( If the Tesla Powerwall battery had been available at point of original installation we would have fitted it).

[@djcsdy2]

What are the "trays" that they had installed on their roof instead of tiles? I have never heard of these and have no idea how to Google them without getting a bunch of irrelevant results.

[@Nikoo033]

Don’t get me wrong, I think what this lady and her husband have done is fantastic and inspiring. However, it is worth putting into perspective: simply taking into account this large solar installation (~£8000), the ASHP (~£8000), the Tesla Powerwall (~£8000), we are talking at least £24000. Add the Tesla model 3 (~£47000) and the charger (~£500), the cost of JUST the appliances and their installation is dangerously approaching £75000, this at the same time as buying a bungalow… I mean, this is definitely out of reach for the vast majority of households. Even cheaper versions of all this (solar £5k, ASHP £5k, battery £5k, car £22k, charger £0.5k) would still cost you as much as £40000… Now the real question is, why are the green financial incentives in the UK made available for a limited time period during which only well-off people can benefit from them?

[@GreenJimll]

I think the coolest thing is that popup mains socket town with the phone charger on top!

[@David-bl1bt]

Yeah, definitely "cool"👌

[@petelewis6920]

I love all these programs. But I have yet to see plans of how all this tech could hang together. I appreciate I might just be a bit slow on the up take, but we are keen to replace our oil fired boiler with Solar and maybe battery, electric boiler etc but dont know who to talk too to get an overall design for this system done. Any ideas anyone? Thanks

[@danielmadar9938]

Beautiful.

[@03samjon1]

Yes Alison 🙌😊

[@jools2323]

A very nice setup

[@UnitedSpotlight]

The issue is cost, we should all be aiming for this but to retrofit most of this into a normal house you wouldn't get alot of change for 30k, 9k solar Tesla powerwall easy 20k right there, heatpump 5k+, insulation 2-5k dependant on what you need, then the heating upgrades on top, Green houses are amazing but they are for the wealthy and that were we are falling down as a country, it should be subsidised for the average homeowner for solar at a bare minimum and new homes should be built to these standards. Until we get to this point most people will not live in green homes

[@davidallton8074]

It would have been nice to hear how much all of the “tech” cost.

[@andymccabe6712]

Somewhat fundamentally critical-I should have thought..... !!

[@jonathantaylor1998]

Lovely, aspirational video - thank you. However, 2 points leapt out at me... 1. I was rather stunned that her 21-panel, east-facing PV array was 'only' rated at 6kWp... I have just 14 panels on my roof and that's rated at 5.87kWp...! 🤔 2. Oh my gosh... just HOW much would all of that cost...??? Must've been upwards of £40-£50k at least...! 😵

[@XTiDesignTutor]

Money? We have so much, what's the problem here. Doesn't everyone have next to unlimited? So glad these people in the video had such a reduction in bills, because it was so clear they were struggling with debt, food, staying warm enough to survive. Not like everyone else who are all happy and toasty warm this winter.

[@richarddaniel7013]

Great video. Very encouraging. I thought a domestic setup in UK is limited to a maximum grid feed in of 3.68kW . Does that mean with your 9kW system you have a three phase supply? Or can you always use most of it yourselves even in summer?

[@mralistair737]

Since the panels point in different directions i doubt they can get 9kw at once. I'm guessing the battery can be used to reduce the amount put back in the grid, or a device to bring on load like the water heater or heating to use up any spare. Or they could have had 3 phase put in. It might be just that you can put in 3.8 without approvals

[@richarddaniel7013]

@@mralistair737 good points, thanks. And they have a Tesla Model 3 to soak up surplus.

[@sylvainjamais904]

Great episode. More like these please. My case is more little by little and the next step is getting rid of the gas boiler and I'm worried about what it will really take. I'm yet to see case studies that alleviate (or confirm) my fears.

[@pinkelephants1421]

Why not have a chat with Octopus Energy?

[@sylvainjamais904]

Need to save first

[@pinkelephants1421]

@@sylvainjamais904 Fair enough but at least they may be able to give you a ball park figure to aim at if you can give them an idea of the size of your house.

[@MR.MACH1NE]

Great video...That must have cost a fortune to do all that

[@danielcarroll3358]

I did the same with my home, but being in California there are differences. It is a 1903 wood frame house that had no insulation. Now it is all electric and insulated in the extreme. Fortunately the roof faces almost due south and is quite a bit further south than the home here. So this year I have put over 3,500 kWh into the grid above my needs. Add in California's carbon trading, which gives all utility customers small credits, and my annual bill this year should be less than $40. That came as a bit of a surprise but a pleasant one. I made provisions for batteries, but as yet there is no need.

[@mralistair737]

curious question, but what does "in the extreme" involve? like did you overclad or just use rockwool in the voids?

[@danielcarroll3358]

@@mralistair737 The house is two story with wood shingled sides and a peaked roof with an attic. All the lath and plaster was removed and rockwool put in the voids and under the floor between the floor joists in the crawl space. Also between the studs in the basement walls where they were above ground. The attic is now conditioned space and was insulated with spray in open cell foam between the roof joists.

[@mralistair737]

@@danielcarroll3358 sounds all sensible and must make a huge difference, and probably as fas as you can reasonably take the building (as long as the windows and doors are decent). I ask because of other commentators about new buildings not being insulated properly. In the uk (a different climate obviously) this wouldn't come near the modern building regulations for a new build (except the floor) . People seem to dismiss the amount of insulation you can put in a new-build vs an older property.

[@danielcarroll3358]

@@mralistair737 The doors and windows were all original 1903 single pane, multiple light. They were all replaced with double pane except for the front door, which was of historic quality. Although the door glass was replaced. The house was attacked from top to bottom and a new wing with a basement added. Most houses in the San Francisco Bay area don't have basements and you see very little brickwork because of earthquakes.

[@johnnymonsters9717]

I watch these videos praying one day I can do the same Then you hear the story on how they got there and have to realize the reason why they are there is because of hard work

[@kinkong1961]

when she said they have 9kw you will rarely get 9 kW produced and in the winter a lot less so she defiantly put the right amount of panels she could fit more to make sure they are covered in the winter as we in England get very cloudy weather and this all well and good if you have the money to do this I couldn't even begin to pay for that amount of work done it must have cost 50 grand or more to have those alterations I am not knocking what they have done I think its amazing and a well thought out plan I just wished the prices would drop so that the ordinary person could afford such items like heat pumps and solar panels I now they are coming down in price but now the cost of living is so high it's hard to stay afloat just paying the bills for most people and just think if everyone went soar and wind power we wouldn't need gas power stations or coal powered stations at all just some battery stations to store the power when the grid is in high use plus all the houses now feeding the grid with there ev cars plugged in as well all powering the grid the cost of electricity would be so low everyone would be happy except the power companies who don't want you to go solar and wind and battery storage as there shareholder would go elsewhere so who care snot me they have leeched enough money out of all of us for a lifetime

[@DavidKnowles0]

An if everyone went electric we wouldn't need to import oil for electricity or gas. Hoe trade deficit would reduce overnight.

[@dealerovski82]

how much it all cost?

[@The-Salty-Bager]

I would love solutions like the ones in video but unfortunately they are out of reach in terms of cost for your average person

[@john3Lee]

Again - very interest but no real facts or figures in terms of costs to run vs costs to instal..

[@andymccabe6712]

Well, that's mostly because it's a very expensive install.....and a very long payback!!! I believe the technical term is 'spin'! You 'hard sell' the upside and gloss over the downside.....!!

[@juliandavies7890]

It's all great but it is expensive and the average person would not be able to afford all that in one go. I would love to do many of these things but do not have the funds to do so.

[@bknesheim]

I must admit that the calculation for the amount of CO2 released from the house need some explaining. 1200 kg a year seem a little high when you have solar and no natural gas.

[@verygoodbrother]

It's funny seeing people complain that it's only the wealthy middle-class that can get this sort of work done. The reality is even if most could afford to carry out the work shown in this vid, most wouldn't as they would spend the money on new cars, holidays, gadgets etc. It takes foresight, discipline and money to follow through with this level of extensive home renovation. Many will not bother unless someone else does everything for them.

[@DavidKnowles0]

An that why this stuff need to come as standard in new builds.

[@elmojito]

I think that Allison is not aware that there is an efficiency loss in the battery (any battery but specially with AC coupled batteries like Tesla) charging process so when they charge you the same for what you put in vs what they took out you probably lost 15-20% in the process. Good deal for Octopus Energy. Otherwise a great setup and highly efficient.

[@Vlican]

i can't afford this.

[@1wibble230]

Fire the sound engineer on this vid . Her voice had so much sharp sssss sibilance!

[@andymccabe6712]

Yes - because ultimately, sound quality is THE most important aspect of this film! F*** saving the planet.......

[@1wibble230]

@@andymccabe6712 I’m going to blow your mind Andy, are you ready? It’s possible to both understand what she’s saying AND have less sibilant sound! God what a stupid comment you made 🤣. Where did I say the sound quality was the most important aspect of the entire video?! That’s right I didn’t, that’s all in your head you utter simpleton 🤣

[@sputnik94115]

Clearly a "bungalow" means something different where you live than in the USA.

[@ross00207]

What company did she use to fit her solar panels, battery and other devices??

[@si-81]

Wow, she seems to know more than the installers, why didn't she do it herself?

[@DavidKnowles0]

Probably because she didn't have the tools. Also probably not fit enough to do the manual labour.

[@XTiDesignTutor]

... All while hundreds of thousands in the UK face genuine death this winter, not because of just food prices, but heating. It's nice to see this old couple live comfortably, but the trouble is, the country/society they are in, is crumbling around them.

[@XTiDesignTutor]

Sarcasm: Yes, we recently spent 10 million on 3 bed bungalow, we bored down 100 meters so that we can have natural heat and insulation from the core of the earth, completely natural. We then purchased 10 acres around the surface of the land (much to the annoyance of the locals, who we shifted away), and installed a 1000kw solar panel array. We paid Nasa to orbit our very own sunbeam to shoot down onto the solar array, thereby increasing efficiency (again, unfortunate for the northern hemisphere which occasionally does cast a shadow from our equipment). We purchased 10gw of battery storage, just in case of nuclear war, or if Russia invades. We purchased our own army using humanoid robots which can kill 10 people per second. We realise not many people have these funds, but it really is so important to be green and to have lots, and lots of money. Question - where did these people get rich from? Oil? Land? Birth privilege?

[@DavidKnowles0]

probably from playing the housing market. Just moving out of London would have allow them to purchase a large house and have plenty left over for renovations. Especially if they brought their London house in the 80s.

[@bugsygoo]

Glad to see the wealthy middle class being subsidised for doing the right thing. 😏

[@presterjohn71]

You're damned if you do and damned if you don't with some people.

[@bugsygoo]

@@presterjohn71 So maybe then you can explain to me why working people who can barely pay for their energy should subsidise the wealthy so that they can get cheap energy.

[@briankavanagh7191]

@@bugsygoo you can also be subsidised if you go down this route, but this lady and husband may have worked all their lives in a good job and saved for this renovation. Don't judge people because of jealousy, remember there is no such thing as class.

[@bugsygoo]

@@briankavanagh7191 I'm not judging them. I couldn't give a damn about them one way or another. I'm criticising the video and the subsidies the wealthy middle class receive that then enables them to get cheap energy. In the current climate, that is particularly obscene. As for there being no class, you must be inhabiting a different universe to me.

[@DavidKnowles0]

@@bugsygoo The renovations was in 2019. There are also some councils that renovating their council housing stock to similar standards.