A Tour Of Robert Llewellyn’s Ultra-Efficient Eco Home

[@xxwookey]

My big problem with _all_ this stuff is that it's proprietary. Ever single interface: mixergy, powerwalls, zappi, and presumably the tepeo is secret. No-one else can provide control systems or fix it if those people go bust and fall off the net. I want one house controller, that lives in my house, and is controlled by me, and still works if the internet goes on strike, not 5 different apps which only work when the internet is on, and only work on a bloody mobile phone, not any other computer. It's crazy that none of those companies will tell tell you how to talk to the kit (I know, I've asked). We need open standards for this stuff, ASAP.

[@oakfieldfarm4131]

Home Assistant. You need home Assistant. I’ll say no more…

[@xxwookey]

@@oakfieldfarm4131 Home assistant is great - but have they reverse-engineered all these devices? If so then that is very good news, although I'd prefer some right-to-repair regulations that forced these outfits to provide documented interfaces and escrowed software in case they go bust. It's the only way to avoid hardware becoming prematurely obsolete.

[@oakfieldfarm4131]

Mostly, yes. Mine talks to my Apple TV, Brother Printer, Mixergy HW Cylinder, Myenergi Eddi, Zappi, Harvi & Hub, NetAtmo environmental monitoring system, Renault Zoe, SolarEdge inverter, Sonos music system, Tesla Powerwall, Tuya smart WiFi devices (all my lighting), Z-Wave smart devices (external window roller shutters), Zehnder MVHR system, Zigbee smart devices (door, window, motion sensors & energy monitoring plugs) and Octopus Agile tariff. I can’t think of enything I haven’t been able to integrate with it yet :)

[@ddeightonuk]

Agreed, I love Robert's enthusiasm but we need to move forward. I don't consume all Fully Charges's videos but there are many critical issues being missed such as the Phone-isation of Mobility, the Range v Aggregate Mobility Curve and the integration and optimisation of low energy density renewables at system level. Individually installed systems will lead to a very suboptimal system output. Also missing is the need for the Internal Rate of Return calculations that any sensible business would do before any investment. We are still talking about nebulous 'savings' on future energy bills.

[@MrBearfaced]

Home Assistant is great, I use it to control a large number of devices in my home. The devices that can be controlled locally i.e. without having to call a service exterior to the home network are generally more protected from a company going bust, pulling their cloud service or charging a subscription. At the moment there are a lot of devices that are proprietary that can be used with Home Assistant accessed either via the cloud or locally however it tends to be up to the manufacturers to allow access to their APIs etc to make it possible. There is a new 'standard' that has been developed called Matter, that is royalty free meaning that manufacturers only need to pay for the certification process. Matter products run locally and do not rely on an internet connection, if enough manufacturers embrace a standard like this, then Home Assistant will truly be the answer to many problems and allow interoperability like we've never seen before.

[@philipmelling]

Great to see Emilie join the team. Another extremely knowledgeable presenter for Fully Charged.

[@mentality-monster]

Hear hear

[@littlechanges13]

Would be great to have an introduction though. She clearly knows her stuff so useful to understand her background

[@quixomega]

It would have been nice to know what her expertise is, is she an engineer? physicist? contractor?

[@davidgrant8423]

@Erwin de Wit Seen her heat pump videos online, very knowledgeable engineer. Company is called ecobubl

[@dh2032]

@@davidgrant8423 thanks

[@stevenbarton2398]

I have worked in the fossil fuel industry for over 20 years but started to get into renewables about 10 years ago working on windfarms, grid scale solar and grid scale battery storage. I started my journey to de-carbon my own home and life about 5 years ago by insulating my home, I got an electric car about 18 months ago. I had an air source heat pump installed last week and providing my supplier can get all the kit, I am hoping my solar and battery will be installed by the end of this month. As everybody acknowledges it is not without expense. Robert and co have inspired me to move down the low carbon route, keep up the brilliant work.

[@jonblacklock1052]

@@jacoboc2244 Not one solution for everyone & every place. Many different options & permutations. As to the mantra it’s always fabric first. We need to stop building homes that don’t have enough insulation & then waste energy heating and cooling them.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@jacoboc2244 The government putting in more effort and funding will be the main kick we need to get this all working properly. We need proper funding to insulate the millions of homes that are wasting so much energy to keep warm (and cool). Our houses are old and not designed for the current climate and many were built to fairly basic standards in a hurry during the industrial revolution. We need to get rid of the ban on new on-shore wind farms, expand the solar farms, do more with hydro and invest in nuclear. If you can afford to do the things the originally commenter said in your own life then that's great, but most of us can't afford it (or can't because we rent). It really needs a united front from individuals and the government.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@jonblacklock1052 We have a few new housing developments around me and seeing them being built is quite painful. They're just cheap timer frames with poor insulation with a single layer brick facade. That's great for running cables through walls etc but for a home that's going to stand the test of time and be energy efficient... less so.

[@alanhat5252]

@@jacoboc2244 terrible coincidence. There is a near-total lack of coordination (unless they're ganging up to bomb somewhere). Global government & business leaders get together at WEF & get blasted with ideas but don't coordinate much, some governments go to Bilderberg where they do coordinate but this sort of thing isn't on the agenda. The UN should be the place but governments don't really connect with it, it's too big, they send ambassadors but don't listen to what comes back. The EU does much better as a coordinating body but it's only just over a tenth of the world's countries.

[@alanhat5252]

@@jacoboc2244 COP27 is coming up, maybe they'll get their collective act together there?

[@Pikminiman]

Robert really lives what he preaches. To this day, my favorite Fully Charged content stars him. Everyone else is great, but Robert's charisma is gravitational, and he's been advocating publicly for sustainable energy for such a long time on KZbin.

[@mikedennington8856]

Ok if ya have the money and land to do it, most do not…most.

[@ACsPianoCorner]

@@mikedennington8856 I was thinking the exact same thing. I would love to do just one of these things. But the cost for many of these things shown are just not affordable. If we have any chance of truly living like this, these technologies need to be in reach for individuals with average incomes.

[@dykam]

@@ACsPianoCorner I do think Robert is fairly aware of that. I've never seen him scold anyone for not changing if they can't afford it. But there's a lot of people who can afford it, and those tend also to have a higher energy use anyway, so that way these videos can actually have some direct impact.

[@ACsPianoCorner]

@@dykam I’d agree Bobby doesn’t scold anyone about this. The point I made is more general. The mass population need to adopt these technologies if we’re really going to make a substantial and sustainable impact. The few who have larger properties, so higher energy use (on average) tend to have advisors and the means to afford large upfront costs for technologies that lower their costs, reliance on the grid and in turn make them even more money. We need the average citizen to be living that way too. That was my point - not calling out anyone - just my opinion.

[@dykam]

@@ACsPianoCorner You're absolutely right. It's also yet another case where having more money saves money, because in general this is an investment which ends positive. Meanwhile less fortunate are living in badly isolated houses with enormous energy bills, and can't do anything about it.

[@bal20]

I have so much respect and admiration for Robert. That's literally my dream house setup. Really glad this was turned into an episode. The recent podcast on hydrogen was also one of the best of all time

[@phoenix-xu9xj]

Look at the budget you have to have 😮

[@jam99]

@@phoenix-xu9xj And the space in your house.

[@bobgray1555]

A great point about cost - we never talk about the 'pay back' time frame for anything else that we purchase for our homes eg kitchens extensions etc. The satisfaction that Robert gets from knowing he is doing his bit to lower his emmisions is value enough. Bravo

[@solentbum]

The solar PV panels on my roof cost just under £11000 to install, nine and a half years ago. Thanks to the FIT we have received we have just reached 'payback' in simple cash terms, with no allowance for the free energy we use or the 'feel good' factor.

[@udishomer5852]

For most people the Payback Period is the important factor in installing solar, batteries, heat pump or any other cost saving technology. For those that really care about the carbon footprint then it doesn't really matter, but those are a small minority. Government subsidies are designed for making the Payback Period shorter, so that the silent majority will adopt low carbon technologies.

[@solentbum]

@@udishomer5852 Many years ago I purchased a brand new 'show house'. This was at the start of the double glazing boom , early 1980's . My new house did not have double glazing, its wasn't even draughtproofed . When I queried this I was told that it was built to the highest Building Regulations applicable. Later in the year the Regs changed , and guess what, the later houses on the estate had double glazing. Without proper building regs the big builders will build to the lowest standard that they can get away with. AS for costs, the price of a new house bears little resemblance to the cost of the build. (The formula often used is 1/3rd land, 1/3 to build, 1/3rd gross profit.)

[@imnotamechanic3491]

This is partly true, but people often talk about how much home improvements (particularly extensions) increase the value of their home, and those who spend 5 figures on a kitchen do so usually because they enjoy being in a fancy kitchen (their version of the new car feeling). Few people get great satisfaction (enough to purely satisfy the cost alone) from having solar panels on the roof or an alternative heating system. I love having solar panels, but mainly because (particularly now) I can see how much money its saving me! The exact pay back date isn't important, I've spent the money, so now enjoy lower bills.

[@motchmanjames9347]

I have invested £30k in improving the Efficiency of my house including solar battery system and a air to air heating. The solar is also charging the car. Over the past year I have saved £3500 where else can you get that sort of tax free return. Best investment ever, buy an EV save the world

[@vokstar]

Can't believe that Bobby couldn't remember the word smug, he has forgotten his modes. Really like learning how houses could be more efficient and an indulgence just goes to show that you don't have to compromise the look of the house. Cheers for the vid.

[@heaslyben]

I noticed he didn't show the room where he charges his spare heads, either. Oh well, we can imagine it.

[@andrewkepert923]

Since he reprogrammed himself he can’t say ‘smug’ without it being ‘smug head’

[@Yubuzka3774]

Robert is an awesome guy. Love what he has done at his house and I would love to do all this one day at my own property.

[@alanhat5252]

insulation is cheap(ish), £35/roll for the metallized bubble-wrap which seems to be very good & you can do it one roll at a time, half a roll if you want. Tape the edges so there's no airflow round it.

[@grahamherbert3612]

In which case, you're a patent fool.

[@janicetaylor5785]

I really love how excited he is with everything. You can tell he is a lovely man. He's just excited with all the work he's had in the house, he just wants to share it. I enjoyed watching him.

[@Nikoo033]

Great episode. Little correction for what is mentioned at 21:32 Export of 0.28 MWh is 280kWh, not 2800kWh. So about 1 month and two weeks of average electricity usage for a UK house. 👍🏻

[@_pehash]

Those are the peaks. 0.28Mwh exported to the grid in June was the maximum, 1.30MWh used from the grid in January. Any comparison the an average UK house is irrelevant for now, since he's also charging his cars with the same setup and most households don't.

[@Nikoo033]

@@_pehash I see what you mean, his total export to grid between Jan-Aug was actually about 0.84 MWh. Meaning he’s used ~ 90% of what he produced with the solar panels (7.7 MWh). He does have an atypical setup.

[@sarahhaysmore2907]

Emilie brings a whole new energy and a great addition to The Fully Charged Team 👏

[@confusedofhinckley5294]

Energy. See what you did, there

[@deansh8506]

I've been watching Robert's channel for probably 10 years or more and this episode really is the full circle of all them hundreds of videos I've watched. Thanks to Robert's passion in all these videos he has helped me spend alot of my money! 4 EV's, full roof of solar panels, batteries, few EV chargers etc etc. Yes I've spent a bomb but don't regret the switch to these technologies. Thanks for educating me and turning me to the green side.

[@jameskeenan1416]

Robert, that was incredibly brave of you showing us your home given all the nutters out there but thank you. Proof that it is possible to live off grid without compromising. I know this lifestyle is unobtainable to 80% of the population but it's great to see and aspire too. Thank you - we have been watching your channel since you started. You are the reason we brought a Leaf in 2014!

[@logicalChimp]

To be clear, Robert isn't off-grid (he relies on cheap over-night power to top up the batteries, recharge his 'boiler', and so on)... but he is a lot less grid-reliant.

[@bertblockx8406]

Its incredibly brave to call this house an ultra efficient eco home with that kind of electrical usage and drafty windows! Its not because you can cover a lot of your consumption by installing solar panels and batteries that it becomes "ultra efficient" and "eco"!

[@jamesfrese]

@@bertblockx8406 He mentioned in the interview that ever since upgrading the insulation in the home, it has been inexpensive to heat. Much of his electricity consumption goes to his 2 electric cars.

[@jameskeenan1416]

@@logicalChimp he's off the gas grid Geoff and he did mention going 40 days (was it 40?) without pulling electricity from the grid. To be honest he's got a great system but he's been well looked after because of the channel. Most solar panel installers are criminals. We had 15 solar companies quote us, over the past 12 weeks. They'd try and sell us 21kwh of panels but only put a 3.6kwh inverter in. List goes on - I think worst of all the lowest quote was £20k for a 4kwh system. I'd love to go Solar but it's impossible to find anyone you can trust.

[@jameskeenan1416]

@@jamesfrese we need a solar car port for homes - such a good business op.

[@John-FourteenSix]

Thank you Robert to you, Dan and your team for inspiring us all to make the changes. ASHP, Solar, Battery & inverter, insulation installed at all stages as we refurbished our property. AND, the final piece of the jigsaw today an EV! Thank you so much. PS Enjoyed Harrogate (UK).

[@patreekotime4578]

Im glad that Bobby Llew puts his money where his mouth is. Too often we get people shouting at us from the TV who are just reading a prompter, they arnt living the life they preach. It is part of what has made this show special from the very beginning.

[@michaelhorton6881]

I have just moved into our forever home, put in 20kWh of batteries, a Zappi EV charger, and smart immersion heater that I can heat up a Go tariff and use all day, but boost if necessary from battery or gas. All my electricity is 8.25p kWh with only 300wH in peak rates per day ( when 7.5kWh shower kicks in). The batteries have an ROI of 5 years. The EV costs 2.2p per mile to run. I use home automation to push as much as I can unto cheap rate and auto turns on /off lights/rooms when occupied, while making it easy and transparent to my wife :-) The goal is to make the house as cheap to run as possible as I approach retirement,

[@mikemellor759]

Thank you Robert for showing us your house and technology. Welcome to Emilie - another great addition to the team. 👏👏

[@david-reason]

Robert, thank you for showing us your home, it's beautiful. Here in Bangkok, we live more simply. We have the opposite, with too much reliance on cooling devices and very few people have solar panels, in one of the worlds sunniest countries. Best wishes from Thailand.

[@GrigorSimeonov]

Investing in your home is never a loss, even after you are long gone, it will continue on with your family

[@Tony-Stockport]

About five years ago I started looking for a car to replace my diesel estate and hybrid was the buzz word. My research led me to this channel and it started my journey towards energy sovereignty . I replaced that car with an EV and since the beginning of this month I've got the solar and battery system up and running. Even in the north west of England I can generate enough to run the car.

[@dalroth10]

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and really admire the commitment Robert has made over many years to make his home as energy efficient as possible. Investing in new technologies that he can then report real world experiences of (warts and all if applicable) is also to be applauded. I was particularly struck by Robert's comment about "payback periods" on the renewable energy investments he's made. I accept that many people are not able or willing to do all of the things Robert has done ......... but I do believe there are millions of people who could do a bit and that would help massively in reducing the harm we are doing to the environment.

[@danielmadar9938]

Brilliant! Thank you. 12 years ago we renovated an old concrete house in hot Israel, insulated it (mostly with straw bales), installed a solar-thermal water heating and storing system, installed air heat-pump AC, and turned the house into a passive house (maximized natural lightning, etc.). Only this year, it was regulatoly possible for us to add solar panels, so now we produce about 4 times the electricity we consume (and sell the access electricity to the grid). We also have chickens, and bees, and sometimes bring ponies to eat the weeds... In the future, an electric vehicle, an electric stove and battery storage.

[@gudfarfar]

Robert is as usual the top dog when it comes to innovative solutions for his home, but it is also good to have a new face in the show. Emilie has both the brains and good looks that a tv show host needs, so it is very nice to see her on board. Hope she feels welcome and is well taken care of, so we can keep seeing her for some time.

[@brighty79]

Why isn’t this on mainstream television? A great production, good guest and great topic.

[@robm1283]

I’m hopefully moving home by the end of the year and can’t wait to fully electrify the house. These sorts of episodes really explain that there’s solutions for all circumstances and surprisingly effective.

[@SpedSpedding]

This whole setup makes me smile to much. ❤

[@gillesmatheronpro]

The content is great, thanks to you and Robert. As a (huge) bonus, the filming and recording are absolutely perfect... clever B-roll sequences, pure and rich sound (especially on voices), accurate sound mix, very well-driven and balanced interviews, superb colour-grading. You, folks, have done an amzing job, and this serves your point just perfectly. Bravo !

[@electroplank587]

Very inspirational Rob, thank you for showing your private home. it's truly a great insight to know what can be done. I'm quite gutted because 2 years ago i got a new gas boiler, i only wish i decided to look into investing into an alternative.

[@davidross1412]

I had similar feelings, new valiant gas bolier last year, I should have waited, that said , now the price of gas has increased by a factor of 5, and the robbers will want £2k a year for gas then the £6K purchase price plus installation seems very doable. So 4 years gas will cost 8k and what will I have to show for it? I have a combi bolier though, so will need to wait till next year for their launch.

[@buckles29]

Another brilliant episode. Emilie is a great addition to the presenting team for Fully Charged (not that the others are bad ) - I've subscribed to the Ecobubl channel for a couple of years to see all the new tech being produced - Emilie presents most of those so well. So interesting to see what can be done, over time (and yes with money too) - but if everyone can try to do their bit, it will begin to break the strangle hold that the fossil fuel companies have over 99% of the population. We've now had Solar panels for just over a year , and just taken delivery of our first EV.

[@kelvinfaulkner3183]

I'd love to do my bit too, but like most people in the UK, we aren't in a position to do much at all. Even getting the house properly insulated would cost far more than I have spare (our house is one of those older brick/block built houses that are so difficult/expensive to insulate properly). The initial outlay of any of these technologies (including an EV) is far more than most of use have available in savings. We need the government to be radical and fund the investment needed.

[@zombiestyled]

​@@kelvinfaulkner3183 he answered that question very well. He chose to spend his money on something he wanted. in his case to reduce energy waste. grants are normally available for low income households for some changes. Not sure we should be spending eye watering amounts of money on external insulation for old properties. it's a decision for the homeowner. I've seen some horrendous quotes for renewable installation tho, and that is maybe somewhere the government could intervene.

[@kelvinfaulkner3183]

@@zombiestyled What question are you referring to?

[@oddzc]

This sort of system is financially unreachable to 99% of the western population. Any type of battery storage system is insanely expensive and unfortunately even just solar panels are expensive.

[@alanhat5252]

@@kelvinfaulkner3183 metallized bubble-wrap insulation is good & comes in at £35/roll without looking too hard, you can install most of it yourself one roll at a time at your own pace, just make sure the edges are taped so there's no gaps. It just takes ingenuity.

[@jamesimrobertson5422]

Love your HUGE ultra-efficient home, Robert. I live in a typical ex-council, 3-bed mid-terraced, 1960's house. Where do I go to find a 'road-map' to make this ultra-efficient? Should there not be some government department with a slick, interactive web-site where I can input my house's profile and it guides me through the choices I have and the decisions I need to make to reace Nirvana?

[@abdebee3221]

Dear beloved Robert, next please convert your garden into an ecological dreamland by planting endemic bushes and wild flowers. All the mowing might be very British but does only harm. Make your garden a wild dream to save species that have been on a red list for far too long.

[@malcolmnew8973]

Partly agree, but perhaps consider growing some as a temperate food forest / forest garden with perennial fruit, nuts and vegetables to reduce food miles might be useful too. He could include forage crops for his chooks to reduce the need for imported foods as well. For all we know, he might already be doing some of this!

[@kayakMike1000]

Simp.

[@TecnamTwin]

You do it then. He can do whatever he wants.

[@luminousfractal420]

@@TecnamTwin hence the "please"

[@bobmitchell8012]

Don’t make me sick, You green Zeolot.

[@Jrambo51]

One of the best shows ive seen on your channel and its great to see Emilie, such a natural presenter.

[@m-y1602]

The Everhot range cooker is very interesting because everytime I look at it I can't jutify the energy use, but maybe if it's totally powered by Solar it's not so bad. Your video made me look at the math again... So, according to the Everhot website, Robert's EVH 120i model consumes 90 kWh a week. Thats nearly 5 MWh per year! Which will end up 20-25% of Roberts total annual usage, or equialent to driving an EV 100km every day. Of course the Everhot also produces heat which would have to come from somewhere else (like the Tepeo which is basically an Everhot with plumbing). It looks like Robert will produce 10-12MwH from his Solar this year, so he may just be able to justify it. Maybe needs one more array to be fully self-sufficient. Personally, it still seems unjustifiably indulgent but it would be interesting to compare alternatives.

[@bertblockx8406]

Lol i made a comment about this 10 minutes ago. Now reading this comment. I don't understand why you make this kind of video with that title unless you don't understand your electic usage but then that's even more hair-raising if you have an expert in this video.

[@jonnowocky8179]

god bless Robert Llewellyn who has entertained, humoured and enlightened me as long as I can remember, a credit to humanity

[@Crazydiamond_1974]

Hey Robert, have you considered orientating your ground mounted array as a V-shape facing ESE and WSW? You’d be less likely to hit your export limit, would produce for a longer period of time through the day and would produce more during the ‘dirtier’ grid hours…

[@juppyzilla]

Growing up as a kid watching Robert on Scrap Heap Challenge always made Sunday teatimes fun. Still being able to watch him to this day is great. Loved the video and great to see Emilie joining the Fully Charged team too.

[@Silverwidows]

red dwarf for me

[@jamesgrover2005]

People often forget that these investments push up the value of the property, so ROI is often a miscalculation. Great episode, thanks 🙏🏻

[@xxwookey]

I think that's becoming true now but for a long time most people didn't value this stuff so you could have a passivehouse with PV on the roof, but most people couldn't care less, and were only interested in what it looked like. It would be good to see some data on how much people will actually pay for a 50kWh/m2A (AECB retrofit) or 25kWh/m2A (EnerPhit) house, or a battery or a heat pump etc. Most people still don't have a clue what most of that even means. This year has seen an awful lot more people suddenly realising that efficiency matters.

[@jamesgrover2005]

@@xxwookey here in the Netherlands it lifts up the energy label which is required to sell the property, I'd guess it works the same in the UK.

[@xxwookey]

@@jamesgrover2005 True. A SAP rating is now required to sell or rent a house. It's a pity SAP isn't a very good model (so you can have a 'C' rated passivehouse if it's electrically heated). Not sure if the new SAP10 is now in force - that has some significant improvements.

[@jur4x]

@@xxwookey It's not so much "most people don't care", it's just that sometimes it is more practical to buy a house without solar panels, and than install them afterwards. Because that tech advances so quickly, that prices almost halfed in the last 5 years alone. And if seller asks you 10k more, you could probably get bigger system for the same 10k than is already installed.

[@brynleytalbot778]

Consider, if you will, a normal buyer who wants a property without onerous future infrastructure costs built in by the previous owner. When this excessively priced kit is redundant at its life’s end will prices have fallen significantly so you aren’t buying into a future liability. As long as the suppliers see this as a fad for the rich or environmentalists displaying their virtues prices will never drop. Simplistic log burning stoves haven’t fallen in price or installation cost as their popularity has increased. It’s fanciful to think these technologies will fall in price as their market grows. Their capacities will improve so you buy more storage and generation but I doubt pricing has fallen, and installers still see suckers with fat wallets. Human nature fixes the highest profits possible based on the demographic buying your product. Turn suppliers and installers into altruistic motives and we’ll see more uptake but why do that when the people buying want to virtue signal their superiority.

[@blueburaq]

This is brilliant. Lovely 'cottage' with an adorable old man. I would love to see Robert installing a rainwater harvesting system to water his garden, plants, and sustain the household.

[@yellownev]

An excellent insight into what can be achieved. Don't loose sight of the reduction in emissions as part of the benefits... it's not all about £'s but they are important. It will be good to see other homes with more realistic ( in cost and space terms) installations. Well done all involved.

[@neglectedloves]

That's exactly why I love the fully charged show: extremely informative knowledge presented by highly eloquent and charming people! I wish I could stay for a cup of tea! 🙏🏻

[@ianev5544]

Thanks Robert Thanks to your show and the advice it offers I've been off grid for electricity since April when my 6 KW 14 panel system with 5KW battery was installed. I also have an Ecoflow portable 3KW battery which is so versatile (like a petrol generator but not toxic!). Charging the car from the sun is the icing on the bun!

[@nitelite78]

What 5KW battery did you go for?

[@ianev5544]

@@nitelite78 A 5KWH Huawei Luna battery storage. The Huawei optimiser technology allows every panel to run individually. I was amazed that the whole system was up and running in a day - excluding the scaffolding

[@stevehastings2010]

My wife and I bought a house two years ago, and we had a lot of equity from our first home, so I felt we could afford a few upgrades on our home. Before we moved in to our new house we had more insulation installed, a heat pump, and now we have some solar panels as well. I agree with Mr Llewellyn's comments about how "nobody ever asks what the payback period on a kitchen remodel is." Our upgrades will, in the very long run, pay for themselves; and in the meantime we are enjoying them. We no longer care about the price of natural gas, and we now barely care about the price of electricity. We haven't had a power outage (that's American for "power cut") since we got the solar power system but when it happens our battery will give us power. We have only had the solar for a short time so I'm keen to find out how much power it will make during the winter. But during the summer it can make quite a lot, and it makes me optimistic about the possibilities of everyone running on only renewable power sources.

[@sunlightconversions828]

Love the show and everything you guys go. Unlike many in this space Robert practices what he preaches. Now on to the criticism. The title of the video should not be "off-grid". The difference between an on-grid and an off-grid house in huge. Both in complexity and cost.

[@sunlightconversions828]

Rut-Ro. Commenters are now going to give you are hard time with "fossil-free". While it will be fossil free one day, its not currently as it still relies on a partly fossil powered grid. . How about "energy efficient" or "future proof" or "all electric". Or how about all three!

[@jur4x]

Especially in higher latitudes, like most Europe. Due to latitude, summer and winter day length is really different and PV system output differs even more. And at the same time, winter consumption is also higher.

[@salokin1]

The title I see is "A Tour Of Robert Llewellyn’s Ultra-Efficient Eco Home".

[@sunlightconversions828]

@@salokin1 It was changed. Twice!

[@sunlightconversions828]

@@jur4x Yep, exactly. I'm in New Jersey. My shop is off grid but uses does use much power. Even with my large solar array on the house It would be practically impossible December/January to be completely off grid. April-September easy.

[@CookingwithYarda]

Thank you Kryton, your new home is more cosy then laundry room on the Red Dwarf

[@crispynoges]

I’ve been looking forward to this episode for some time. Very interesting and makes me jealous. Great that you showed what Robert should have put in plus the cut away of Dan grinding his teeth but good for Robert to do it at his own expense for the show.

[@sahhull]

My van is my only transport and I bought it for my business 14 years ago. Its a 20 year old Vauxhall Combo diesel, I bought it as a 6 year old vehicle for £1500. Its now done 450,000 miles. My van earns me money... It owes me nothing. The house is a bit of a money pit but its mine out right. It was built in the early 1700's. It has large fire places and solid stone walls (no cavity). If I turn on the gas boiler this winter it will kill me so Im planning on wearing extra jumpers and burning old palets etc. The problem with an EV is.... The ecological hit of manufacturing is the equivalent of driving an ICE for around 70,000 miles.

[@JamesScholesUK]

I keep walking past my boiler and muttering "your days are numbered" - there's now enough mature technology to get off gas, but it's still scary to actually start doing. Two rooms changed to IR panels only, weighing up more IR vs HVAC for the rest. If only new houses were built with this stuff in mind!

[@electroplank587]

It's criminal if new houses are not using cleaner more Efficient energy, there should be no reason not to with what's Available and i expect more to come.

[@julesdingle]

if you have a roof then solar thermal is great.. does require a stainless steel water tank but will fit in a cupboard. Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Exchange MVHE is a no brainer and air source heat pump

[@xxwookey]

We nuked the gas cooker earlier this summer. Turn out the new induction one is quite a lot better in various ways. The boiler hasn't been turned on other than for testing for a couple of years now, and there is a GSHP sat in the extension waiting for some digging to be done. We've just moved to Octopus because they don't charge £700 for the privilege of having the gas supply removed like most of the others (and they have versatile EV tarriffs). The supply has been upgraded to 100A, and I will fit a battery soon and an EV next yearish.

[@solentbum]

@@julesdingle Suggestion:- route one of the extracts for the MVHE through a large cupboard which you can then use as a clothes dryer, at no additional cost. No need for a tumble dyer even on the wettest coldest day.

[@xxwookey]

@@julesdingle Solar thermal doesn't require a stainless steel tank. Why do you think that? We've had solar thermal here since 2008 with an old copper tank, and plenty of people use it with newer solar-specific copper tanks too (gone out of fashion now as copper is expensive in comparison to ss). Perhaps you just mean that it needs a new tank with a solar coil in it? Even that isn't true - we've been using it with just our existing tank via a thermosiphon, and it works well.

[@dfberry]

An EXCELLENT summary of a "day in the life" of living -- not necessarily off-the-grid, but -- very efficiently -- using energy to it's BEST use -- whether it be from solar panels or "the grid". And the grid is not necessarily the "enemy" -- the grid can be clean sources -- solar & wind here in Texas, USA!

[@eveningstar3230]

Great video! Thanks to Fully Charged, I have one Powerwall 2. Its great!! saves money, and powercut protected!! Ive done it...

[@waldronhome4910]

Robert, I'm so impressed with how you find some of the countries best and brightness presenters. Well done on what you have achieved and the impact you are having.

[@JJ-zg1hh]

What a perfect house. Great building, great plot, great location, and fabulous tech. Robert, you absolutely smashed it!

[@Jaw0lf]

This was very interesting to watch and Emilie was very knowledgeable in the subject. I am currently using the Tesla Energy Plan, as I have a Tesla Powerwall 2 with my 7.56kWh of Solar on split over E/W roof, with an ASHP, Zappi and Eddi. Under this scheme Tesla (or should I say Octopus Enegy) give me a 12.6p all day rate for use of my powerwall to help power the grid between 4pm and 6.30pm every night. The battery is filled from solar or overnight when there is less demand for electricity. The upshot of this is my first full winter with my ASHP and not knowing how much energy will be used and when. All my home, cooking, heating and car are fully electric and I have managed to move away from LPG and removed a large storage tank from my garden. it was a great talk about payback and it is true that many other items are not thought of in this way, but I planned to reduce our costs and do the best I could to stabilise our energy costs and this was last year before enrgy prices shot up, as I was worried it may happen. I am now paying a good amount less than the cost of doing 750 miles in a petrol car and I can do 833 a month!

[@BertStevensNL]

You are such a great example for us all Robert. Thank you.

[@jossentjens7154]

Thanks! Appreciated! A couple of questions, maybe for a future episode... - What about maintenance and upkeep? - I mean gas boiler need regular maintenance, how does that compare for instance heat pump maintenance (higher, I guess?) or heat storage (lower, I guess?) - What about unexpected issues like cleaning solar panels, how often and how difficult is that? (ground mounted is easy, but roof mounted is difficult, I guess?) - What about technical/economical life?

[@firmbutton6485]

The UK needs a system like I have in france. The surplus PV goes out to the grid, but I can then buy it back for 4p a KWh at night or winter etc.

[@philreilly6959]

I agree with the comments about Emilie. Since I found the Ecobubl channel I've been massively impressed with her depth of knowledge. She's remarkable. Also a huge thanks to Robert. What a champion he really is. This video couldn't have come at a better time. I'm just getting quotes in for a solar and battery installation. Thanks to all of the team for another great video.

[@johnbertram]

At first I was all sarcastic like "must be lovely to have the cash to do that". Then Robert made me realise that the more people with the cash to do this, the better off we ALL will be when it comes to energy production efficiency by putting back in and reducing load on the system. Smart batteries in homes are game changers.

[@OhMyGadd]

This man and the shows he worked on were actually a huge part of childhood.

[@swecreations]

It's incredibly as a northern Scandinavian how different of a perspective you have there, I definitely wouldn't consider this home more than average here.

[@xxwookey]

Yes, you've been building half-decent houses for decades. The UK has been building crappy houses for centuries. It's still not building good ones: 8 m3/m2 max air loss limit when it should be 2. And mediocre insulation requirements with no specific thermal bridging requirement. Basically, building anything other than passivehouses has been stupid for more than a decade and we are still nowhere near that.

[@fullychargedshow]

Such an accurate and for us in the UK, shameful observation. You are right, people come to my house to see how these systems can work, but it's very common in Scandinavia. We are still building 1,000's of new, hopelessly inadequate homes with poor insulation, zero solar, no ground source, no batteries. It's a disgrace.

[@josie_the_valkyrie]

​@@fullychargedshow that's honestly not entirely true for Sweden: the poorly built wooden homes vastly outnumber well-built ones. I'd probably say that Spain is better when it comes to insulation.

[@nickhiscock8948]

These homes are all better than mine which doesn't even have insulation in the walls or roof and isn't air tight at all. But it is part solar powered but very energy inefficient to heat and cool.

[@xxwookey]

@@nickhiscock8948 Do you own/mortgage it and thus are allowed to improve it, or would you need to hassle the landlord? If it currently has no insulation it really is time to start a plan of works even if you don't know how it would be paid for. Works can be done in stages over a long time which helps spread costs (it took me 14 years so far and I've got another couple to go) but you need a plan at the start so things fit together and don't end being done inadequately. Finance will be forthcoming eventually when we finally get a govt with some clue in place. You need a plan to be ready for that.

[@astralshore]

Just excellent. Stumbled across this channel from another video. Very happy to see that my childhood hero can also be my adulthood hero!

[@estherinwood3413]

What an inspiring fellow you are Robert and the joy of it just bursts from you. Thanks for inspiring our solar panels installation & electric car. Would love to know more about your infra red rads and anyone tried to use a leaf battery to power the home? If I had the money I’d do this next upgrade my leaf battery and get it installed to store our solar excess. Fancy doing an episode on this?

[@ShortVersion1]

Beautiful home Robert! Literally said to partner last night, "Robert's on the same page as us," when addressing the constant ROI question we get from people. We always give the example of buying a new flashy car, nobody cares what the ROI is on that! For the record, we drive the same baby blue Leaf haha. One figure worth calculating, is the EUI of your home. It's nice to get a measure of energy usage/square footage/time. There are so many different standards that almost all need professional qualification, whereas we've already spent a boatload to have an extremely energy efficient home, we don't really need to spend $500 for someone to say, "oh it's a level 8, but could be a level 6 with blah blah." If you already know the energy consumption, you might be surprised. We use about half as much energy as a Passivhaus when viewed through that lens.

[@ecok]

My ROI is that I now don't have to pay 80% of my annual electricity bill ... whatever the price of electricity becomes. I see it as an index linked, tax free, investment 😃

[@xxwookey]

With you entirely on the 'payback' thing. Been driving me crazy for years. You are right that just a simple annual gas kWh/house area sum gives youa a reasonable idea where you are on the kWh/m2 per yr scale. That the thing people need to know. I noticed in Austria this summer that all houses for sale or rent had to have this figure in the ad. That would be such a huge advance in the UK. And you can do your own passivehouse sums - it's only a fancy spreadsheet. You don't _have_ to pay someone 300 quid if you can work a spreadsheet and a tape measure. But there are some little gotchas (mostly that passivehuse floor area is not what most people think of as floor area, and nor is it the same as SAP floor area) that you need to know if you want to get it about right.

[@ShortVersion1]

@@xxwookey Ah, interesting! Yes they supposedly have a similar rating system in Italy for houses. The hardest thing with our figures has been knowing what energy savings to attribute to what changes. It would've been nice to have a smart breaker box installed a few years ago, or to have done a blower door test in the beginning. Instead we just compare totals from year-to-year and know everything helps.

[@xxwookey]

@@ShortVersion1 Yeah. I was too tight to get a 'before' airtightness test too. It would have been nice, but not quite £250 nice (which is what test costs back then - you can got one for £150 now). I know it was 'bad'.

[@johntisbury]

I'm intrigued to learn what those two small solar panels are at the top of the garden!

[@jac6255]

Robert, I'm sure you probably won't read this but I'd just like to say how I truly admire you. As a kid I would watch you on scrap heap challenge all the time, as an aspiring engineer I loved that show. Red dwarf is also one of my favourites, I've spent years rewatching it over and over. I eventually go to study electronic engineering at university, and got a job at a small ev company. This company in particular did a lot on the vw id r, I think its a pretty damn cool company, and maybe one day something I do might end up on this show. But yeah I think you'll always somehow be relevant in my life, having inspired me to be where I am now, you're still inspiring me with your passion for tech and the future.

[@fullychargedshow]

While it's true that it's impossible to read all the comments, you're did catch my eye in the usual torrent of notifications. I'm very grateful for your kind words, thank you. And very interested to hear more from the company you work for, if something interesting comes up please let us know via - [e-mail] Thanks

[@jac6255]

@@fullychargedshow I absolutely will, thanks for the reply

[@CymruDad]

Great video, I loved seeing all the different green renewable tech in the house. I’d love to do more to my house (currently have Solar Thermal & V2G Powerloop), but it all takes time of course. I’ll look forward to more of the everything electric/home series videos as they’re inspirational. Great to see Emilie join the team as another knowledgeable and enthusiastic presenter!

[@benbrown8258]

It's easy to be wowed by all the Technologies but Robert is spot on. If he hadn't first done all the Home Efficiency insulation everything else would have had a net cost of multiple times greater. Increasing the efficiency of your home before you add any technology is the game changer. I know in my particular area of the US for every dollar invested in improving your efficiency you get a return of between 3 and $4. I'd like to see the stock market match that. I started out on minimum wage purchasing an old used cheap electric vehicle and the money I saved on fuel and repairs helped me with my down payment for my house. Not science fiction but the truth. My reinvesting the savings from the car after 10 years has finally allowed me to buy solar panels. My latest acquisition that I'm tickled about is my 2 nozzle mist shower. Mine is especially modified to have a separate thermal holding tank for hotter water but I use less than 2 gallons of water for a 10 minute shower and am having the best shower experience of my life. I have family out west near the Colorado River who would probably not choose to live if they had to use a shower like mine. They also would probably choose to not live if they couldn't drive their 10 miles per gallon Hummer three blocks to the grocery store in 106 F heat. I could imagine they have friends I would rather walk during a heat wave then ride in my car. Anyway spot on Robert and the fully charged team. I do hope that at the next fully charged live us you highlight more homes and Technologies especially reminding people the importance of efficiency first

[@asdmcc2]

Nice teapot lid locating shots. It's taken me a few years but I always look at the lid first. Then it only takes two goes. Maybe three.

[@leeproctor7622]

great job Rob This is what the government should be fitting in every home.

[@James_Ryan]

Beautiful house, and going green without compromising/sacrificing anything is even more beautiful!

[@christill]

Going green without reducing consumption isn’t going green though. It’s living a lie.

[@grahambyrne8714]

single mothers will be down the shops buying this stuff, is it cheap.

[@DavidOakesMusic]

Watching this gave me 2020 vibes - just sat indoors all day watching literally anything that interested me. A lot of Fully Charged as well.

[@nobotshere8364]

I love seeing how this channel has evolved over the years, because of your content I've invested this year in solar/storage system and now await eagerly the install of our mixergey tank. It's hugely self rewarding moving to greener sources of energy. I have watched many mixergy episodes that included Emilie and found the content really engaging, what a great edition to the team, a real natural to presenting. Keep up the great work!

[@presterjohn71]

Hang on a minute that's the Ecobubl lady! She's great. The camera loves her too. I suspect that she will end up on TV at some stage. She's a natural and best of all she knows hers stuff.

[@Gdank72]

Really nice to see. However many of us cannot afford Solar installations, let alone enough to power the house, battery storage, and GSHP and heat exchanger. We was quoted £20k to replace our boiler with an Air Source HP.... As our garden is tiny.

[@jur4x]

Some installers trying to ride the wave of hype around them. And most of them are not properly evaluating all the factors. EVM had good video on that.

[@waterboy8999]

Living in house with 2 of the and they are somewhere less than mediocre, and noisy at night.

[@truckstop5525]

I was quoted £20k also by Daikin 2 years ago at their stand at Fully Charged Show. I've just had Octopus Energy install a Daikin for £2.5k last month (inc. the £5k grant which goes directly to Octopus).

[@jur4x]

@@truckstop5525 How were they even capable to quote you at their stand? In order to make proper calculations, they would need to know house layout, radiator sizes, pipe diameters, insulation status. unless you gathered all that beforehand and brought it with you, their quote was as good as throwing a dart at a board with numbers.

[@danwiddon3854]

Great to see the team expanding into building technologies. Fabulous optimism that people who can't get an ASHP have room for a huge ceramic thermal store. A brilliant demonstration of the many ways we can all reduce demand, live more frugally and seriously limit grid demand. Herschel Long Infra-Red heaters suit well-insulated and compact spaces. We moved ours from an ultra-insulated extension in our last back garden, but it is on the wall in a busy thoroughfare in our 25sqm dining room and we rely on the ASHP and double-glazing to feel warm.

[@stevemcBA12]

Great job Emilie, well done on being welcomed into the fully charged team!! Hopefully I’m not the only person to have stopped and asked you about your fully charged fame!! Great work on the house Rob, you’re right those who obsess over payback need a life!!

[@hawklord100]

And FREE car charging for life, unlimited driving milage for free on his EV.. brilliant no more paying petrol prices as well so massives of savings all around.

[@cbromley562]

Come on Robert, you can stuff some more tech in there…I mean, the absence of wind power was glaring. Thanks for showing us round…excellent episode.

[@mchammer1982]

Great video. One thing it's missing is how to cool the house in the summer? That's the elephant in the room that we seem to forget well insulated houses can get very warm in the summer!

[@glengosling5636]

Hi Robert, been watching your show for years, I know it’s a personal question, but could you give us an idea how much your improvement have cost?

[@proximaone1350]

Thanks for showing us your beautiful home. I'm part of the way on the zero emissions journey, i have the led lights and a 6.6kw solar panels. I live in Western Australia and get plenty of Sun, approx 43 kWh per day in Summer. 🙂🌞☀️

[@simonm1447]

Well made, mate.

[@robertmunro4511]

Great episode Robert! Thank you for opening your home to all of us around the world who have been following you sinceday one, and have learned so much from you and the team as to how all of the changes that you have made, actually working! Backed up by data!!! Great episode!!!

[@IanBradbury]

Loved this. Somehow - I don't know how - you need to get this on the BBC or ITV. People need to know!

[@richardchester2148]

Excellent video and great to see Emilie on the team, a fantastic addition. Very keen on Tepeo, but on contacting them a couple of months ago they're not currently serving the North West... Hoping to get a home battery solution installed soon once it's back in stock. Keep up the great work!

[@mspalmboy]

Robert you are such a great role model for renewables. I live in sunny Australia and have 6.6 kW of rooftop solar and a very small 4.8 kWh home battery. My EV is charged from solar once the battery is fully charged. Excess solar is sent to the grid. It's very rare that I ever use any grid electricity and my electricity bill has a small credit, even after running the home 24/7 and charging the car.

[@adstix]

This man truly walks his talk! He's definitely not just a green energy advocate on paper! But I'm curious to know if Robert has ever used his EV for bidirectional charging 🤔

[@peterwundersitz3715]

I haven't read all the comments and some one may have commented on this. Robert is using "off peak" cheap power to charge his batteries in winter. I thought off peak power was offered by the generator so that they could run their coal/gas/nuclear power station at full and best efficiency load instead of low out put. Cheap power gets people on that regime. Once the big generators have gone, so has this off peak power; I am thinking. Another video talks about a million houses contributing to the grid and that may be the way we go. We live in exciting times.

[@JimTheCorsa]

Fascinating. Have looked forward to this episode for a while. Look forward to implementing some of if one my own house

[@John-FourteenSix]

Thank you Robert for showing us your little piece of Eden.

[@mervynleach1362]

I also have solar panels (5kW), a Tesla powerwall, a Nissan Leaf and a Zappi. I monitor the cars battery state of health every month and I've noticed that slow charging the car (using Eco++) at about 1.4kW has actually improved th estate of health of the battery. I'm awarethat fast charging is not so good for the battery, but I am surprised to see an improvement in its health. I'll keep watching it on a monthly basis.

[@gdutfulkbhh7537]

That’s really useful to know, also consistent with what I would expect. Fast charging really can’t be good unless you’ve got a really fancy cooling solution in the battery packs. (Something better than Tesla or Nissan currently offer.)

[@keithstannard2872]

I'm trying to get a ground array installed in my garden and need to have it anchored by ground screws rather than concrete (ugh!). I live in the Cotswolds area but am having difficulty finding a company that will install the panels/battery and also the frame - could Robert tell us who he used? Please!!!!

[@TheHeapOverflow]

Great to see Robert again!

[@viplav76]

Absolutely adore fully charged. All through the past years, I’ve learnt so much on this all important subject. And here we see how wonderfully Robert has lead with an example. I’ve just moved to California and am very very keen to do my bit. Have started by booking my EV

[@mcrkon]

Robert and his FCS have been a great inspiration to us. We have installed solar panels (7.2 kW) and bought an EV (ID.4). We are getting a heat pump installed next and planning a backup battery next year.

[@mikejoseph425]

I have a question. Before you replaced your gas boiler with a Tepeo what was your annual gas usage

[@adamwalker1504]

Fantastic episode, keep them coming. I wish I had bought a power wall years ago when they were cheaper.

[@salokin1]

I bought one a couple of years ago, and agreed with the installer that I might get him back to add a second "when the price comes down" ... but demand has meant the price has increased substantially, and currently a wait of around a year for a Powerwall. Instead, waiting for the time when a car's battery can be integrated into the system.

[@robinwhitebeam3955]

Oh dear, my wood burning stoves and thin insulation looks retro compared to Roberts beautiful home. Looking forward to more home based films, Thanks

[@PC-vg8vn]

Wood burning stoves are terrible for the air we all breathe. They shouldnt be promoted as 'green'.

[@RedDwarff]

Great to see you can recharge Kryten. Great video

[@erhardt1477]

Well… First things first … greetings from Germany everybody… 👋 Watching and listening is fun AND educational at the same time, what better way to learn about how to make the world a better place !? The statement that should resonate the most and was covered only slightly is about insulation. The best energy, is the one you do NOT use at all. When we renovated our old home about ten years ago, our neighbors and tradesmen alike thought we are mad. Now … ten years later … nobody thinks that anymore… 😂 Roof insulated Walls insulated Heating pump installed (hybrid system) Solar panels on the roof New three pane windows installed … and I’m sure there many things we did that I just forgot over the years… Stay safe everybody… 👋

[@pw7225]

Who does normally ring at Robert's house? Wolverine? Edward Scissorhands?

[@henryviiifake8244]

Walter White: "I'm about to end this doorbell's whole career... 😎"

[@brucekennedy5274]

How can you not love this? So inspiring. I hope to employ at least some of this tech in my home in future.