jasper3 Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 (edited) just a quick question.... we are looking at buying a barn.... electric is close by, but not connected... i have heard this could cost upto £10k to get connected..so !!!! i was thinking, could you run a 3 bedroom house/barn on solar panels there is just the two of us..i would look at a 4 kw set up ...... any ideas? Edited August 4, 2013 by jasper3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NathanM Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 I would doubt it, although I'm no expert, just considering a kettle can be up to 2 kw, and won't 4 kw be the very maximum, so at night and in winter you would be struggling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northamptonclay Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Possibly but you would need a few grand worth of batteries to connect the system to for back up when no power is being generated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekeating Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Until it goes dark maybe but the average household uses 4 to 5kwh per year so on a dull winters day you may struggle to boil a kettle while you watch the tv. And each panel would cost about 1200 installed so I would pay the 10k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byjovecarruthers Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 My mate and his dippy "ecomentalist" wife decided to heat their water using solar power. They live in the depths of North Wales, a place not renown for hits glorious sunshine. It cost them about £3k to get it fitted and they now enjoy lovely warm water for about 3 months of the year and water that is tepid at best for the remaining 9 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekeating Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Batteries wont work as they are expensive, non eco friendly and have a short life span. They would cost you more than 10k to implement and run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 You won't run a house but u will reduce your electric bill. Takes a while to pay for itself though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper3 Posted August 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 thanks lads..i did wonder, the kettle would be boiled on LPG cooker... i know what ever route i take, it will cost £££££ s the water would be heated (most of the time ) with a wood burning system, it would have been mainly for low voltage lights , TV PC and washing machine, cooking would be either LPG or wood burner..its ok lads, i'm not about to hug a tree.... just looking at a different lifestyle.... (see council house thread) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Read " On the level" today in the Sunday Telegraph. It's a weekly article written by a builder. Chap has written in along the same lines. Was not a good answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic1281 Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 We researched solar power this year. Average return is about 8%, install costs for us for a 4kw system was just over 6k, it's a good supplemental supply but not good enough to run a house. We fitted a device that diverts any excess energy to the immersion heater, so we never pay to heat the water any more which was a big expense. I think we have more than halved bills and last quarter got paid £250 back for the energy produced. I thinks it well worth doing as a return of 8% is a lot more than you'll get for cash in the bank!! The system should be in profit after 8-10 years, it's on a 20yr tariff so should have 10-12 yrs of it making money as well as reduced bills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 1. Would you get planning permission to put them on in the first place. 2. you would need ether mains electric for backup when it is dark etc. 3. you could have a generator as backup. 4. you could have mains and panels and sell electric back to the electric people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 thanks lads..i did wonder, the kettle would be boiled on LPG cooker... i know what ever route i take, it will cost £££££ s the water would be heated (most of the time ) with a wood burning system, it would have been mainly for low voltage lights , TV PC and washing machine, cooking would be either LPG or wood burner..its ok lads, i'm not about to hug a tree.... just looking at a different lifestyle.... (see council house thread) Get yourself a nice sofa! Hint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lampwick Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 I was having a conversation re solar panels yesterday and it occurred to me, if its so good why isn't The Sahara for instance covered it them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Mongrel- Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Potentially viable some of the time and a diesel generator back up for the rest. How would the installation and running costs stack up against main electric though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 You need to watch that Grand Designs episode where a chap built a timber house in a forest and powered it with solar panels and a small wind turbine. He had a shed full of ex-submarine batteries for when it wasnt very sunny/still day and said it powered his laptop just fine. I'll continue being hooked up to the national grid thank you.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keg Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 bring on the fracking.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aris Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 You could do it in conjunction with LPG for cooking and wood/coal for heating. Would require slight lifestyle changes. Low power devices (lighting, laptop, etc). Could be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasper3 Posted August 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 I am looking at two properties at the moment... property 1 has a septic tank, water and electric on site.... the other is £35k less but no septic tank..water is near by and electric is near by, they both have a barn to convert... the 2nd one has also a small stone barn for storage/ workshop... the 1st one has a brand new 60ft x 30ft GP building and a 50ft x 25ft hay barn as well as the barn for conversion the 2nd one comes with a 1 acre paddock....where as the 1st one, comes with 1/2 acre paddock.... but the chance to buy a further 5 acres next door for £25K the 1st one has south facing fields , the 2nd one is north west facing the difference is the £35k ..... which may not sound a great deal..... but its £35k i havn't got at the moment..and mortgage companies won't lend on barn conversions..they will only lend on doing the place up..not buying it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 Nice idea but not to practical for long term as things change you could end up paying more spend the money now and get mains for the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 I have Solar Panels and have seen my bills drop considerably. They don't run the house but they do save in the long term. Solar heating is defo worth it. Even tepid water is a good staeting point to heat. To bring water from cold to tepid would save about 70% of the energy. I was reading about a guy who dug out 2 trenches 6 feet deep and laid 6" piping leading into the house and using a small fan to draw air in. 6 feet deep aparently remains a constant 16° so in the winter it helps heat the house, and in summer helps cool it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 I have Solar Panels and have seen my bills drop considerably. They don't run the house but they do save in the long term. Solar heating is defo worth it. Even tepid water is a good staeting point to heat. To bring water from cold to tepid would save about 70% of the energy. I was reading about a guy who dug out 2 trenches 6 feet deep and laid 6" piping leading into the house and using a small fan to draw air in. 6 feet deep aparently remains a constant 16° so in the winter it helps heat the house, and in summer helps cool it. Ground source heat pump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 I was reading about a guy who dug out 2 trenches 6 feet deep and laid 6" piping leading into the house and using a small fan to draw air in. 6 feet deep aparently remains a constant 16° so in the winter it helps heat the house, and in summer helps cool it. My old firm used to install geothermal piles. They had pipe work incorporated into the reinforcement cage that was later plumbed into the buildings heating system thus harnessing the earths core heat. Very cheap energy in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedster Posted August 4, 2013 Report Share Posted August 4, 2013 My old firm used to install geothermal piles....... Ooooh, I had those, I got some cream off the doctor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secretagentmole Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Have a wind generator as well! Then eat loadsa beans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 slight issue with geothermal is you need electricity to run the pump Simple answer to this one is pay the money and get connected, unless buying in full odds are any mortgage company would require it to be connected to mains electricity. There isn't any setup suited to modern living so far that can provide all the electricity in a modern house at all times of day. Steps you can take to cut the costs is finding separate contractors to run cables possibly with you digging the trench etc and that is the route I'd go down to try and save first Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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