I live out in the sticks, and up until February 2024, I relied on an oil boiler to heat my home. The boiler was 35 years old. It was noisy, smelly and expensive to run. I utilised the government grant, and had a heat pump, brand new radiators and new hot water system installed for a little over £1200. After some inital niggles, all is now working brilliantly. The oil tank was finally removed this morning. I now want to invest in solar and battery storage for my home. For me it is a "no brainer" to go all electric.
Get as much solar as your roof will hold. Conventional wisdom used to say that north facing panels were not worthwhile, however, generally they are now. They are much cheaper than they used to be, and still generate quite well when it is cloudy as diffused light generates very well. And fitting while you have scaffolding and electricians on site is cheaper than doing it later! I have 3-sides of a semi (N-E-S) and Tesla Powerwall - perfect.
Yup- live in the sticks with regular power cuts. However, mains gas never made it here! So bottled gas for backup boiler - main hot water is fusion powered (solar thermal... We do live in Portugal), hob is bottled gas, but we have an induction hob too. Battery and solar that can go off grid if needed. The car has v2l... And we have a log burning stove and a lovely bbq! I think we've got quite a lot of redundancy- but no gas connection - it will probably never be available.
I’ve allways had gas until I moved 2 years ago to a bungalow that has no gas.i am now on oil with a 35 year old boiler and I prefer it. It costs a lot less and is more efficient to run. Last service it was running at 80% efficiency the plumber said it would take years to make the money back it would cost if I changed everything. I also have a wood burner for back up and a super ser. . I also have an induction hob but miss a gas hob
You should be in the U.S. I'm surprised we ever moved on from horses and wood stoves. I drive an EV, have a heat pump, and an induction "hob". Unfortunately, I live in a condo and I can't put up solar panels. Americans have a total meltdown about these innovations. You would think I'm trying to take away their 2nd Amendment rights to suggest they might try an EV.
@@markiliff Yes. It is just as clear as you say. Most people ignore the "well regulated militia" part and aim straight for the "right to bear arms...".
Absolutely spot on.. have just done the same, fitted electric hob and oven, removed gas meter, gas fire was removed when ashp was installed. Concerning water, for several years now I've rigged up 500L of water butt's and use that for flushing the 2 downstairs loos. Can revert back to the mains when it runs dry but that only occurs couple of times a year (we're in wet devon). Reckon that saves about 20% at least off water bills, including sewage as sewage is based on the water meter input. We do in fact have a well in the garden and could rig up a pump powered by 12v battery to top up the butt's. Keep up the good work!
Would like to disconnect from water and sewage.The cost, as one person, only home half the year at most, is totally obscene,and bears no relation to use.
@@keithhooper6123 Water meter for a start. Then water butts. You or other family members can often get these free from the council. The no plumbing solution is an additonal bucket and trips to the water butts to flush the toilet. Main issue with water butts is to keep out the sunlight and insects.
That sounds very good , when the original energy servery of your home was done what energy rating did it have thinking about the insulation levels and now that the changes have happened what energy rating/insulation levels has it got. but the most important things are is it comfortable to live in and how has all this affected your energy bills?
We had our gas meter taken out about a year ago. Since then we've had baffled-sounding mails, emails & phone calls to ask why we haven't been sending readings. Or to threaten us with disconnection. It's been hilarious. We even had a guy show up at the door and ask to be shown where our gas meter wasn't.
I live in the wilds of The Trossachs area of Central Scotland, no mains gas here and electricity supply is from wires hung from wooden poles. When I moved into the house in 1985 I purchased a single ring bottled gas camping ring just in case the power went off. I cannot remember when the last power cut was but it was a long long time ago after a swan flew into the cables. The gas stove/ ring was a good insurance against power cuts! During winter storms we’ve had lights flickering and the terrestrial digital telly signal go off for a day because lightening struck the antenna but these days there is very little to miss on the telly if the power goes off.
We bought an EV 4years ago and had Fischer radiators and boiler fitted 2years ago. Gas meter is gone. We rely on our multi fuel stove, which we have had for over 10 years, in the event of a power cut. Happy with it all except for the disproportionate standing charge and tariff for electricity. Those of us with an eye on the environment are being let down!!
Great video. We're on the same journey as you in terms of removing gas from our household. We've got Solar, Batteries (and now our first EV - which has nothing to do with the house!) and our next step is some sort of Heat Pump / Hot Water Cylinder and remove our Gas Boiler which would be the last thing to go before we could disconnect our gas supply entirely. You make tons of sense (which is why I watch a lot of your videos!) and I'm with you on the whole "Could of invested in x, y and z" and be better off financially but we're not looking for risk-on investments that could go either way and instead invest in the future sustainability of our house and potentially the environment!! Keep it up - some great insights and thoughts. Keep them coming.
We removed the gas hob last time we-refitted the kitchen and it was the first rather than the last step of de-fossil fuelling the house. Like you we went induction and have not looked back, apart from the expensive pans! Next was solar and batteries, and finally the heat pump. Our gas was removed on day 3 of the installation before the unit was even commissioned. We will look back in 40 years and say 'do you remember when we used to think it was a good idea to pump explosive gas into our homes?' Weren't we stupid.
The last major power cut for us was in December 1990 and lasted 3 days. It was due to a heavy snow storm, so yes our gas central heating couldn't work or our electric cooker. Fortunately we had a gas fire and camping equipment. Still have our gas central heating and the security of our givenergy battery plus solar. These decisions are personal and no one should be abused for their decisions.
Yes, I installed a rainwater recovery system many years ago. I use this water to flush the toilets and for outside taps (car washing, watering the garden etc). Doesn't save a huge amount (I put in a meter to measure exactly how much), but at least (along with the solar panels) when the sun shines we get free electricity and when it rains we get free water.
Our village has never had gas supplied for all. We have some residents who have oil fired systems, some who purchase gas bottles and use that solution. Our system is totally electric with as many solar panels as feasible with one storage battery. We charge our EV with solar/discount electricity from Octopus and we heat all our rooms with infrared panels! No pipe work required, ceiling mounted where appropriate, running costs are about 60% of the previous ceramic radiators and we have freed up lots of wall space. We will never go back! It cost £3000 to install the complete “system”.
We’re now fully electric at home too. We hardly ever get power cuts but while we were on holiday in June, our Tesla app (for our powerwalls, not car) notified us that we had a grid outage. The system had isolated the house and continued to charge from solar and run the house as if nothing had happened for a week. It transpired that the problem was that our 50+ year old, bakelite housed 100A main fuse had expired. The response to get a replacement was really impressive, 3 hours after getting home we had a brand new, free fuse. For 9 months of the year (when solar is plentiful) I am very confident that we would be untroubled by any power cut.
Andy, yes! As well as the HP and battery install (solar panels were here when we moved in 3 months ago), I’ve literally just taken delivery of a 2500 litre water tank so we can harvest rainwater for our WC’s and washing machine. Apparently we could save 50 litres a day, which on metered supply and sewage rates adds up. Happy to share how we are doing it, there’s not a ton of information online or RUclips relevant to UK uses.
It is mental flushing the toilet or watering the garden with drinking water. I'd love to self build or at least have a house where I could easily retrofit a grey water system. I'm assuming you still should pay for the sewage component unless you have a septic system? I recall a story some time ago about someone getting busted for this by the water company. I think there is also a surface drainage component to your water bill, if you can prove you collect all your water and have not run-off into a public drain you should also be able to get that removed from your bill.
@@chrisblunt7627 As far as I am aware the sewage component of the bill is purely calculated from the meter - ie the amount of water you use. Technically, every time I was the car or fill the pond I would be overpaying under that way of calculating. So if they want to meter my sewage once its all up and running then they are free to do so :)
Hi just letting all your viewers know I live in Sweden and no one absolutely no one has gas boiler or gas stoves everything has been electric decades and no one is freezing nor starving 😅 I also have heat pumps , electric car , induction stove and solar panels. I have had power outages but those were planned and informed around 1-3 hours even the food in the fridge keeps as long as you don’t keep opening the door. Overall it is the better option.
While I don’t have a large solar system, our gas meter was removed back in March. Now with an all electric house, our running costs this year are tracking about the same as last year for both gas and electric. However, due to the cost of heating our 1870’s home with gas. Our gas usage for last year was just for hot water and cooking. With an air to air heat pump for space heating and cooling (a big plus this summer), a Mixergy iHP for hot water along with our solar, we are in a much better position. I must admit, while I was sceptical about using the induction hob (along with concerns over usage costs) it didn’t take long to master, including doing stir-fries. The cost for using the induction hob are not noticeable, and more often than not, covered by the battery which has either been charged by solar or from off-peak electricity. Win win👍🏻
German guy here! We've done the same and not regretted it! 30kWp making 26 MWh a year. Of 13 MWh we are importing only 3MWh per year. With two electric cars, heat pump and electricity for 3,5 people.
Love to see it. I’m in the USA where we typically have a furnace for space heating and separate water heater for showers, etc. I’ve replaced the water side with a heat pump water heater, but still have a gas furnace for now. Talking about the standing charge, I still pay *$50* per month during the summer for gas service, despite zero usage. No reason to keep service going “just in case”
I'm with you all the way, getting rid of the gas. However, you CAN use a gas boiler in winter if you have a plug on it (like I do) and you have an alternative method of getting electricity. In the past, I have used the campervan inverter to get the boiler working. Same logic as being able to still run a heat pump, if you can generate electricity somehow, you can run a gas boiler. I tried getting a heatpump through Octopus but our heat loss was too great and they have a limit to the size they will install.
I’ve been thinking of doing this for the past two or three years, we have everything you have with solar for nine years. We only use gas for cooking using four gas rings as we have an electric oven, which isn’t used much because we have a Air Fryer. Our normal gas usage is three or four units a month, then the big standing charge fee. We have been with Octopus for years so will do what you did and get a new fully electric cooker. Bob From Kent. England.😊
We never had mains gas but had a huge LPG tank in the back garden. It was great to stop needing that and we moved to a fully electric household 2 to 3 years ago. Now thanks to our solar, Tesla Powerwall, ASHP, Electric cooker and EV we are now paying just £80 per month for all of our electricity to do 1000 miles per month and keep the home nice and warm in the winter. Would never go back. Also the chance of free heating when it is sunny but cold, thanks to solar panels!
Good video, great message. I have been all electric for 12 months now unlike you, I am anti gas. Gas is a fuel that once used is gone. There will be a time when it will run out plus you have made the point which I endorse, it requires electricity for it to operate. I am making a larger saving than the £110.00 pounds due to the intallation of self heating taps which means I only heat the amount of water we actually use. The Tap cost £40.00 on Amazon (today £60.00) £66.00 for a plumber to fit. I did not realise the reduction on my quarterly water Bill well worth it. I have told other people about the advantages. The reaction I get is, I am either a nutter or just another Eco warrior and should be avoided. I do have Solar panels and when the sun dont shine they dont produce electric (Mr Reece Mogg bless him) but when they do they make up for those short days and my electric bills are low. Whats not to like.
I'm in a remote part of the Highlands, never had gas available here and got rid of oil many years ago. Oil heating requires electricity, in fact our last boiler could draw close on 500W to power the injection pump, fan and internal circulation pump; nearly half of what the heat pump draws! Even in this location power cuts of a significant duration are unusual, we might lose power for a few seconds every week or two but rarely longer to the point of checking on the SSE website. I do have a generator as a last resort, takes about 5 minutes to hook it up and switch off high loads and the solar inverters, but after 18 years it's only got 53 hours on the clock.
We had an ASHP installed in 2022 . As we had already disconnected our gas fire 10 years ago and had an induction hob Octopus removed the meter . In 2023 we had a safety check by SGN and they said they would be capping off the supply at least 2m away from the house. So far nothing has happened.As far as I am concerned gas is history and I have done my bit wet this property.
I work doing the technical/construction drawings for houses and I've never really found that rain water harvesting or grey water recycling has ever caught on. The only time I ever specify them is usually one one-off self builds. They came close to being used more when the old "Code for Sustainable Homes" document was around as we got close to the top levels as it not only looked at lowering heat loss, but also reducing water usage with low flow taps etc. but that scheme was scrapped years ago (the original idea was by levels 5/6 homes would be net zero by 2016!). It's a bit like solar thermal panels, now days the money is better spent of PV panels.
Your video made particularly interesting viewing for me as we are about to move to an electric only house in a remote area in Northumberland. Your set up mirrors what hopefully we will have once we have moved in and got a Powerwall 3, solar and ev charger. It might be interesting as a follow up video to actually do a dummy power cut and see how long you would last off Grid. Thanks for the video.
Power cut, I've got something called an MG4 with 51kwh battery, a CEE inlet to a main change over breaker. Plug in car with V2L lead, and power whole house. My realistic max load is 3000 watts, generally the house runs at 250 watts. Used 3 times in a year in power cuts. Now what I could do as I have FREE electrons for 3 hours a night (20kwh) is top up at night and switch over to car during day, would cut E-Bill by 60%, yes my standing charge is 60p a day.
I'm in the last phase now - just a gas hob. I will replace the hob with induction when I get the kitchen re-done next year. Our kitchen is now 15 years old, and the laminate worktop that came with the house is starting to warp, and the hob itself is starting to get faulty (plus it's a horrible design and pans fall over on the smaller rings!). I switched over to infrared heating in the ceilings of the house and removed the radiators as I wanted to increase the floorspace of the house and put furniture where the rads used to be. It works really well. Unfortunately, the roof posistion of my house isn't great for solar, so I only generate at full whack for a few hours a day. If I was re-doing everything from scratch, I would have gone with more battery capacity, and have ones that could output more power. For reference, I am in a 4-bed detached house, work from home, and have the house heated to 23.5C in most rooms, and 21.5 in the bedrooms 24/7 365 (well, exclude holidays). Monthly bill is £120 with Agile Octopus.
It's relatively cheap and easy to use rain water to flush your down-stairs toilet but you live on a hill or have some other way to put a water butt above the height of the cistern and below gutter height. We put ours on a garden wall. Use a normal diverter and some hose to fill the tank. Most toilet cisterns have holes for a fill valve on both sides, so I fitted a second one connected to the water butt. Use the isolation valve on the mains water supply to switch it off in rainy weather and back on in dry weather. Our family could empty a 100litre water butt in a couple of days. It was quite a surprise how much water it uses. The only issue I found was that I had to add a filter, as tiny bits of moss from the roof would block the fill valve. You're not going to get rich doing this, but it's so cheap that it pays for itself in a year or two.
All very well for a 'cobbled together, home made system' but, it requires 'active management' and is dependent on adequate rainfall..... ... so, not for most people, I should think ....!?!? It costs a LOT to install a proper, decent sized buried tank for reliable grey water use ....!
Just stumbled on your channel yesterday and binged a bit. I’ve just bought a place with solar panels (owned) and was thinking of ways to make the house more efficient. Thanks to you I’m no longer considering IR heating, will probably get a heat pump and I had not considered the standing charge. You could also top up your mortgage with the money saved , over 20years that does add up!
Also with water reclamation you can put your grey water into your garden occasionally to water plants. You can’t do it regularly (although some plants can break down detergents). Also use it to pre wash your “filthy stuff” my dad when he was farming put his boiler suits in a big tub and ran a pipe from the external washing machine pipe into the tub. Saved water, detergent, energy, and having to clean the washing machine after… not sure if there is something there? 🤷♂️
I have owned my own home in the Welsh Valleys for the past 15 years and I've probably had 2 or 3 power cuts which last 10 mins at most. UPS backup wouldn't really benefit me if I'm honest.
I have a givenergy battery, 3kw inverter and EPS socket. We had a power cut for a couple of hours. I used the EPS to keep the oven going and the kids had dinner. My wife was dissapointed that she didn't have a takeaway. I was in energy nerd heaven!
Very interesting video, Andy! We’re in the process of gradually electrifying our house. Within the next couple of months we’ll be replacing our gas hot water tank with an electric one, and our gas hob (or cooktop as we say in Canada) with an induction one. The Boss took a bit of convincing on the latter, but was fully on board when she realised that induction hobs are even more controllable than gas ones (and they’re more efficient too).
Our old gas stove would take 20 minutes to clean, more if someone messy like a pasta sauce boiled over. Our induction cooktop cleans off in seconds with a few wipes from a sponge! And the peace of mind from no longer having explosive gas pumped into the house is significant!
Great getting the savings in. We did the exact same but as the previous owners had an electric hob when we bought it, as soon as the ASHP went in, the gas supply went about a week later. The standing charges really irked me especially in summer when you’re still paying for something you’re barely using. Our old flat when we lived in sin, we had a meter for only a hob. Was all electric panel heaters and an immersed for water. Managed to get a zero standing charge tariff but you can’t get those anymore. On the water front; we’re in Scotland so don’t use a water meter, though feel we do our bit by using the same rule as the Fockers. Plus the noise from the cistern at night wakes everyone 😂
Perhaps have a look at heat exchangers. In a passive house with best insulation and in particular sealing. There isn't the same ventilation from draughts and air leaks so forced ventilation is used to bring in fresh air and exhaust stale air. Usually this is best done using a heat exchanger system to retain the heat inside the building. I keep considering this for background ventilation in our home, probably with a single stand alone unit, but whole house units are also common. Regarding water, similar heat exchanger systems are available to capture the heat from showers, baths, washing up etc and return it to a hot water cylinder. At a brief glance the paybacks looked like decades at best. But the principles are interesting
Just had the oil boiler taken out and Viessmann heat pump installed. No gas supply here. If there’s a power cut, we’ve got a GiveEnergy All In One, so will have power on island mode, powered by the solar panels. My wife doesn’t like the electric hobs, so we’re fitting a gas hob connected to a couple of LPG cylinders outside. Best of both worlds and resilience 👌
The only "power cuts" we've had in our area in the last 10 years (probably longer) have lasted all off a split second. I have solar and battery now, but decided against adding the auto switch over system but if it ever starts to change in the future, I can wire in the Sunsynk inverter to power a couple of rings on the house. But really hasn't been something to worry about.
I’m sorry during the last power cut I opened the gas main and had a very comforting open flame in my living room. I also dropped the engine out of my v12 jag and converted it to a gas powered generator that was excellent until the power came back on half an hour later and my nneigbour came around complaining about their CO alarm going off, what suckers they are.
Your comment near the end of the video saying that reverting back to gas from electricity could be lethal. I totally agree. Its like all of us having driven electric vehicles for 100 years and someone has just come along and invented petrol to power our transport. Today it would be outright banned being a dangerous flammable liquid....which also pollutes! Here in Norway we don't have gas and 80% of our homes use air to air heatpumps. They're cheap to buy, easy to run and the newer versions work down to -30c. Well done Andy for yet another great video.....oh by-the-way as of April 2024, 84.9% of all new vehicles sold here are 100% electric. I myself have driven electric since 2016.....😊
@@davidlewis4399…if an EV catches fire (very unlikely) it becomes headlines. If an ICE car catches fire (very likely) no-one bats an eyelid as they’re used it. With a petrol car you’re sitting in a potential petrol bomb. Right?
I'm about a year or two from making the same decision. My gas fire went about 15 years ago, my cooker is going soon, having not been used for 2 years (I use appliances and a BBQ grill instead). Which leaves my boiler, which is elderly and will need to be replaced in a year or so. I was initially looking at heat storage solutions, using cheap rate electricity. This is because I have a microbore CH system "unsuited" to heat pumps. But even that is changing now. I'm just watching the various developments so that when my boiler finally goes, I can make a decision.
In Germany, Bavaria, here we are required to put all rain water back into the ground. Most people bury a huge tank, or two in back garden. Then a submersible pump is used to pump the water into a hose pipe for watering the garden etc. Unlike the UK, we get long dry summers, intermixxed with very heavy but short bursts of rain. If the system becomes full, it empties into a drain, which is basically a huge well surrounded by gravel. You can also plumb toilets to fill from this external source, rather than take water from the drinking water tap. However, using rain water as grey water requires a meter here. Of course if you really object to this, you could always fill a bucket from the outside water butt and throw it down the toilet each time. For showers, bath you need to filter/clean the water. As it's underground, it's not exposed to light, so you don't get organic growth, but the droppings on the roof make it not a great choice without cleaning. For washing machines, it's heated. Ditto for dishwashers. However, we didn't opt for any of this as, a keen gardener, I use most of the water in the garden. Not sure if they do this in the UK, but you can also have a seperate garden meter. Costs 25 Euros or so every few years, but avoid the sewage charge, as the water you are putting on the garden is not sent down the drain.
Us too! Make’s sense after ashp install (Winter time), never looked back 😀 first principles thinking obvious. PS gas boiler doesn’t work in power cut, controls/pump electric!
Great video- went gas less nearly 3 years ago. The hob was the last for us. Victorian house in silsden without gas!! Much cheaper!! I’m a true Yorkshire man too!
I've always had an electric stove/oven. Probably because there was no gas available anywhere I have lived. I've never heard fearmongers saying, "how will you cook in an outage?." Umm... BBQ? I have had a couple of 2 day power outages in the last decade. They are not fun, and after the first one I bought a small generator to keep the fridge going. Fortunately, big outages like that have only happened with hurricanes, so there is no worry about heating (hurricanes are hot air). We get very strong winds in winter, but the trees don't fall down as much when they don't have leaves acting as sails. (Crossing fingers that we don't get a bad ice storm.)
Nice one Andy. Like you our gas meter was removed in June and the house is fully electric. ASHP, PV, batteries with EPS, 2 x EV's. £110 standing charge gone along with cost of gas used. Yes my Givenergy batteries will run the HP along with the PV. Like you I have had people say "But you have no back up heating without the gas" they have been put right. I have kept the multifuel stove but will only be used in emergency and besides there would be a big hole in the hearth!
Our gas is in a tank in the back garden. As we are rural and we do get power cuts upto 6 or even 8 hours sometimes especially in winter, it's essential. So we have a gas cooker and a gas fire. Now I've got a power bank that I can run the gas boiler off as well. I'm also working on an off grid small solar/battery setup which can run the fridge freezer and a few other bits and pieces off. It's nice to have power and light in a power cut! It always seems to be -4C when the power goes off. That includes the time the ice brought down the power lines.
So, how good will it be when you're completely off the grid? I've found it to be FANTASTIC! Power outages have no affect on me and the gas line ends at the street. Only water, sewer and trash now.
We ASHP since las December and had the warmest most comfortable winter ever and it's down to the Gas Hob now to go Induction. Only problem is that the 5 burner hob is a super wide 1100 mm so replacing the hob means the not inconsiderable cost of replacing all worktops and breakfast island!
I have followed your u tube and are now totally electric. Batteries heat pump ev and agree no problem moving away from gas . Thanks I think we are finished . I have Water butts for watering the garden
I live in Sweden. Gas isn’t a thing here. Some houses have old oil boilers. But most are converted to burn wood pellets. New houses usually have heat pumps. I we can keep warm with heat pumps I’m fairly sure you can I Britain to. But do get some propped isolation and windows.
Congratulations on making a sensible and correct decision. If I were you, i would definitely invest in getting the GivEnergy batteries set up to provide blackout protection.
Over the last 14 years we have done the same and have created a very efficient home system. We have 12kW solar panels 42kW batteries plus 5 kW in a purpose built mobile unit. Induction stove, high temp heat pump, reverse cycle inverter controlled air conditioning, heat recovery ventilation. We also have an electric car with V2L which we could use for critical home items if we ran out of battery and solar power. We could then recharge the car at a charging point the following day and use at home again. Incredibly cheap energy bills, helps the planet and no gas issues.......yes, we also store and use rain water.
We distill our drinking water. Always limescale and some other bits in the pot. This may not be what you're asking but distilling could be part of a reclamation system I suppose?
I’m waiting for my Heat Geek to design and install my heating system, when I’ll be removing the gas meter. I’m glad Octopus still removes meters for free. Thanks EVM!
I’m tempted to run gas bottles for the hob, given that it will be the only thing using gas once the boiler gets replaced. The manufacturer provides alternative jets (allowing the gas conversion) for free, so they’re sat on a shelf.
@@MikeGleesonazelectrics that would need the wife to be persuaded, and she isn’t. It would also significantly benefit from an upgrade to the battery system… It’s also part of a dual fuel double oven… so it’s not just replacing a hob.
The best thing about the induction hob is how easy it is to clean! Cooking on it is much like gas, miles away from the old infrastructure red / element heaters of the past. Maybe you can book a weekend away at an air BnB with a induction hob, so she can give it a try!
Interesting. I am in the US, California. We have Tesla EVs, solar and batteries, but I still prefer gas for home heating, on-demand water heating, and stovetop cooking.
Stir-fry action! Wok's the problem? Single burner portable gas camping stove from Go Outdoors. Fits on our induction hob a treat. We have 8mm micro bore heating pipes so will be while before we can ditch the oil boiler for a Heat Pump. Octopus assure us it is coming.....
As for power cuts we rarely get them and when we do it usually lasts at most a couple of minutes. However I do have a 13A emergency socket on the battery and my MG4 has V2L so another 13A which will run the essentials like F/F, Internet and lights.
The village where my parents stay has no gas main. They've been running off bottled gas for decades, and the last time we spoke about it, they were paying £250 a month, and still had a bill to pay at the end of the year. They've now switched to a heat pump and solar panels in the last month or so. They still have a gas tank for cooking for now, but what's there will last for ages.
I'm assuming you already use off peak to top up the air source heat store. Filling your toilet cisterns with rainwater and using a rain butt for watering the garden are the only other ones I can think of. A composting toilet is probably inappropriate and a bicycle would not really work for your kind of employment. I have an MG4 and hope to run the house on that eventually, in conjunction with my domestic battery bank and off peak electricity. We don't generally need air-con here in Scotland, but I did buy a small free-standing one that blows hot air out of the window and pre-cools the bedroom for the occasional over hot days when there is excess electricity from the solar panels and the batteries are full.
Welcome to the club. We removed ours back in 2017 when the ASHP was fitted. Solar done in 2014 with FIT, ASHP in 2016, full EV since 2019, battery system fitted 2022. Living the dream !
Had our gas disconnected last May and never looked back, like you we have Heat-pump, solar and batteries. Incidentally after 12 months it is a requirement that the connection is removed from the property (to stop potential theft) so if we sold our house and the new owners wanted gas there would be a cost as the pavement would need to be dug up again.
@@andymccabe6712 my set up cost me around £500 about 8 years ago. 2 water butt's on a support 1 metre high, gravity does the rest to 2 downstairs loos. 500 litres of rainwater, i worked out the loos use about 33% of water use, it probably recouped the cost within 3 years. Don't forget on a water meter the sewage charge is also based on your water use which actually is more expensive than water.
We’ve been all electric for three years. No regrets and major savings. We live in the sticks and have frequent power cuts. Our home battery system has been a huge benefit particularly as we have an elderly parent living with us, who needs her annex to remain at 23 C day and night.
we cook with two separate induction hobs that sit on the work top and have three pin plugs. When we have a powercut we can run an extension lead from the car and still cook with our hobs. For many years we fed rainwater from the roof to tanks at eaves level - ex fruit juice 1000l - and then to the toilets. We should have put better filters on the connecting system because it was surprising how much silt came in and clogged the system. Toilet cisterns were a bit too slow to refill when we had visitors. The easiest way to stay warm or keep cool in a power cut is to sit or sleep in the car .That EV will also run the main router and laptop for prolonged periods.
A small UPS like you might find under a desk in an office would keep the boiler ticking over in a power cut. I find your all electric journey interesting and it's something I will be considering as funds allow.
If you don't want to sleep at night. Google how many gas explosions in the home a year in the UK. You would be surprised. 😱 I have the backup mode my solar system. It's awesome having power when the rest of the neighborhood is offline. Had two power cuts since been installed. If you're having a new system installed get the backup option. ❤
I went from LPG to full electric in cheshire. I power two electric cars, all of the 4 bed house with two kids. Since April we have lived for free and I'm £200+ profit on my octopus account which will fund the winter when the heat pump needs to heat yhe house. Total win!
I'm just looking into having an ASHP fitted and a second 8kw solar system to go alongside my 6kw system I currently have and adding 3 or 4 (still undecided) 5kwh battery storage units. I don't have any battery storage yet. Our heat loss survey has been done this week and by the look of it, they say I'll need a cascade ASHP system. A little scary due to the additional install costs, but I'm hoping the solar will offset the running costs to a degree. I guess the actual proof will be in the pudding :) Like you, these are long-game choices we are making. I don't want to be one of the elderly people you see on the news now with the option of heating or eating. I'm coming up 50 now, so not quite there yet, but while I have the option of putting things in place, I think it will be money well spent. We would only have the hob running on gas too so we will be replacing it with an induction hob and having the gas capped off. Loving the videos BTW. Really informative and helped steer us down this path:)
Just sit in the Tesla and watch a movie if the power is out. 😂 Realistically you will be warmer with a heat pump as you keep the house at more of a constant temperature that you usually do with a gas boiler. Personally it's not a worry. In the 10 years I have lived in my current house only once have we had a power cut for more than an hour.
On water, I've never quite understood why ythere aren't a lot more intedgated washbasins and lavatories, so the outflow from washing your hands goes towards your next toilet flush. With modern toilets you wouildn't even have to pump the water upwards to get it into the cistern, since basins are generally mounted higher anyway.
how much water do you use washing your hands? I have watered the garden with my shower water before. That actually was a lot of water. Hand washing is like what, 2 cups of water?
Just our boiler to go, got an induction hob when we had the kitchen refreshed. Would love to get an ASHP and take advantage of the generous govt grant but not suitable for our property according to Octopus. Basically we don't have enough space to meet requirements. So when our gas boiler eventually breaks down we will be looking at electric alternatives other than a heat pump.
You mention stir fry’s & no gas, I find my portable gas range brilliant for that, it has the gas canisters which are very cheap anyway! Sure you’ve done the best thing getting rid of Gas! Well done! John in Monmouth 🏴
Just a point of correction. You could power your combi boiler electrics,from you home battery,taking sesperate output from inverter. However,I want to get rid of my gas boiler too,but there is nothing wrong with it at the moment.
I thought about that when choosing my solar+battery setup. Since the combi boiler has its power cable embedded in the wall instead of using a regular socket, the Emergency Power wiring would be slightly more complicated. We got a Tesla Powerwall gen 2 and it just works.
Good move there. I have a solar and battery set up but I couldn’t get it so that it would run in a power cut. I assume things have changed in the last couple of years.
Here in Australia, it’s becoming more common to go full electric. Myself and a friend have done it and you are right about gas appliances needing electricity to work. I have had to explain that to people as well.
Hi EVM, greetings from Oxford. Awesome job on ditching the gas, we are not there yet, but working towards it. Induction hobs are awesome, I was always a gas hob fan because when I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s electric hob technology was rubbish. The single point of failure argument is rubbish because a gas boiler is useless without electricity to run the pump and operate the boiler control system.
If you’re going to use a camping heater to keep warm during them “power cuts” be sure to keep those carbon monoxide detectors. We’re on the same journey, just waiting for the heat pump installation. Really looking forward to getting rid of the gas meter and outrageous standing charge!
I wish you good fortune for when the power cuts start as they most certainly will. I hope you have thought very carefully about the size of back generation you have purchased
I live out in the sticks, and up until February 2024, I relied on an oil boiler to heat my home. The boiler was 35 years old. It was noisy, smelly and expensive to run. I utilised the government grant, and had a heat pump, brand new radiators and new hot water system installed for a little over £1200. After some inital niggles, all is now working brilliantly. The oil tank was finally removed this morning. I now want to invest in solar and battery storage for my home. For me it is a "no brainer" to go all electric.
Must have a fairly new house or quite small as heat pumps are generally not good.
Get as much solar as your roof will hold. Conventional wisdom used to say that north facing panels were not worthwhile, however, generally they are now. They are much cheaper than they used to be, and still generate quite well when it is cloudy as diffused light generates very well. And fitting while you have scaffolding and electricians on site is cheaper than doing it later!
I have 3-sides of a semi (N-E-S) and Tesla Powerwall - perfect.
Yup- live in the sticks with regular power cuts. However, mains gas never made it here! So bottled gas for backup boiler - main hot water is fusion powered (solar thermal... We do live in Portugal), hob is bottled gas, but we have an induction hob too. Battery and solar that can go off grid if needed. The car has v2l... And we have a log burning stove and a lovely bbq! I think we've got quite a lot of redundancy- but no gas connection - it will probably never be available.
I’ve allways had gas until I moved 2 years ago to a bungalow that has no gas.i am now on oil with a 35 year old boiler and I prefer it. It costs a lot less and is more efficient to run. Last service it was running at 80% efficiency the plumber said it would take years to make the money back it would cost if I changed everything. I also have a wood burner for back up and a super ser. . I also have an induction hob but miss a gas hob
@@davidlewis4399 Don't talk rubbish.
You should be in the U.S. I'm surprised we ever moved on from horses and wood stoves. I drive an EV, have a heat pump, and an induction "hob". Unfortunately, I live in a condo and I can't put up solar panels. Americans have a total meltdown about these innovations. You would think I'm trying to take away their 2nd Amendment rights to suggest they might try an EV.
I do find it bizarre, would have expected the home of the free to love the idea of generating and use your own energy, isn’t that independence!?
I'm a bit rusty with the Amendments. Is that the one that proetects the right to emit noxious fumes, but only as part of a well regulated militia?
@@markiliff Yes. It is just as clear as you say. Most people ignore the "well regulated militia" part and aim straight for the "right to bear arms...".
Absolutely spot on.. have just done the same, fitted electric hob and oven, removed gas meter, gas fire was removed when ashp was installed. Concerning water, for several years now I've rigged up 500L of water butt's and use that for flushing the 2 downstairs loos. Can revert back to the mains when it runs dry but that only occurs couple of times a year (we're in wet devon). Reckon that saves about 20% at least off water bills, including sewage as sewage is based on the water meter input. We do in fact have a well in the garden and could rig up a pump powered by 12v battery to top up the butt's. Keep up the good work!
Would like to disconnect from water and sewage.The cost, as one person, only home half the year at most, is totally obscene,and bears no relation to use.
@@keithhooper6123 Water meter for a start. Then water butts. You or other family members can often get these free from the council.
The no plumbing solution is an additonal bucket and trips to the water butts to flush the toilet.
Main issue with water butts is to keep out the sunlight and insects.
How did you plumb 'just' the toilets into the water butt?
@@shanecook9653 usual copper pipe.. I put a stop clock on the mains inlet to both loos..
We did the same 7 years ago. With a heat pump, battery storage, 3 electric cars and 14kWp of solar, we actually have a negative energy bill.
How much approx can cost this days for your configuration?
That sounds very good , when the original energy servery of your home was done what energy rating did it have thinking about the insulation levels and now that the changes have happened what energy rating/insulation levels has it got. but the most important things are is it comfortable to live in and how has all this affected your energy bills?
Your bill is negative because it's being subsidised by the green levy that everyone is paying
oh look one more comment that doesn't say how much the total system cost. £20k 30k??
@@michaelking8573 prepare for another massive bill very shortly.
My gas was disconnected 2 years ago, never even thought about it since.
@@Muppetkeeper just like petrol :)
Agreed
We had our gas meter taken out about a year ago. Since then we've had baffled-sounding mails, emails & phone calls to ask why we haven't been sending readings. Or to threaten us with disconnection. It's been hilarious. We even had a guy show up at the door and ask to be shown where our gas meter wasn't.
I live in the wilds of The Trossachs area of Central Scotland, no mains gas here and electricity supply is from wires hung from wooden poles. When I moved into the house in 1985 I purchased a single ring bottled gas camping ring just in case the power went off. I cannot remember when the last power cut was but it was a long long time ago after a swan flew into the cables. The gas stove/ ring was a good insurance against power cuts! During winter storms we’ve had lights flickering and the terrestrial digital telly signal go off for a day because lightening struck the antenna but these days there is very little to miss on the telly if the power goes off.
We bought an EV 4years ago and had Fischer radiators and boiler fitted 2years ago. Gas meter is gone. We rely on our multi fuel stove, which we have had for over 10 years, in the event of a power cut. Happy with it all except for the disproportionate standing charge and tariff for electricity. Those of us with an eye on the environment are being let down!!
@@davidedwards2950 I also have the Fischer Future heat panels - brilliant and I can run 1 at a time off my solar if I’m generating enough!
Thanks for another great video. You talk a lot of sense and it's a shame there are not more people like you. Have a coffee on me!
Great video. We're on the same journey as you in terms of removing gas from our household. We've got Solar, Batteries (and now our first EV - which has nothing to do with the house!) and our next step is some sort of Heat Pump / Hot Water Cylinder and remove our Gas Boiler which would be the last thing to go before we could disconnect our gas supply entirely. You make tons of sense (which is why I watch a lot of your videos!) and I'm with you on the whole "Could of invested in x, y and z" and be better off financially but we're not looking for risk-on investments that could go either way and instead invest in the future sustainability of our house and potentially the environment!! Keep it up - some great insights and thoughts. Keep them coming.
We removed the gas hob last time we-refitted the kitchen and it was the first rather than the last step of de-fossil fuelling the house. Like you we went induction and have not looked back, apart from the expensive pans! Next was solar and batteries, and finally the heat pump. Our gas was removed on day 3 of the installation before the unit was even commissioned.
We will look back in 40 years and say 'do you remember when we used to think it was a good idea to pump explosive gas into our homes?' Weren't we stupid.
The last major power cut for us was in December 1990 and lasted 3 days. It was due to a heavy snow storm, so yes our gas central heating couldn't work or our electric cooker. Fortunately we had a gas fire and camping equipment. Still have our gas central heating and the security of our givenergy battery plus solar. These decisions are personal and no one should be abused for their decisions.
Yes, I installed a rainwater recovery system many years ago. I use this water to flush the toilets and for outside taps (car washing, watering the garden etc). Doesn't save a huge amount (I put in a meter to measure exactly how much), but at least (along with the solar panels) when the sun shines we get free electricity and when it rains we get free water.
Good milestone. We had ours removed about a year ago. We still get people coming around asking to read it.
Us, too! 3rd year running same man cannot locate meter to read!
Our village has never had gas supplied for all. We have some residents who have oil fired systems, some who purchase gas bottles and use that solution. Our system is totally electric with as many solar panels as feasible with one storage battery. We charge our EV with solar/discount electricity from Octopus and we heat all our rooms with infrared panels! No pipe work required, ceiling mounted where appropriate, running costs are about 60% of the previous ceramic radiators and we have freed up lots of wall space. We will never go back! It cost £3000 to install the complete “system”.
Are your ceramic heaters brick heaters using off-peak electricity ??
We’re now fully electric at home too. We hardly ever get power cuts but while we were on holiday in June, our Tesla app (for our powerwalls, not car) notified us that we had a grid outage. The system had isolated the house and continued to charge from solar and run the house as if nothing had happened for a week. It transpired that the problem was that our 50+ year old, bakelite housed 100A main fuse had expired. The response to get a replacement was really impressive, 3 hours after getting home we had a brand new, free fuse. For 9 months of the year (when solar is plentiful) I am very confident that we would be untroubled by any power cut.
Andy, yes! As well as the HP and battery install (solar panels were here when we moved in 3 months ago), I’ve literally just taken delivery of a 2500 litre water tank so we can harvest rainwater for our WC’s and washing machine.
Apparently we could save 50 litres a day, which on metered supply and sewage rates adds up.
Happy to share how we are doing it, there’s not a ton of information online or RUclips relevant to UK uses.
It is mental flushing the toilet or watering the garden with drinking water. I'd love to self build or at least have a house where I could easily retrofit a grey water system. I'm assuming you still should pay for the sewage component unless you have a septic system? I recall a story some time ago about someone getting busted for this by the water company. I think there is also a surface drainage component to your water bill, if you can prove you collect all your water and have not run-off into a public drain you should also be able to get that removed from your bill.
@@chrisblunt7627 As far as I am aware the sewage component of the bill is purely calculated from the meter - ie the amount of water you use. Technically, every time I was the car or fill the pond I would be overpaying under that way of calculating. So if they want to meter my sewage once its all up and running then they are free to do so :)
@@Scott-cm8sv That's a good point well made - I'm sure they would be more keen to look at billing you than refunding you ;-)
Hi just letting all your viewers know I live in Sweden and no one absolutely no one has gas boiler or gas stoves everything has been electric decades and no one is freezing nor starving 😅
I also have heat pumps , electric car , induction stove and solar panels.
I have had power outages but those were planned and informed around 1-3 hours even the food in the fridge keeps as long as you don’t keep opening the door.
Overall it is the better option.
While I don’t have a large solar system, our gas meter was removed back in March. Now with an all electric house, our running costs this year are tracking about the same as last year for both gas and electric. However, due to the cost of heating our 1870’s home with gas. Our gas usage for last year was just for hot water and cooking. With an air to air heat pump for space heating and cooling (a big plus this summer), a Mixergy iHP for hot water along with our solar, we are in a much better position. I must admit, while I was sceptical about using the induction hob (along with concerns over usage costs) it didn’t take long to master, including doing stir-fries. The cost for using the induction hob are not noticeable, and more often than not, covered by the battery which has either been charged by solar or from off-peak electricity. Win win👍🏻
German guy here! We've done the same and not regretted it!
30kWp making 26 MWh a year.
Of 13 MWh we are importing only 3MWh per year. With two electric cars, heat pump and electricity for 3,5 people.
Love to see it. I’m in the USA where we typically have a furnace for space heating and separate water heater for showers, etc. I’ve replaced the water side with a heat pump water heater, but still have a gas furnace for now. Talking about the standing charge, I still pay *$50* per month during the summer for gas service, despite zero usage. No reason to keep service going “just in case”
I'm with you all the way, getting rid of the gas. However, you CAN use a gas boiler in winter if you have a plug on it (like I do) and you have an alternative method of getting electricity. In the past, I have used the campervan inverter to get the boiler working. Same logic as being able to still run a heat pump, if you can generate electricity somehow, you can run a gas boiler. I tried getting a heatpump through Octopus but our heat loss was too great and they have a limit to the size they will install.
Well done Andy. Had our gas meter taken out last month when we got an induction hub, and got the Tepeo Zeb installed last week.
I’ve been thinking of doing this for the past two or three years, we have everything you have with solar for nine years. We only use gas for cooking using four gas rings as we have an electric oven, which isn’t used much because we have a Air Fryer. Our normal gas usage is three or four units a month, then the big standing charge fee. We have been with Octopus for years so will do what you did and get a new fully electric cooker. Bob From Kent. England.😊
We never had mains gas but had a huge LPG tank in the back garden. It was great to stop needing that and we moved to a fully electric household 2 to 3 years ago. Now thanks to our solar, Tesla Powerwall, ASHP, Electric cooker and EV we are now paying just £80 per month for all of our electricity to do 1000 miles per month and keep the home nice and warm in the winter. Would never go back.
Also the chance of free heating when it is sunny but cold, thanks to solar panels!
Good video, great message. I have been all electric for 12 months now unlike you, I am anti gas. Gas is a fuel that once used is gone. There will be a time when it will run out plus you have made the point which I endorse, it requires electricity for it to operate. I am making a larger saving than the £110.00 pounds due to the intallation of self heating taps which means I only heat the amount of water we actually use. The Tap cost £40.00 on Amazon (today £60.00) £66.00 for a plumber to fit. I did not realise the reduction on my quarterly water Bill well worth it. I have told other people about the advantages. The reaction I get is, I am either a nutter or just another Eco warrior and should be avoided. I do have Solar panels and when the sun dont shine they dont produce electric (Mr Reece Mogg bless him) but when they do they make up for those short days and my electric bills are low. Whats not to like.
I'm in a remote part of the Highlands, never had gas available here and got rid of oil many years ago. Oil heating requires electricity, in fact our last boiler could draw close on 500W to power the injection pump, fan and internal circulation pump; nearly half of what the heat pump draws! Even in this location power cuts of a significant duration are unusual, we might lose power for a few seconds every week or two but rarely longer to the point of checking on the SSE website. I do have a generator as a last resort, takes about 5 minutes to hook it up and switch off high loads and the solar inverters, but after 18 years it's only got 53 hours on the clock.
Power cut for three days some people were off for ten, Candles for light, coal and wood allowed us to heat and cook.
Just had ours removed as well after heat pump was fitted. Enjoy no more standing charge
What are you using for hot water?
@@davidjohnbarnard heat pump does the hot water and heating. All was done by octopus energy making use of the £7500 government grant
@@mersh318 Thanks
We had an ASHP installed in 2022 . As we had already disconnected our gas fire 10 years ago and had an induction hob Octopus removed the meter . In 2023 we had a safety check by SGN and they said they would be capping off the supply at least 2m away from the house. So far nothing has happened.As far as I am concerned gas is history and I have done my bit wet this property.
I work doing the technical/construction drawings for houses and I've never really found that rain water harvesting or grey water recycling has ever caught on. The only time I ever specify them is usually one one-off self builds. They came close to being used more when the old "Code for Sustainable Homes" document was around as we got close to the top levels as it not only looked at lowering heat loss, but also reducing water usage with low flow taps etc. but that scheme was scrapped years ago (the original idea was by levels 5/6 homes would be net zero by 2016!). It's a bit like solar thermal panels, now days the money is better spent of PV panels.
Your video made particularly interesting viewing for me as we are about to move to an electric only house in a remote area in Northumberland. Your set up mirrors what hopefully we will have once we have moved in and got a Powerwall 3, solar and ev charger. It might be interesting as a follow up video to actually do a dummy power cut and see how long you would last off Grid.
Thanks for the video.
Power cut, I've got something called an MG4 with 51kwh battery, a CEE inlet to a main change over breaker. Plug in car with V2L lead, and power whole house. My realistic max load is 3000 watts, generally the house runs at 250 watts. Used 3 times in a year in power cuts. Now what I could do as I have FREE electrons for 3 hours a night (20kwh) is top up at night and switch over to car during day, would cut E-Bill by 60%, yes my standing charge is 60p a day.
Great update and good to hear you’ve completed your electrification journey. I’ll get there one day. 😃
I'm in the last phase now - just a gas hob. I will replace the hob with induction when I get the kitchen re-done next year. Our kitchen is now 15 years old, and the laminate worktop that came with the house is starting to warp, and the hob itself is starting to get faulty (plus it's a horrible design and pans fall over on the smaller rings!).
I switched over to infrared heating in the ceilings of the house and removed the radiators as I wanted to increase the floorspace of the house and put furniture where the rads used to be. It works really well. Unfortunately, the roof posistion of my house isn't great for solar, so I only generate at full whack for a few hours a day.
If I was re-doing everything from scratch, I would have gone with more battery capacity, and have ones that could output more power. For reference, I am in a 4-bed detached house, work from home, and have the house heated to 23.5C in most rooms, and 21.5 in the bedrooms 24/7 365 (well, exclude holidays). Monthly bill is £120 with Agile Octopus.
It's relatively cheap and easy to use rain water to flush your down-stairs toilet but you live on a hill or have some other way to put a water butt above the height of the cistern and below gutter height. We put ours on a garden wall. Use a normal diverter and some hose to fill the tank.
Most toilet cisterns have holes for a fill valve on both sides, so I fitted a second one connected to the water butt. Use the isolation valve on the mains water supply to switch it off in rainy weather and back on in dry weather.
Our family could empty a 100litre water butt in a couple of days. It was quite a surprise how much water it uses.
The only issue I found was that I had to add a filter, as tiny bits of moss from the roof would block the fill valve.
You're not going to get rich doing this, but it's so cheap that it pays for itself in a year or two.
All very well for a 'cobbled together, home made system' but, it requires 'active management' and is dependent on adequate rainfall.....
... so, not for most people, I should think ....!?!?
It costs a LOT to install a proper, decent sized buried tank for reliable grey water use ....!
Just stumbled on your channel yesterday and binged a bit.
I’ve just bought a place with solar panels (owned) and was thinking of ways to make the house more efficient.
Thanks to you I’m no longer considering IR heating, will probably get a heat pump and I had not considered the standing charge.
You could also top up your mortgage with the money saved , over 20years that does add up!
Also with water reclamation you can put your grey water into your garden occasionally to water plants. You can’t do it regularly (although some plants can break down detergents). Also use it to pre wash your “filthy stuff” my dad when he was farming put his boiler suits in a big tub and ran a pipe from the external washing machine pipe into the tub. Saved water, detergent, energy, and having to clean the washing machine after… not sure if there is something there? 🤷♂️
I have owned my own home in the Welsh Valleys for the past 15 years and I've probably had 2 or 3 power cuts which last 10 mins at most. UPS backup wouldn't really benefit me if I'm honest.
I have a givenergy battery, 3kw inverter and EPS socket.
We had a power cut for a couple of hours.
I used the EPS to keep the oven going and the kids had dinner.
My wife was dissapointed that she didn't have a takeaway.
I was in energy nerd heaven!
Very interesting video, Andy! We’re in the process of gradually electrifying our house. Within the next couple of months we’ll be replacing our gas hot water tank with an electric one, and our gas hob (or cooktop as we say in Canada) with an induction one. The Boss took a bit of convincing on the latter, but was fully on board when she realised that induction hobs are even more controllable than gas ones (and they’re more efficient too).
Easier to clean as well, my better half was skeptical but loves it now.
Our old gas stove would take 20 minutes to clean, more if someone messy like a pasta sauce boiled over. Our induction cooktop cleans off in seconds with a few wipes from a sponge! And the peace of mind from no longer having explosive gas pumped into the house is significant!
Great getting the savings in.
We did the exact same but as the previous owners had an electric hob when we bought it, as soon as the ASHP went in, the gas supply went about a week later.
The standing charges really irked me especially in summer when you’re still paying for something you’re barely using.
Our old flat when we lived in sin, we had a meter for only a hob. Was all electric panel heaters and an immersed for water. Managed to get a zero standing charge tariff but you can’t get those anymore.
On the water front; we’re in Scotland so don’t use a water meter, though feel we do our bit by using the same rule as the Fockers. Plus the noise from the cistern at night wakes everyone 😂
I did the same june 23.... Saved me at least 110 a year in standing charge.... have solar and batterys
Perhaps have a look at heat exchangers.
In a passive house with best insulation and in particular sealing. There isn't the same ventilation from draughts and air leaks so forced ventilation is used to bring in fresh air and exhaust stale air. Usually this is best done using a heat exchanger system to retain the heat inside the building. I keep considering this for background ventilation in our home, probably with a single stand alone unit, but whole house units are also common.
Regarding water, similar heat exchanger systems are available to capture the heat from showers, baths, washing up etc and return it to a hot water cylinder. At a brief glance the paybacks looked like decades at best. But the principles are interesting
Good piece of work Andy, got me thinking. I’m in a new build bungalow in a rural situation, we have electricity and LPG via a bulk tank.
Just had the oil boiler taken out and Viessmann heat pump installed. No gas supply here.
If there’s a power cut, we’ve got a GiveEnergy All In One, so will have power on island mode, powered by the solar panels.
My wife doesn’t like the electric hobs, so we’re fitting a gas hob connected to a couple of LPG cylinders outside. Best of both worlds and resilience 👌
The only "power cuts" we've had in our area in the last 10 years (probably longer) have lasted all off a split second. I have solar and battery now, but decided against adding the auto switch over system but if it ever starts to change in the future, I can wire in the Sunsynk inverter to power a couple of rings on the house. But really hasn't been something to worry about.
I’m sorry during the last power cut I opened the gas main and had a very comforting open flame in my living room. I also dropped the engine out of my v12 jag and converted it to a gas powered generator that was excellent until the power came back on half an hour later and my nneigbour came around complaining about their CO alarm going off, what suckers they are.
Your comment near the end of the video saying that reverting back to gas from electricity could be lethal. I totally agree. Its like all of us having driven electric vehicles for 100 years and someone has just come along and invented petrol to power our transport. Today it would be outright banned being a dangerous flammable liquid....which also pollutes! Here in Norway we don't have gas and 80% of our homes use air to air heatpumps. They're cheap to buy, easy to run and the newer versions work down to -30c. Well done Andy for yet another great video.....oh by-the-way as of April 2024, 84.9% of all new vehicles sold here are 100% electric. I myself have driven electric since 2016.....😊
Lets hope your EV doesnt catch fire and burn your house down !! you realise a EV on fire is much worse than a ICE right ?
@@davidlewis4399 EVs are much less likely to catch fire than ICE. The fire risk is a common misconception.
@@davidlewis4399…if an EV catches fire (very unlikely) it becomes headlines. If an ICE car catches fire (very likely) no-one bats an eyelid as they’re used it. With a petrol car you’re sitting in a potential petrol bomb. Right?
@@davidlewis4399You will find that petrol cars burn quicker (and easier) than EV’s.
@@oznerol256 Explain why, i've never seen a ICE spontaneously combust just sitting there doing nothing.
I'm about a year or two from making the same decision.
My gas fire went about 15 years ago, my cooker is going soon, having not been used for 2 years (I use appliances and a BBQ grill instead).
Which leaves my boiler, which is elderly and will need to be replaced in a year or so.
I was initially looking at heat storage solutions, using cheap rate electricity. This is because I have a microbore CH system "unsuited" to heat pumps. But even that is changing now. I'm just watching the various developments so that when my boiler finally goes, I can make a decision.
If its 10mm micro bore, have a word with octopus, if it's 8mm, in queue behind me 🙃
In Germany, Bavaria, here we are required to put all rain water back into the ground. Most people bury a huge tank, or two in back garden. Then a submersible pump is used to pump the water into a hose pipe for watering the garden etc. Unlike the UK, we get long dry summers, intermixxed with very heavy but short bursts of rain. If the system becomes full, it empties into a drain, which is basically a huge well surrounded by gravel.
You can also plumb toilets to fill from this external source, rather than take water from the drinking water tap. However, using rain water as grey water requires a meter here. Of course if you really object to this, you could always fill a bucket from the outside water butt and throw it down the toilet each time.
For showers, bath you need to filter/clean the water. As it's underground, it's not exposed to light, so you don't get organic growth, but the droppings on the roof make it not a great choice without cleaning. For washing machines, it's heated. Ditto for dishwashers. However, we didn't opt for any of this as, a keen gardener, I use most of the water in the garden.
Not sure if they do this in the UK, but you can also have a seperate garden meter. Costs 25 Euros or so every few years, but avoid the sewage charge, as the water you are putting on the garden is not sent down the drain.
Us too! Make’s sense after ashp install (Winter time), never looked back 😀 first principles thinking obvious. PS gas boiler doesn’t work in power cut, controls/pump electric!
Great video- went gas less nearly 3 years ago. The hob was the last for us. Victorian house in silsden without gas!! Much cheaper!! I’m a true Yorkshire man too!
I've always had an electric stove/oven. Probably because there was no gas available anywhere I have lived. I've never heard fearmongers saying, "how will you cook in an outage?." Umm... BBQ?
I have had a couple of 2 day power outages in the last decade. They are not fun, and after the first one I bought a small generator to keep the fridge going. Fortunately, big outages like that have only happened with hurricanes, so there is no worry about heating (hurricanes are hot air). We get very strong winds in winter, but the trees don't fall down as much when they don't have leaves acting as sails. (Crossing fingers that we don't get a bad ice storm.)
Nice one Andy. Like you our gas meter was removed in June and the house is fully electric. ASHP, PV, batteries with EPS, 2 x EV's. £110 standing charge gone along with cost of gas used. Yes my Givenergy batteries will run the HP along with the PV. Like you I have had people say "But you have no back up heating without the gas" they have been put right. I have kept the multifuel stove but will only be used in emergency and besides there would be a big hole in the hearth!
Our gas is in a tank in the back garden. As we are rural and we do get power cuts upto 6 or even 8 hours sometimes especially in winter, it's essential. So we have a gas cooker and a gas fire. Now I've got a power bank that I can run the gas boiler off as well. I'm also working on an off grid small solar/battery setup which can run the fridge freezer and a few other bits and pieces off. It's nice to have power and light in a power cut! It always seems to be -4C when the power goes off. That includes the time the ice brought down the power lines.
I think what you've done is amazing and really commendable. Would love to be able to do the same thing but I'm not quite in that position yet.
So, how good will it be when you're completely off the grid? I've found it to be FANTASTIC! Power outages have no affect on me and the gas line ends at the street. Only water, sewer and trash now.
We ASHP since las December and had the warmest most comfortable winter ever and it's down to the Gas Hob now to go Induction. Only problem is that the 5 burner hob is a super wide 1100 mm so replacing the hob means the not inconsiderable cost of replacing all worktops and breakfast island!
I have followed your u tube and are now totally electric. Batteries heat pump ev and agree no problem moving away from gas . Thanks I think we are finished . I have Water butts for watering the garden
I live in Sweden. Gas isn’t a thing here. Some houses have old oil boilers. But most are converted to burn wood pellets. New houses usually have heat pumps. I we can keep warm with heat pumps I’m fairly sure you can I Britain to. But do get some propped isolation and windows.
Congratulations on making a sensible and correct decision. If I were you, i would definitely invest in getting the GivEnergy batteries set up to provide blackout protection.
I love the stonework on your house! Beautiful!
Over the last 14 years we have done the same and have created a very efficient home system. We have 12kW solar panels 42kW batteries plus 5 kW in a purpose built mobile unit. Induction stove, high temp heat pump, reverse cycle inverter controlled air conditioning, heat recovery ventilation. We also have an electric car with V2L which we could use for critical home items if we ran out of battery and solar power. We could then recharge the car at a charging point the following day and use at home again.
Incredibly cheap energy bills, helps the planet and no gas issues.......yes, we also store and use rain water.
We distill our drinking water. Always limescale and some other bits in the pot. This may not be what you're asking but distilling could be part of a reclamation system I suppose?
I’m waiting for my Heat Geek to design and install my heating system, when I’ll be removing the gas meter. I’m glad Octopus still removes meters for free. Thanks EVM!
I’m tempted to run gas bottles for the hob, given that it will be the only thing using gas once the boiler gets replaced. The manufacturer provides alternative jets (allowing the gas conversion) for free, so they’re sat on a shelf.
@@JohnR31415 time for an induction hob! Many can use a 13A plug now, mine does, it's a AEG
@@MikeGleesonazelectrics that would need the wife to be persuaded, and she isn’t. It would also significantly benefit from an upgrade to the battery system…
It’s also part of a dual fuel double oven… so it’s not just replacing a hob.
The best thing about the induction hob is how easy it is to clean!
Cooking on it is much like gas, miles away from the old infrastructure red / element heaters of the past.
Maybe you can book a weekend away at an air BnB with a induction hob, so she can give it a try!
Interesting. I am in the US, California. We have Tesla EVs, solar and batteries, but I still prefer gas for home heating, on-demand water heating, and stovetop cooking.
CONGRATULATIONS
! ❤
I close the kitchen gas this year... and next year (if not this year already) to cut the gas entirely
One of the farms only had LPG... That really hurts; it is now all electric, but I did a really cheap job using an old massive lead acid battery.
Stir-fry action! Wok's the problem? Single burner portable gas camping stove from Go Outdoors. Fits on our induction hob a treat.
We have 8mm micro bore heating pipes so will be while before we can ditch the oil boiler for a Heat Pump.
Octopus assure us it is coming.....
As for power cuts we rarely get them and when we do it usually lasts at most a couple of minutes. However I do have a 13A emergency socket on the battery and my MG4 has V2L so another 13A which will run the essentials like F/F, Internet and lights.
Spooky. We had our gas meter removed yesterday after our heat pump installation was completed (thanks Heat Geek and Octopus)
Did you go through Octopus or Heat Geek for your install?
@@chillmeister Heat Geek
The village where my parents stay has no gas main. They've been running off bottled gas for decades, and the last time we spoke about it, they were paying £250 a month, and still had a bill to pay at the end of the year.
They've now switched to a heat pump and solar panels in the last month or so. They still have a gas tank for cooking for now, but what's there will last for ages.
Heat recovery ventilation, cistern rain water capture for toilet flushing/washing machine. Lots to do;)
I'm assuming you already use off peak to top up the air source heat store. Filling your toilet cisterns with rainwater and using a rain butt for watering the garden are the only other ones I can think of. A composting toilet is probably inappropriate and a bicycle would not really work for your kind of employment. I have an MG4 and hope to run the house on that eventually, in conjunction with my domestic battery bank and off peak electricity. We don't generally need air-con here in Scotland, but I did buy a small free-standing one that blows hot air out of the window and pre-cools the bedroom for the occasional over hot days when there is excess electricity from the solar panels and the batteries are full.
Not on the gas grid but got rid of kerosene fuel oil 4 years ago in favour of a heat pump. Very pleased with it all.
Welcome to the club. We removed ours back in 2017 when the ASHP was fitted. Solar done in 2014 with FIT, ASHP in 2016, full EV since 2019, battery system fitted 2022. Living the dream !
Had our gas disconnected last May and never looked back, like you we have Heat-pump, solar and batteries. Incidentally after 12 months it is a requirement that the connection is removed from the property (to stop potential theft) so if we sold our house and the new owners wanted gas there would be a cost as the pavement would need to be dug up again.
It's crazy to spend good money on purified water, then flush it down the loo😢
The problem comes when you find out how much it costs to install rainwater collection and storage.... !!
@@andymccabe6712 my set up cost me around £500 about 8 years ago. 2 water butt's on a support 1 metre high, gravity does the rest to 2 downstairs loos. 500 litres of rainwater, i worked out the loos use about 33% of water use, it probably recouped the cost within 3 years. Don't forget on a water meter the sewage charge is also based on your water use which actually is more expensive than water.
@@andymccabe6712 about £150..
About £150 for me..
Rainwater barrels, and a few buckets.
You could add some waste water heat recovery from your upstairs shower if the house layout allows it.
We’ve been all electric for three years. No regrets and major savings. We live in the sticks and have frequent power cuts. Our home battery system has been a huge benefit particularly as we have an elderly parent living with us, who needs her annex to remain at 23 C day and night.
Congratulations, that's our goal, hopefully 6 months or so!
we cook with two separate induction hobs that sit on the work top and have three pin plugs. When we have a powercut we can run an extension lead from the car and still cook with our hobs.
For many years we fed rainwater from the roof to tanks at eaves level - ex fruit juice 1000l - and then to the toilets. We should have put better filters on the connecting system because it was surprising how much silt came in and clogged the system. Toilet cisterns were a bit too slow to refill when we had visitors. The easiest way to stay warm or keep cool in a power cut is to sit or sleep in the car .That EV will also run the main router and laptop for prolonged periods.
A small UPS like you might find under a desk in an office would keep the boiler ticking over in a power cut.
I find your all electric journey interesting and it's something I will be considering as funds allow.
If you don't want to sleep at night. Google how many gas explosions in the home a year in the UK. You would be surprised. 😱 I have the backup mode my solar system. It's awesome having power when the rest of the neighborhood is offline. Had two power cuts since been installed. If you're having a new system installed get the backup option. ❤
I went from LPG to full electric in cheshire. I power two electric cars, all of the 4 bed house with two kids. Since April we have lived for free and I'm £200+ profit on my octopus account which will fund the winter when the heat pump needs to heat yhe house. Total win!
I'm just looking into having an ASHP fitted and a second 8kw solar system to go alongside my 6kw system I currently have and adding 3 or 4 (still undecided) 5kwh battery storage units.
I don't have any battery storage yet.
Our heat loss survey has been done this week and by the look of it, they say I'll need a cascade ASHP system. A little scary due to the additional install costs, but I'm hoping the solar will offset the running costs to a degree. I guess the actual proof will be in the pudding :)
Like you, these are long-game choices we are making. I don't want to be one of the elderly people you see on the news now with the option of heating or eating.
I'm coming up 50 now, so not quite there yet, but while I have the option of putting things in place, I think it will be money well spent.
We would only have the hob running on gas too so we will be replacing it with an induction hob and having the gas capped off.
Loving the videos BTW. Really informative and helped steer us down this path:)
Unfortunately we dont all have a fortune to spend on heat pumps solar panels EVs ... and the land of the poor non of this is any use.
I'm just having a heat pump installed for £2k. It isn't that expensive.
Absolutely. A gas boiler needs electricity to operate the circulation pump, thermostat and valves.
Just sit in the Tesla and watch a movie if the power is out. 😂
Realistically you will be warmer with a heat pump as you keep the house at more of a constant temperature that you usually do with a gas boiler.
Personally it's not a worry. In the 10 years I have lived in my current house only once have we had a power cut for more than an hour.
On water, I've never quite understood why ythere aren't a lot more intedgated washbasins and lavatories, so the outflow from washing your hands goes towards your next toilet flush. With modern toilets you wouildn't even have to pump the water upwards to get it into the cistern, since basins are generally mounted higher anyway.
how much water do you use washing your hands? I have watered the garden with my shower water before. That actually was a lot of water. Hand washing is like what, 2 cups of water?
Just our boiler to go, got an induction hob when we had the kitchen refreshed.
Would love to get an ASHP and take advantage of the generous govt grant but not suitable for our property according to Octopus.
Basically we don't have enough space to meet requirements.
So when our gas boiler eventually breaks down we will be looking at electric alternatives other than a heat pump.
You mention stir fry’s & no gas, I find my portable gas range brilliant for that, it has the gas canisters which are very cheap anyway! Sure you’ve done the best thing getting rid of Gas! Well done! John in Monmouth 🏴
Just a point of correction.
You could power your combi boiler electrics,from you home battery,taking sesperate output from inverter.
However,I want to get rid of my gas boiler too,but there is nothing wrong with it at the moment.
I thought about that when choosing my solar+battery setup. Since the combi boiler has its power cable embedded in the wall instead of using a regular socket, the Emergency Power wiring would be slightly more complicated. We got a Tesla Powerwall gen 2 and it just works.
Good move there. I have a solar and battery set up but I couldn’t get it so that it would run in a power cut. I assume things have changed in the last couple of years.
Here in Australia, it’s becoming more common to go full electric.
Myself and a friend have done it and you are right about gas appliances needing electricity to work. I have had to explain that to people as well.
Yep, we're the same, with solar/battery/heatpump/BEV/no gas meter.
Hi EVM, greetings from Oxford. Awesome job on ditching the gas, we are not there yet, but working towards it. Induction hobs are awesome, I was always a gas hob fan because when I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s electric hob technology was rubbish. The single point of failure argument is rubbish because a gas boiler is useless without electricity to run the pump and operate the boiler control system.
If you’re going to use a camping heater to keep warm during them “power cuts” be sure to keep those carbon monoxide detectors. We’re on the same journey, just waiting for the heat pump installation. Really looking forward to getting rid of the gas meter and outrageous standing charge!
@@michaelsheldon7750 It’s for cooking, not heating.
I wish you good fortune for when the power cuts start as they most certainly will. I hope you have thought very carefully about the size of back generation you have purchased
Electric houses have been around for a very very long time. We love gas and will never change. Thanks for the video, I pressed the like button...