On 25/08/2014 08:41, Martin Brown wrote:
On 19/08/2014 22:58, Nightjar "cpb"@ insert my surname here wrote:
On 19/08/2014 22:10, Dennis@home wrote:
On 19/08/2014 19:20, harryagain wrote:
"Dennis@home" wrote in message
eb.com...
On 18/08/2014 09:56, "Nightjar \"cpb\""@ insert my surname here
wrote:


£15k invested with a medium risk portfolio I have with HSBC would
have increased to £22.78k over 5 years. I wonder if he has made
as much out of the FIT.

He would have made about £5k but at zero risk.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...efficient.html


You aren't very energy efficient if you are using 7000kWhr a year.
That's more than I use and the daughter uses a lot.
You need to do better if you actually want to save the planet.


I could never save £4000 a year on energy, I don't pay anywhere near
that much and never have. You must waste a lot.

Yep. In a house with no double glazing, 100mm of loft insulation,
electric cooking, non-off peak electric water heating and direct
electric heating, I pay about £2,500 a year. The electricity company
keep trying to persuade me that is excessive.

Why don't you get the loft insulation upgraded to 200mm or better 250mm?
(at least above the rooms that you actually use)

It is a fairly easy if tedious DIY procedure and the plastic bag
enclosed glass fibre insulation is easy to handle.

The loft is fully boarded and used for light storage, so it would be
considerably more complicated than simply throwing in another layer of
mineral wool. It also wouldn't be worth the cost. The roof is currently
more than 80 years into its 60 year expected life, so will probably need
to be replaced soon. When that becomes necessary, I will have under tile
slab insulation fitted to bring it up to modern standards and get rid of
the mineral wool.

You can get energy saving grants if inpecunious or free schemes for the
elderly.

I've never qualified for any home improvement grants.

Same for cavity wall insulation if your house walls actually
have cavities (mine don't).

Not a massive gain and probably not cost effective. It might have been
worth having it done 20 years ago, at the time I had the wall ties
replaced, but I wasn't convinced of the benefit then either.

Double glazing the rooms that you actually
heat will also make a worthwhile long term saving too.

Draught proofing the windows would probably be more useful. However, the
windows are also showing signs of their age and will need replacing
soon. Again, that will be the time to bring them up to modern standards.

I really also ought to get the boiler replaced, so I have central
heating again. As you may gather, the whole thing doesn't really bother
me that much.


--
Colin Bignell