What a joy to watch....tears running down my face! Flaviana and diplomatic, not normally two words you'd expect in the same sentence. Love her honesty.
Flaviana cracks me up she just can’t help herself saying it just how it is. Very enjoyable video! Extra space is always a bonus but the extreme temperature changes in your conservatory from winter to summer will be a challenge.
do the roof as a priority! it will save you a fortune getting 200mm rock wool added to the 100mm. At least above the key rooms you live in. Have a look at the "loft zone" kit to raise the boarding and keep the insulation underneath.
I applied for the loft insulation with Octopus, and had someone come and inspect my home, there was basically no insulation in the loft, but I didn't qualify based on being double glazed, having cavity wall insulation, and low energy bulbs fitted, so it is not easy to get. The inspection was very thorough and included the whole of the property, not just the loft. I have to agree with Flaviana about spending so much money on a system if you are going to be moving every 3 years. A better option is when looking for future homes, you restrict your searches to homes that have solar, Battery storage and a heat pump, or at least solar and the heat pump, but set up to be able to add batteries of your own, which you could take with you on any future moves from then onwards.
Re the fire, you were suffering from the heavier cold air coming down the chimney, it literally holds the carbon dioxide in the fire box and stops the combustion, it can happen even if you don't do top down. As you're making up your fire if you feel a cold draught on you hand coming from down the chimney, put some lightly scrunched up newspaper in there and light that first, t will burn quick and get the draw going the right way, then build your fire. I've had a log burner close to 10 years and I can guarantee it will happen to me at least once or twice a year when I'm being lazy and think I can get it to go 🙂
I think the log burner will also need a dedicated air source - about a 3" pipe through the wall or under the floor behind it so that it isn't trying to suck air in from the house. If there is one there already, it could be blocked.
Agree with the above. If the flue is drawing I don’t think you would get the smoke leaking out of the seals. Stoves aren’t completely airtight and they need the flue to draw.
@@londonwestman1 Some fires have an external pipe, some don't (by design). I would agree that if you are having a new fire fitted get one that does have the outside pipe, no point wasting the hot air from within the house.
Okay 12 minutes in... Please don't do a video without your wife! Most genuine, entertaining, and informative video I've watched on AAHP and green living! Mega like!
Lol. She’s awesome. So direct. I lived in Japan for 10 years and yes she’s right it’s a different kinda of heat. So funny. But this classic the boy wants his gadgets and the wife is like, yeah na!
My thoughts exactly. Like my house - Im a tech boy gadget fan and my wife brings me back down to earth. Subbing just for these interactions. So funny and relatable.
A lot of people don’t even take running costs of the house into account. It’s always the struggle between spending money on things that are visual and investing in energy efficiency. I would start by insulating the loft. Turn off the radiator heating the universe to 15 degrees. Installing a heat pump of some sort. Old windows have charm but consider function and indoor climate before form.
Always fun to see both of you on the video! When we got our GivEnergy All-in-One battery, the main reason we didn’t get solar was because we we may move in about 5 years or so, and wouldn’t have paid off the cost by then. But the battery can be taken with us a lot easier, which is also what the various companies advised on their quotes too. Once we’re in our forever or longer-term house, then we’ll got the solar.
We installed a 5 unit A2A system in Oct 2021 for our 4 bed detached 1980’s build. It uses around 1800kWh a year for heating. We avoid the “hot blast of wind” effect by running low and slow and directing the flow away from seating areas. Every property is somewhat unique so there’s a choice to be made. One thing we can learn from your money pit series is the fact that resistive element electric heating is a profoundly bad, economically speaking, in combination with a poorly insulated house.
That was really entertaining, just like hanging out with you both. I appreciate the realness to it all and Flaviana's lack of filter is hilarious and refreshing. You are right, why does recruiting someone to do any job little or big, cost so bloody much 😢. I've been wearing about 5 layers a day to cut our heating bill ha.
Just discovered your channel today and watched this brilliant video 👍 We moved to a ‘money pit’ 9 years ago and your video brings back lots of memories (including huge quotes for tree work and pond work)!! I’ll have to watch more of your videos, I’m interested in V2H so will see if you cover this at all.
Hi Guys, If you are considering having a heating system installed this would be the perfect time to have a heatpump designed with perfect primary runs and radiator sizing. I would highly recommend that! I've had a heatpump installed for a year now. It achieved a 4.5 SCOP, heated my 200sqm - 1950s detached home to 21c and provided hot water for £585 over the year with off peak tariffs etc. I worked out a worse case scenario savings against a gas boiler and it was £611 cheaper to run over the year. The off-peak tariffs would compound the savings alongside your EV. To me this is a no-brainer in your position. I'm shopping for a Kia e-niro with help from you! Love the videos and good luck!
Flaviana keeping it real . My wife laughed from the other room, "noone was going to buy the house if I say the house is sh!t'. I'd get a battery first as you could use the 7p eklectric during the day.
That is a frightening amount on electric bill 😮 I was complaining we just spent £160 this month. We had a heat pump with rads and insulation in a 1940’s 3 bed bungalow done a year ago. Definitely recommend heat pump over the oil heating we had before, lovely constant heat.
You two are brilliant, with your conservatory, during the cold weather try getting a cheap curtain rail and thick curtains to divide the conservatory from the main house as a barrier, even if its only in use at nighttime, assuming you don't use the conservatory at night, try thinking low tech sometimes, good luck.
So funny. And informative at the same time! A great double act. Have you considered a podcast? I could listen to you two talking about anything! Please keep it up 🙂
Lots for us to think about as we plan to move out of the farmhouse this year. We definitely want solar & batteries again, as it paid for itself much quicker than originally thought - keeping 3 cars charged and running a large old house for a lot of the year. Hadn’t heard of Air To Water. Will watch the other channels. We haven’t used our wood burner for over 2 years. Partly because our underfloor heating is so effective, and partly because we couldn’t be bothered with bringing in logs, clearing it out, keeping it going and the extra dust.
Don't compromise the Loft insulation because it's inconvenient where the boards are. Since you have a lot of options, do a ROI calculation for each one. Then prioritise. Is it possible to do vehicle to house with a car that you already have? Then you could get some battery benefit without buying a battery.
@@MrEV payback times for most/any improvements will extend beyond your dwell time. It may be difficult to get a future buyer to buy into any improvements you make.
One more suggestion as a short term fix, crank the temperature up during the night to use your 8p tariff. Your house has thermal mass and if you insulated the loft a bit more you might use a bit less energy in the morning as the overnight overheating cools down. Might be worth a video to do the before and after stats. 🤔
Your log burner shouldn’t let smoke out. Likely an issue with rope seals (DIY and cheap) and either wet wood or bad use of the primary/secondary air flows. I use my log burner for 9 months of the year and is cheap and effective.
No. It's a problem of a cold flue and a down draught. The wood burner is not air tight! You need to warm the flue with a hair dryer or a flue fan too get the air rising. Once an updraught they wouldn't have smoke in the room
We have had an Air to Air system for 3 winters and 4 summers, best thing we ever did. We have 12 solar panels for 9 years and a battery for 6 years. Live on the North downs in Kent and it’s been great. Last month got Octopus to remove our gas meter as only using 4 units a month. So Solar and battery first or if you can’t have solar get a battery first and top the house up with cheaper electricity over night. Bob from Kent. England.
Enjoying modern electronic 100% efficient heating I see, love how these electric radiators are (mis)sold to people. Makes you reminisce about storage heaters. Honestly put a decent wet heating system in that’s at least heat pump compatible before you spend on solar. Being able to keep your house warm at a reasonable cost is the first thing to do. Oh goodness a PIV too, that PIV is blowing the very expensive electric heat out of your home when it’s operating, I suggest you just run it when then place isn’t occupied.
Anyway... 😂 Your loft insulating looks a bit slim. I'd recommend an extra layer to bring it up to current building regs and to improve the retention of some of that expensive heat. Put the loft boarding on stilts to retain the useful storage space. Another delightful video.
The tipping point for our decision to get solar despite the concern of having to pay for the equipment is that energy prices are always rising. You can't just say that it will take 10 years to see the difference because 5 years from now, the cost of your electric will be considerably higher than it is now. We live in a relatively warm climate in the southern US now but I grew up in New York and I know what Flaviana is saying about the temps dropping when the forced air heat shuts off. The house where I grew up was very poorly insulated and in very cold weather it would go from being so hot we could barely stand it while it was running to freezing cold about 10 seconds after it shut off. I had steam radiators in my house in Pennsylvania and that was my favorite heating situation even though I had to occasionally add water to the boiler and there was some other maintenance required.
I agree with Flaviana. Start with the air to water with radiant heating. It'll drop your bill by up to 75%! Solar will not add that much of a discount to the bill and should be done afterwards. + the radiant heating makes the house more pleasant to live.
If you want to reduce the amount of heat going out of that conservatory then you can fit some thermal blinds which may help to retain the heat. Also it maybe worth changing the floor to a heavy carpet finish so that the heat doesn't escape through the ground as much.
Have 3.6kw solar and 16kw battery fitted last September 2024. (1950s 2 Bed End Terrace House) Also go them to fit a power transfer switch in case of blackouts and come to just under £10k. Also had new Vaillant Combi with weather compensation fitted as not able to have heat pump fitted due to internal structure. My plan is to export back to grid as much as I can during summer to then cover gas bills during the winter. Main reason for myself to get solar and battery was to cut my energy costs during retirement. No idea what energy bills are likely to be in future but only way is up in my opinion. My pension is not the best so whilst I have a good job and can afford it this was my game plan for the near future.
Get on an EV or home battery tariff ASAP. You can then charge your 16kWh of batteries at a very low cost, then sell your solar generation back for an income. I am expecting to get about £400 from solar exports this year, which covers ½ my heating oil bill.
On the plus side the pond will look fantastic in the summer and you should see some impressive wildlife. Charity-wise I’d go for ‘People in desperate need of solar panels and heat pumps’, always a popular choice 👍
Flaviana “I was being diplomatic…” made me laugh out loud. I know you have looked at IR heaters but I wouldn't be without the Herschel one in my study. As long has they are specced correctly for the size of the room and hung from the ceiling I believe they would be more efficient than the oil filled rads.
I can see why people said to tear the conservatory down, all that single pane glass just leaking heat straight out it would need to be triple glazed glass to be efficient otherwise it will freeze in winter and cook in summer with that single pane inefficient glass. But to change it would cost so maybe a future project. Insulation super important and always go above the reg's well that's what I do, if they say requirement is say R3 then I'll put in R5 for example.
I love our solar & battery which cuts our bills by at least two thirds, but absolutely agree insulation comes first. Then immediately do the solar and battery, especially as you've got an EV. It's great driving on 'free' electricity.
Why not heat recovery ventilation??? I made my own for our airing cupboard and it works a treat to extract moist warm air** which, on its way out, warms up the cooler air coming in. (**drying the washing)
Our Mitsubishi aircon has a sensor. It can see where you are, and can adjust so it's not blowing air at you - or you can configure to blow at you, whatever your preference. IMO they are the best form of heating, after underfloor.
As some one who is heavily invested in renewables I can only echo what I’m sure others have said. 1. Insulate and draft proof ( you have an IR camera!) This measure is cheap and will return the investment fastest. 2. Get home batteries installed. Coming down in price almost monthly they are easily installed by competent electrician and with a tariff like Octopus Go or Intelligent Go you can fill them overnight and run a big chunk of the day on cheap rate. When you move, take the batteries with you. 3. Finally I’d suggest a discussion about the likliehood of further housemove/timeframe before bothering to talk about investing in ASHP or other big heating infrastructure…….none of it is cheap and payback can be longer than us evangelists often think. Great channel, best wishes.
To contrast, our four bedroom 1970s house, with upgraded windows and full insulation with two EVs and an air to water Heat pump for heating (on 24/7), costs about £20 a week at this time of year, all summer I am exporting all the power I can that pays for the winter use, last year my bill was very nearly £ Zero. I have 9kW of solar and two Powerwalls, is it economic? I doubt it, but you cannot beat the feeling of free motoring and free heating! I am a bit surprised you did not install heat recovery ventilation?
The loft air ventilation thing. Sometimes takes air from the loft? That place that when slightly disturbed has billions of tiny glass fibres floating in the air? Possibly rat mice squirrel droppings. How is that a good idea? For £1900 you could have had a single air-to-air heating the lounge almost24/7 and it would do cooling in summer. And would have massively reduced your heating bill immediately. My one also has a dehumidify setting! Could have just pointed the vents away from you so you're not in the warm draft... I do agree that being in the warm draught is annoying and not as nice as radiators.
I have so many questions to ask (digs), i think i meed to watch the video again but I’m not sure I want to do that 😂😂 nice to see Mrs E V finds it all so amusing 😻
Just a tip... if your stove ever starts pouring smoke out of the front, quickly open an outside door, or window or preferably both to reverse the airflow and send the smoke back up the flue.
if you already have some ok double glazed windows I would keep those, difference to triple isnt that much, windows are a small part of the total area to the outside. insulation of walls covers a much larger area and is cheaper. in norway, there has been critique recently towards people/builder companies replacing perfectly fine double glazed windows, as the cost does rarely defend the benefit.
Of you are not planning on living in the house long-term, concentrate on the insulation (check if you can get grants to help with the costs), sort out the doors and windows (adds value and makes the house easier to sell) and modernise the interior/ sort out the office stud wall (a nice office area will add value). If you are doing enough miles to make it worthwhile I'd also suggest getting the car charger installed (will help costs now and might help sell the house in future). I wouldn't bother will the solar/ batteries or heat pump unless you plan to be there a while (we've got panels and batteries and may go down the heat pump route when the combi-boiler needs replacing, but hopefully not for a few years yet - I wouldn't get the heat pump without the batteries and cheap rate electricity).
Love your videos and wow that new property has quite a few challenges to overcome but all in good time. On bifolds we moved three years ago and the house had pvc bifolds, 5 doors, which looked great when we viewed the house and they were open. One year later they wouldn’t lock, we had no option but to replace, £5K unexpected outlay but aluminium frames are much better but they’re cold, thermal curtains help. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses and the car reviews too. If you’ve not been there already the driving around ashdown forest is fantastic, fond memories of driving to friends clump car park, in fact any of those places to pull in around there are great. One more tip, our favourite pub The Hatch Inn, Coleman’s Hatch, great old pub with really good food.
In our loft I lifted the boarding and put Celotex insulating boarding down over one layer of standard insulation and then replaced the boarding over the top. Gave 100mm less height for standing but meant we could still access all areas of the loft.
Air to air heat pump is highly recommended. From what I’ve heard, 1kW from a heat pump generates about the same amount of heat as 5kW of electric radiators.
you did a good choice keeping the conservatory! it will be warm again. having such an area with lots of daylight, dry in all weather, has real value, even if its a bit chilly now in winter. but when the sun comes in february/march it will easily get too hot.
The problem with your wood burner (and mine has the same issue) is the flue is short and can get cold and cold air sinks so until there's a up draught generated then smoke will go into the room not up the chimney! To combat this I put a hairdryer up the flue for 30 seconds. Then test a burning piece of scrap paper. You will see if the flame falls or rises. If it falls another 30 seconds with the hair dryer! If it rises then quickly light the stove and problem solved! Don't ever light it when there's a down draught or risk of. You fill the room with smoke. And it takes 30+ minutes to clear!
That was great. Thanks. I wish my roofer was as entertaining as yours 🤣. I'm a big Tim & Kat fan. How about starting a new (additional) channel? Something along the lines of Flaviana & Kat's Eco Chats would be terrific. Please. Thanks again! 🤗
Electric Bill for 2 months 9th October to 9th December was 576 Euro running a heat pump to heat the house and heat up the water tank, also included charging my Ioniq5. In Summer its half the amount, hope things get better for you utilities wise.
One of the best double acts around 😅. Flaviana gets more beautiful with every video! Seriously though insulation is the way to go, our 1890 house keeps way more heat in since we shoved Celotex anywhere & everywhere we could.
She absolutely right about air to air heating it’s not very comfortable. A heat pump during during defrost cycle doesn’t leave the house cold if installed well. Our Octopus Energy heatpump it absolutely brilliant and is well worth installing.
It’s amazing how different people experience the same technologies so differently. Our air conditioning is great, easy to heat, cheap to run and we’re very comfortable. We have found low and slow is cheaper and more comfortable, so less impacted by the defrost cycle.
If the air to water heat pump is £9300 but you are going to get a hot water tank anyway isn't the net cost of the heat pump around £7600 rather than £9300 as the air to water heat pump would include its own cylinder in the install cost. (Our recent replacement hot water tank alone was £1700). Heat pump and battery (with no solar would be the most cost effective option). You could also take the batteries with you if you move.
Thanks for a really interesting and entertaining video. Here's my suggested priorities: • Loft insulation • Storage heaters. Boring but cost effective. They'll also give the comfortable source of heat that Flaviana is wanting. Maybe only need two or three? • A home battery. Cost effective and, you can take it with you when you move. • Professional fix for the log burner. They shouldn't leak like that. (With storage heaters, the battery, the car and probably still a couple of oil radiators, you'll have to keep an eye on that 22kW limit.) And for content - it would be really interesting to get a water-to-water system quote and see if they'd go on camera. It should be a perfect site with the pond so close. I think you'd chuck the pipe in the water, hold it with a few stakes and that should be about it outside.
Very interesting video, about time the viewers got the truth about heat pumps etc. It's very difficult to tell the complete unvarnished truth when we have made mistakes over a very big purchase, particularly when the person believes in these new ideas. Fix first what is the most important and leave the extras till the end. regards
First thing you should do is make the family decision to simply not use the conservatory at all unless it’s warm enough WITHOUT ANY HEATING! Turn off the heater in the conservatory completely. You are paying to heat the sky. It’s bonkers. It will be consuming lots. You should have demolished it but now it’s remaining so PLEASE follow this first step. Switch off heating in any unused rooms and keep door closed. The next big problem for you is your nomadic frequent moving house. Any investment in trying to improve things has longer term benefits and payback only. Good luck. Peter
Very firmly recommend cavity wall insulation, if your house has cavity walls and they don't have insulation already. It's a single day to install from outside (but very noisy) and made a huge difference to bills and comfort in our 1965 house.
@@Paulruk It was long enough ago that the cost wouldn't be relevant. You'll have to get a quote or two to find out. (The quote should also be quick and easy to calculate, since it's a quick estimate of the accessible outside brick wall areas.)
You should definitely not be heating the conservatory in the winter months unless you have plants there. We only heat ours on a frost protection setting. However when the sun is shining it does get warmer enough to sit in. You are mad having a radiator on at 15 degrees all the time.
If it was me i would have insulated the loft myself. It's not hard to go to Wickes. Buy some rolls of insulation and a dustmask. Why wait for a grant. Just spend that £200 and get it done!
Maybe consider just getting a battery installed - the installation cost might be lower and you might reap some benefits of cheaper overnight energy? Also when it's below freezing I'd just turn the conservatory heating off and call it a no go zone.
I only came across your channel a couple of weeks ago. I binged all your road trip videos, love the dynamic in Family EV! What’s the rationale for moving/buying a house every 3 years and all associated expenses and stress??
This is so so interesting! I love this series :). I’d go for 1) insulating as much and cheaply as possible 2) gas boiler if possible. I have a well insulated new house and the reality is insulation is miles more important than PV or any other system.
You need a local builder who is stripping a new plot for a build. It costs them a fortune to transport and dump sub soil and top soil. They will probably give you it for next to nothing, to shrink the size of the pond.
I think you have to compare all the options and go with the one that makes the most financial sense. For me getting a home battery to utilise off peak rates has made the most senses with a 6 year payback. The costs of home batteries (without solar) is falling all the time.
With your log burner, have you checked the chimney is functional? Not blocked with nest materials from Jackdaws? A correctly functioning chimney will always draw air upwards, regardless of there being a fire burning or not.
You also might need to open a window to let cold air in if the draft is so bad. Defeats the purpose of the burner but better than smoke inmolation.😂 Height of chimney helps if there are taller buildings or trees nearby. Best thing I ever did was to install an outdoor (hot water) furnace, maybe not the best idea if you have close neighbours though. 😂
I love the channel Mrs EV 😂. Just another suggestion for you to ignore, try looking at ripple shares as they pay 6.3p per unit and they stay with you when you move house.
I'm in a 3 bedroom bungalow (also in E Sussex) and I'm currently paying around £8 per day for gas and electricity (obviously a bit more when we charge the EV). I have solar but that is essentially doing nothing helpful due to the weather. I'd get your cavity wall insulation checked, we had ours redone and it was < £3000 to get the old insulation removed and replaced. PS also have the thermostat at 20.5. PPS Payback on the solar panels/battery probably < 7 years where we live, I've had a quote from Octopus re the heat pump but doubt it would work for us
What a joy to watch....tears running down my face! Flaviana and diplomatic, not normally two words you'd expect in the same sentence. Love her honesty.
“I was being diplomatic…”
I love Flaviana 😂
I’m here for Flaviana. She’s so funny 😂😂
Andrew is a great foil too.
"Welcome once again to the money pit" * _points at Flaviana_ *
lol
😂😂😂
Shots fired
Well that was a rollercoaster! I don't even know which bit to comment on. 😄
Forget solar and only get the battery for time shifting, you can go for ripple as well if you want. Then take the batteries with you when you move.
Flaviana cracks me up she just can’t help herself saying it just how it is. Very enjoyable video! Extra space is always a bonus but the extreme temperature changes in your conservatory from winter to summer will be a challenge.
do the roof as a priority! it will save you a fortune getting 200mm rock wool added to the 100mm. At least above the key rooms you live in. Have a look at the "loft zone" kit to raise the boarding and keep the insulation underneath.
I applied for the loft insulation with Octopus, and had someone come and inspect my home, there was basically no insulation in the loft, but I didn't qualify based on being double glazed, having cavity wall insulation, and low energy bulbs fitted, so it is not easy to get. The inspection was very thorough and included the whole of the property, not just the loft.
I have to agree with Flaviana about spending so much money on a system if you are going to be moving every 3 years. A better option is when looking for future homes, you restrict your searches to homes that have solar, Battery storage and a heat pump, or at least solar and the heat pump, but set up to be able to add batteries of your own, which you could take with you on any future moves from then onwards.
Re the fire, you were suffering from the heavier cold air coming down the chimney, it literally holds the carbon dioxide in the fire box and stops the combustion, it can happen even if you don't do top down. As you're making up your fire if you feel a cold draught on you hand coming from down the chimney, put some lightly scrunched up newspaper in there and light that first, t will burn quick and get the draw going the right way, then build your fire. I've had a log burner close to 10 years and I can guarantee it will happen to me at least once or twice a year when I'm being lazy and think I can get it to go 🙂
I think the log burner will also need a dedicated air source - about a 3" pipe through the wall or under the floor behind it so that it isn't trying to suck air in from the house. If there is one there already, it could be blocked.
Agree with the above. If the flue is drawing I don’t think you would get the smoke leaking out of the seals. Stoves aren’t completely airtight and they need the flue to draw.
@@londonwestman1 Some fires have an external pipe, some don't (by design). I would agree that if you are having a new fire fitted get one that does have the outside pipe, no point wasting the hot air from within the house.
Okay 12 minutes in... Please don't do a video without your wife! Most genuine, entertaining, and informative video I've watched on AAHP and green living! Mega like!
It would be interesting to see the perpetual moving, solicitors and stamp duty fees.
Free home batteries solar and heat pump system right there
Flaviana and Andrew don't move: UK economy flatlines
Lol. She’s awesome. So direct. I lived in Japan for 10 years and yes she’s right it’s a different kinda of heat. So funny. But this classic the boy wants his gadgets and the wife is like, yeah na!
My thoughts exactly. Like my house - Im a tech boy gadget fan and my wife brings me back down to earth. Subbing just for these interactions. So funny and relatable.
A lot of people don’t even take running costs of the house into account. It’s always the struggle between spending money on things that are visual and investing in energy efficiency. I would start by insulating the loft. Turn off the radiator heating the universe to 15 degrees. Installing a heat pump of some sort. Old windows have charm but consider function and indoor climate before form.
Always fun to see both of you on the video! When we got our GivEnergy All-in-One battery, the main reason we didn’t get solar was because we we may move in about 5 years or so, and wouldn’t have paid off the cost by then. But the battery can be taken with us a lot easier, which is also what the various companies advised on their quotes too. Once we’re in our forever or longer-term house, then we’ll got the solar.
We installed a 5 unit A2A system in Oct 2021 for our 4 bed detached 1980’s build. It uses around 1800kWh a year for heating. We avoid the “hot blast of wind” effect by running low and slow and directing the flow away from seating areas. Every property is somewhat unique so there’s a choice to be made. One thing we can learn from your money pit series is the fact that resistive element electric heating is a profoundly bad, economically speaking, in combination with a poorly insulated house.
@TimAndKatsGreenWalks also run their A2A low and slow
That was really entertaining, just like hanging out with you both. I appreciate the realness to it all and Flaviana's lack of filter is hilarious and refreshing. You are right, why does recruiting someone to do any job little or big, cost so bloody much 😢. I've been wearing about 5 layers a day to cut our heating bill ha.
Just discovered your channel today and watched this brilliant video 👍 We moved to a ‘money pit’ 9 years ago and your video brings back lots of memories (including huge quotes for tree work and pond work)!! I’ll have to watch more of your videos, I’m interested in V2H so will see if you cover this at all.
Hi Guys,
If you are considering having a heating system installed this would be the perfect time to have a heatpump designed with perfect primary runs and radiator sizing. I would highly recommend that!
I've had a heatpump installed for a year now. It achieved a 4.5 SCOP, heated my 200sqm - 1950s detached home to 21c and provided hot water for £585 over the year with off peak tariffs etc.
I worked out a worse case scenario savings against a gas boiler and it was £611 cheaper to run over the year.
The off-peak tariffs would compound the savings alongside your EV.
To me this is a no-brainer in your position.
I'm shopping for a Kia e-niro with help from you! Love the videos and good luck!
Flaviane, when you’re on screen there is no competition
I think you mean that Andrew knows not to interrupt.
A delightful video. Always a great joy to watch the interraction between you two. I look forward to regular updates.
Flaviana keeping it real . My wife laughed from the other room, "noone was going to buy the house if I say the house is sh!t'. I'd get a battery first as you could use the 7p eklectric during the day.
What a pleasure to hear honest people, especially the young lady. Nice not to hear crap. Looked like you enjoyed the chocolate though.
Air to Air is the way to go for a small house like that.
Wow thought our electric bill is high, great video as always, hope it gets better for you all.
That is a frightening amount on electric bill 😮 I was complaining we just spent £160 this month. We had a heat pump with rads and insulation in a 1940’s 3 bed bungalow done a year ago. Definitely recommend heat pump over the oil heating we had before, lovely constant heat.
You need to put a lot more insulation in your loft!!! Like about 300 mm I would guess.
The windows will cost a lot. Insulate the whole loft area. It is very cheap, you can do it yourself, and it will make a big difference to your bills
£200 at Wickes or B&Q on 8x 200mm top-up rolls. £10 on a dust mask.
You two are brilliant, with your conservatory, during the cold weather try getting a cheap curtain rail and thick curtains to divide the conservatory from the main house as a barrier, even if its only in use at nighttime, assuming you don't use the conservatory at night, try thinking low tech sometimes, good luck.
So funny. And informative at the same time! A great double act. Have you considered a podcast? I could listen to you two talking about anything! Please keep it up 🙂
Lots for us to think about as we plan to move out of the farmhouse this year. We definitely want solar & batteries again, as it paid for itself much quicker than originally thought - keeping 3 cars charged and running a large old house for a lot of the year. Hadn’t heard of Air To Water. Will watch the other channels. We haven’t used our wood burner for over 2 years. Partly because our underfloor heating is so effective, and partly because we couldn’t be bothered with bringing in logs, clearing it out, keeping it going and the extra dust.
Don't compromise the Loft insulation because it's inconvenient where the boards are. Since you have a lot of options, do a ROI calculation for each one. Then prioritise. Is it possible to do vehicle to house with a car that you already have? Then you could get some battery benefit without buying a battery.
We could use the LEAF to power the house, but then we'd need an expensive V2G/H charge point and we may not keep the LEAF for long anyway.
@@MrEV payback times for most/any improvements will extend beyond your dwell time. It may be difficult to get a future buyer to buy into any improvements you make.
One more suggestion as a short term fix, crank the temperature up during the night to use your 8p tariff. Your house has thermal mass and if you insulated the loft a bit more you might use a bit less energy in the morning as the overnight overheating cools down. Might be worth a video to do the before and after stats. 🤔
Your log burner shouldn’t let smoke out. Likely an issue with rope seals (DIY and cheap) and either wet wood or bad use of the primary/secondary air flows. I use my log burner for 9 months of the year and is cheap and effective.
No. It's a problem of a cold flue and a down draught. The wood burner is not air tight! You need to warm the flue with a hair dryer or a flue fan too get the air rising. Once an updraught they wouldn't have smoke in the room
Thanks
Thank you so much David!
We have had an Air to Air system for 3 winters and 4 summers, best thing we ever did. We have 12 solar panels for 9 years and a battery for 6 years. Live on the North downs in Kent and it’s been great. Last month got Octopus to remove our gas meter as only using 4 units a month. So Solar and battery first or if you can’t have solar get a battery first and top the house up with cheaper electricity over night. Bob from Kent. England.
Love Flaviana’s droll interjections.
Enjoying modern electronic 100% efficient heating I see, love how these electric radiators are (mis)sold to people. Makes you reminisce about storage heaters.
Honestly put a decent wet heating system in that’s at least heat pump compatible before you spend on solar. Being able to keep your house warm at a reasonable cost is the first thing to do.
Oh goodness a PIV too, that PIV is blowing the very expensive electric heat out of your home when it’s operating, I suggest you just run it when then place isn’t occupied.
Anyway... 😂
Your loft insulating looks a bit slim.
I'd recommend an extra layer to bring it up to current building regs and to improve the retention of some of that expensive heat.
Put the loft boarding on stilts to retain the useful storage space.
Another delightful video.
Exactly my thoughts. It’s a fairly cheap diy job for a weekend.
Andrew mentioned that he'd be doing the loft insulation, but was reticent about raising the loft flooring.
The tipping point for our decision to get solar despite the concern of having to pay for the equipment is that energy prices are always rising. You can't just say that it will take 10 years to see the difference because 5 years from now, the cost of your electric will be considerably higher than it is now.
We live in a relatively warm climate in the southern US now but I grew up in New York and I know what Flaviana is saying about the temps dropping when the forced air heat shuts off. The house where I grew up was very poorly insulated and in very cold weather it would go from being so hot we could barely stand it while it was running to freezing cold about 10 seconds after it shut off. I had steam radiators in my house in Pennsylvania and that was my favorite heating situation even though I had to occasionally add water to the boiler and there was some other maintenance required.
I agree with Flaviana. Start with the air to water with radiant heating. It'll drop your bill by up to 75%! Solar will not add that much of a discount to the bill and should be done afterwards. + the radiant heating makes the house more pleasant to live.
If you want to reduce the amount of heat going out of that conservatory then you can fit some thermal blinds which may help to retain the heat. Also it maybe worth changing the floor to a heavy carpet finish so that the heat doesn't escape through the ground as much.
Have 3.6kw solar and 16kw battery fitted last September 2024. (1950s 2 Bed End Terrace House) Also go them to fit a power transfer switch in case of blackouts and come to just under £10k. Also had new Vaillant Combi with weather compensation fitted as not able to have heat pump fitted due to internal structure. My plan is to export back to grid as much as I can during summer to then cover gas bills during the winter. Main reason for myself to get solar and battery was to cut my energy costs during retirement. No idea what energy bills are likely to be in future but only way is up in my opinion. My pension is not the best so whilst I have a good job and can afford it this was my game plan for the near future.
Get on an EV or home battery tariff ASAP. You can then charge your 16kWh of batteries at a very low cost, then sell your solar generation back for an income. I am expecting to get about £400 from solar exports this year, which covers ½ my heating oil bill.
@johnnodge4327 I do, I have octopus flux at moment.
Insulate your loft would be a cheap-ish good start.
On the plus side the pond will look fantastic in the summer and you should see some impressive wildlife. Charity-wise I’d go for ‘People in desperate need of solar panels and heat pumps’, always a popular choice 👍
Flaviana “I was being diplomatic…” made me laugh out loud.
I know you have looked at IR heaters but I wouldn't be without the Herschel one in my study. As long has they are specced correctly for the size of the room and hung from the ceiling I believe they would be more efficient than the oil filled rads.
I can see why people said to tear the conservatory down, all that single pane glass just leaking heat straight out it would need to be triple glazed glass to be efficient otherwise it will freeze in winter and cook in summer with that single pane inefficient glass. But to change it would cost so maybe a future project. Insulation super important and always go above the reg's well that's what I do, if they say requirement is say R3 then I'll put in R5 for example.
I love our solar & battery which cuts our bills by at least two thirds, but absolutely agree insulation comes first. Then immediately do the solar and battery, especially as you've got an EV. It's great driving on 'free' electricity.
Why not heat recovery ventilation???
I made my own for our airing cupboard and it works a treat to extract moist warm air** which, on its way out, warms up the cooler air coming in. (**drying the washing)
Flavia with that drill ... brilliant
Wow, the sugar pot is brilliant! Every hexagon was perfectly coloured and aligned!
Loving these kitchen table discussion vlogs.
Basically, you bought a shit tumble down shack for some reason. I hope it was super cheap.
With Flaviana taking out a loan, super cheap seems unlikely?
Our Mitsubishi aircon has a sensor. It can see where you are, and can adjust so it's not blowing air at you - or you can configure to blow at you, whatever your preference. IMO they are the best form of heating, after underfloor.
As some one who is heavily invested in renewables I can only echo what I’m sure others have said. 1. Insulate and draft proof ( you have an IR camera!) This measure is cheap and will return the investment fastest. 2. Get home batteries installed. Coming down in price almost monthly they are easily installed by competent electrician and with a tariff like Octopus Go or Intelligent Go you can fill them overnight and run a big chunk of the day on cheap rate. When you move, take the batteries with you. 3. Finally I’d suggest a discussion about the likliehood of further housemove/timeframe before bothering to talk about investing in ASHP or other big heating infrastructure…….none of it is cheap and payback can be longer than us evangelists often think. Great channel, best wishes.
If your conservatory radiator plugs in, use a plug in power meter to actually measure the extra energy used to heat it.
Good point. That'd be interesting to find out!
You could also get a remote control plug so you can automate the time it turns off/on as well as monitor usage (my Meross plug does this)
To contrast, our four bedroom 1970s house, with upgraded windows and full insulation with two EVs and an air to water Heat pump for heating (on 24/7), costs about £20 a week at this time of year, all summer I am exporting all the power I can that pays for the winter use, last year my bill was very nearly £ Zero. I have 9kW of solar and two Powerwalls, is it economic? I doubt it, but you cannot beat the feeling of free motoring and free heating! I am a bit surprised you did not install heat recovery ventilation?
Insulation, insulate, insulate! Simples!
The loft air ventilation thing. Sometimes takes air from the loft? That place that when slightly disturbed has billions of tiny glass fibres floating in the air? Possibly rat mice squirrel droppings. How is that a good idea? For £1900 you could have had a single air-to-air heating the lounge almost24/7 and it would do cooling in summer. And would have massively reduced your heating bill immediately. My one also has a dehumidify setting! Could have just pointed the vents away from you so you're not in the warm draft... I do agree that being in the warm draught is annoying and not as nice as radiators.
I have so many questions to ask (digs), i think i meed to watch the video again but I’m not sure I want to do that 😂😂 nice to see Mrs E V finds it all so amusing 😻
Just a tip... if your stove ever starts pouring smoke out of the front, quickly open an outside door, or window or preferably both to reverse the airflow and send the smoke back up the flue.
if you already have some ok double glazed windows I would keep those, difference to triple isnt that much, windows are a small part of the total area to the outside. insulation of walls covers a much larger area and is cheaper. in norway, there has been critique recently towards people/builder companies replacing perfectly fine double glazed windows, as the cost does rarely defend the benefit.
I'm also dubious of the benefit of triple glazing. The woodwork does look very dubious though.
Flaviana is the voice of sense and reason. She should be the one in control of the family’s finances !
Of you are not planning on living in the house long-term, concentrate on the insulation (check if you can get grants to help with the costs), sort out the doors and windows (adds value and makes the house easier to sell) and modernise the interior/ sort out the office stud wall (a nice office area will add value).
If you are doing enough miles to make it worthwhile I'd also suggest getting the car charger installed (will help costs now and might help sell the house in future).
I wouldn't bother will the solar/ batteries or heat pump unless you plan to be there a while (we've got panels and batteries and may go down the heat pump route when the combi-boiler needs replacing, but hopefully not for a few years yet - I wouldn't get the heat pump without the batteries and cheap rate electricity).
Love your videos and wow that new property has quite a few challenges to overcome but all in good time. On bifolds we moved three years ago and the house had pvc bifolds, 5 doors, which looked great when we viewed the house and they were open. One year later they wouldn’t lock, we had no option but to replace, £5K unexpected outlay but aluminium frames are much better but they’re cold, thermal curtains help. Looking forward to seeing how it progresses and the car reviews too. If you’ve not been there already the driving around ashdown forest is fantastic, fond memories of driving to friends clump car park, in fact any of those places to pull in around there are great. One more tip, our favourite pub The Hatch Inn, Coleman’s Hatch, great old pub with really good food.
In our loft I lifted the boarding and put Celotex insulating boarding down over one layer of standard insulation and then replaced the boarding over the top. Gave 100mm less height for standing but meant we could still access all areas of the loft.
guys, move to the south of Italy into a house with solar panels!
Oct 2023 I had 19 425w panels, givenergy Gen3 9.5kwh battery and inverter with optimisers for £12K. Should be a little cheaper now
Air to air heat pump is highly recommended. From what I’ve heard, 1kW from a heat pump generates about the same amount of heat as 5kW of electric radiators.
Octopus estimate an average of about 1kW electric input to 3.1kW heat output (more is possible depending on install)
Great content & insights as always, looking forward to the next one.
you did a good choice keeping the conservatory! it will be warm again. having such an area with lots of daylight, dry in all weather, has real value, even if its a bit chilly now in winter. but when the sun comes in february/march it will easily get too hot.
Really, really enjoyed this - thank you both!
The problem with your wood burner (and mine has the same issue) is the flue is short and can get cold and cold air sinks so until there's a up draught generated then smoke will go into the room not up the chimney! To combat this I put a hairdryer up the flue for 30 seconds. Then test a burning piece of scrap paper. You will see if the flame falls or rises. If it falls another 30 seconds with the hair dryer! If it rises then quickly light the stove and problem solved! Don't ever light it when there's a down draught or risk of. You fill the room with smoke. And it takes 30+ minutes to clear!
That was great. Thanks. I wish my roofer was as entertaining as yours 🤣. I'm a big Tim & Kat fan. How about starting a new (additional) channel? Something along the lines of Flaviana & Kat's Eco Chats would be terrific. Please. Thanks again! 🤗
Electric Bill for 2 months 9th October to 9th December was 576 Euro running a heat pump to heat the house and heat up the water tank, also included charging my Ioniq5. In Summer its half the amount, hope things get better for you utilities wise.
The Mr. EV Mug actually looks good! Shame it's not going to merch as well as the charity auction.
One of the best double acts around 😅. Flaviana gets more beautiful with every video! Seriously though insulation is the way to go, our 1890 house keeps way more heat in since we shoved Celotex anywhere & everywhere we could.
She absolutely right about air to air heating it’s not very comfortable. A heat pump during during defrost cycle doesn’t leave the house cold if installed well. Our Octopus Energy heatpump it absolutely brilliant and is well worth installing.
Yes I’m impressed with mine too, had it since April
It’s amazing how different people experience the same technologies so differently.
Our air conditioning is great, easy to heat, cheap to run and we’re very comfortable.
We have found low and slow is cheaper and more comfortable, so less impacted by the defrost cycle.
@@migsteele @TimAndKatsGreenWalks does low and slow too
Interesting feedback on air 2 air heat pumps and really enjoyed the video
Take Tim's advice on how to run A2A low and slow?
I love 'Flav The Voice of Reason'......ty for the vids, very entertaining, if you mean them to be or not🤣
If the air to water heat pump is £9300 but you are going to get a hot water tank anyway isn't the net cost of the heat pump around £7600 rather than £9300 as the air to water heat pump would include its own cylinder in the install cost. (Our recent replacement hot water tank alone was £1700). Heat pump and battery (with no solar would be the most cost effective option). You could also take the batteries with you if you move.
Thanks for a really interesting and entertaining video. Here's my suggested priorities:
• Loft insulation
• Storage heaters. Boring but cost effective. They'll also give the comfortable source of
heat that Flaviana is wanting. Maybe only need two or three?
• A home battery. Cost effective and, you can take it with you when you move.
• Professional fix for the log burner. They shouldn't leak like that.
(With storage heaters, the battery, the car and probably still a couple of oil radiators, you'll have to keep an eye on that 22kW limit.)
And for content - it would be really interesting to get a water-to-water system quote and see if they'd go on camera. It should be a perfect site with the pond so close. I think you'd chuck the pipe in the water, hold it with a few stakes and that should be about it outside.
I think you are the funniest pair and entertaining on RUclips
I would not even wait for insulation grant. Get down to DIY store & get some bought for the loft...
Very interesting video, about time the viewers got the truth about heat pumps etc. It's very difficult to tell the complete unvarnished truth when we have made mistakes over a very big purchase, particularly when the person believes in these new ideas. Fix first what is the most important and leave the extras till the end.
regards
First thing you should do is make the family decision to simply not use the conservatory at all unless it’s warm enough WITHOUT ANY HEATING! Turn off the heater in the conservatory completely. You are paying to heat the sky. It’s bonkers. It will be consuming lots. You should have demolished it but now it’s remaining so PLEASE follow this first step. Switch off heating in any unused rooms and keep door closed.
The next big problem for you is your nomadic frequent moving house. Any investment in trying to improve things has longer term benefits and payback only. Good luck. Peter
The moving house every 3 years makes doing anything almost pointless!
Should have gone with a Panasonic ERV, it conditions the incoming air with outgoing the air via a heat exchanger.
Under the loft flooring you can put silver foil bubble wrap stuff, or multi layer silver insulation.
I’m not sure there’s any point in buying solar or HP unless, as Flaviana says, it’s a forever home 👍
You'd need to take it with you 😂
But it would add value for when the house is sold again.
Very firmly recommend cavity wall insulation, if your house has cavity walls and they don't have insulation already. It's a single day to install from outside (but very noisy) and made a huge difference to bills and comfort in our 1965 house.
Can I ask how much it cost, looking it for our draughty house that has cavity walls . Thanks
@@Paulruk It was long enough ago that the cost wouldn't be relevant. You'll have to get a quote or two to find out. (The quote should also be quick and easy to calculate, since it's a quick estimate of the accessible outside brick wall areas.)
You should definitely not be heating the conservatory in the winter months unless you have plants there. We only heat ours on a frost protection setting. However when the sun is shining it does get warmer enough to sit in. You are mad having a radiator on at 15 degrees all the time.
If it was me i would have insulated the loft myself. It's not hard to go to Wickes. Buy some rolls of insulation and a dustmask. Why wait for a grant. Just spend that £200 and get it done!
agreed totally.
Charity begins at home!! And it sounds like you need it!! ☕️
Maybe consider just getting a battery installed - the installation cost might be lower and you might reap some benefits of cheaper overnight energy? Also when it's below freezing I'd just turn the conservatory heating off and call it a no go zone.
They'd be laughing if V2H wasn't still a concept.
I only came across your channel a couple of weeks ago. I binged all your road trip videos, love the dynamic in Family EV!
What’s the rationale for moving/buying a house every 3 years and all associated expenses and stress??
This is so so interesting! I love this series :).
I’d go for 1) insulating as much and cheaply as possible 2) gas boiler if possible. I have a well insulated new house and the reality is insulation is miles more important than PV or any other system.
You need a local builder who is stripping a new plot for a build. It costs them a fortune to transport and dump sub soil and top soil. They will probably give you it for next to nothing, to shrink the size of the pond.
Buy some sheets of PIR for the boarded section in the loft, you might be able to lay 100mm and that's the same as 200mm rockwool.
I think you have to compare all the options and go with the one that makes the most financial sense. For me getting a home battery to utilise off peak rates has made the most senses with a 6 year payback. The costs of home batteries (without solar) is falling all the time.
With your log burner, have you checked the chimney is functional? Not blocked with nest materials from Jackdaws? A correctly functioning chimney will always draw air upwards, regardless of there being a fire burning or not.
You also might need to open a window to let cold air in if the draft is so bad. Defeats the purpose of the burner but better than smoke inmolation.😂 Height of chimney helps if there are taller buildings or trees nearby. Best thing I ever did was to install an outdoor (hot water) furnace, maybe not the best idea if you have close neighbours though. 😂
I love the channel Mrs EV 😂. Just another suggestion for you to ignore, try looking at ripple shares as they pay 6.3p per unit and they stay with you when you move house.
Always go for air to water rather than air to air, radiant heat warms people directly which is why it feels warmer/cosier than warmed air.
I'm in a 3 bedroom bungalow (also in E Sussex) and I'm currently paying around £8 per day for gas and electricity (obviously a bit more when we charge the EV). I have solar but that is essentially doing nothing helpful due to the weather. I'd get your cavity wall insulation checked, we had ours redone and it was < £3000 to get the old insulation removed and replaced. PS also have the thermostat at 20.5. PPS Payback on the solar panels/battery probably < 7 years where we live, I've had a quote from Octopus re the heat pump but doubt it would work for us