I’m not sure below is right for this channel but decided to share how I’ve gone Green over last year. I’m hoping it will encourage households thinking of going Green.
I didn’t have the funds but took a loan to match my potential savings as below. Please do your research etc before you follow below as every property is unique and family have different financial priorities.
In the past, I spent £4,000 per year in energy (Electricity, Gas and Diesel) before going Green. Now I’m predicted (on course) to spend £750 pa. That is £270 per month saving.
I got a 10 year personal home improvement loan of £20,000 paying £255 per month to fund below system which will offset with energy saving of £270. Hence, it’s not made me poor financially, instead improved my property.
System:
1st: I got Solar panels (5kw) and Batteries (18.6kw). £15,000. Nov 2023. Local supplier.
2nd: EV charger £1,000. I made sure the PX covers the cost of EV. July 2024. Octopus.
3rd: Heat Pump £3,100. Nov 2024.Octopus.
Left with £900 for Xmas present for my son!
Payback period: 10 years (loan period)
System life: around 15 to 20 years (fingers crossed!).
Currently (Nov/Dec 2024): Some lender are also giving cashbacks on going green!
My heat pump is giving me 4.3cop heating and 2.7cop hot water. Been only 2 weeks but it’s very cosy 20c 24/7. Boiler we had hot/cold spots! So far, happy family given we were very nervous of being brave to change to heat pump. Octopus have been brilliant and Daikin ASHP 8kw is very quiet!
It’s at 9.9% for 10 year term. If I went for 7 year term, it would have been 7.9% but monthly payment would have been £310 instead of £255. My goal was to match my expected savings and have an option to make part early repayment when I have enough savings during the loan period.
Also, if you have low mortgage (LTV) on your home, your lender may lend you at 0% for funds required to improve your home with Green systems like Solar, Heat Pump etc hence worth exploring this option. Unfortunately, I have high LTV so I couldn’t benefit from it.
If you are due for re-mortgage or getting a new mortgage due to property purchase, some lenders many provide cash backs up-to £2,000 when upgrading to Green so worth looking into this. I’m sure they will have strict T&C like install within 12 months of completion etc.
Risks:
Off-peak rates disappears in the near future.
System breakdown costs (like anything in life) but my system has good guarantees/warranties.
Benefits:
Protection against energy inflation.
Close to free energy after payback period.
Reduced carbon footprint.
Reduced mortgage costs (low product fees/preferential rates) due to EPC rating of A (hopeful).
Hi. We did almost exactly the same thing, and you know what? We agree, lovely and warm,
20° C 24/7 and yes, less carbon emission, AND massive peace of mind - no fear of price rises or energy caps.
Looks good ! Can I ask one thing, did you already have an EV or are you letting the cost of the EV be the equivalent of the cost of a diesel car so not included in costs ?
FYI for any Irish readers, there is a low interest loan available from the government, around 3% , for exactly this kind of upgrade. Up to €75k, non-secured up to 10 years
Thank you very much to the Green party (who got booted out in the last election #irony)
I had a 2018 BMW 2L diesel when I got solar/batteries installed which used to cost me around £1,000/year (£80/month) in fuel. During summer, I PX’d it (£14,000) for second hand 2022 Renault Zoe (£12,300) which is under warranty. It will cost me around £150/year in electricity (Octopus Intelligent Go tariff) as I’ve averaged 150kW/month to charge my EV over last 6 months. Also, the savings between PX and my insurance going down significantly is a bonus as I haven’t netted this financial benefit.
Breakdown of past (Pre-Green) energy cost (incl standing charge):
£1,000 Diesel
£1,350 Gas
£1,650 Electricity
One thing to keep in mind is the off peak tariff helps simply and increase financial savings hence faster pay back period but comes with future risk of gap between off peak and peak to reduce or completely disappears. I yet believe it will benefit financially if this was to happen as per my below understanding.
Eg: if my expected energy usage was based on variable rate tariff @ 25p, I think it would cost around £1,600 total in energy.
£1,250 (5,000x0.25p), net of solar generation (don’t export).
£350 standing charge.
In this case, a bigger solar (7kW) and smaller battery (9.5kW) may be suited for a better payback period. Hence, do take couple of weeks after the initial research to think what system setup would suit your family needs.
I need to give my main roof full credit as it leaked in Oct 2023 which triggered me to think about Solar/Battery system as I wanted to take advance of scaffolding. The research done during that 4 weeks helped me think forward and plan accordingly for my mini Green project!