But to get the water up to the boil you'll be going well over 1.2kwh on the boil setting as at 1.2kwh it'll take an age to boil on the hob (mine pulls 3.2kwh from memory on boil and would take a minute or two to get a pan of water boiling away), and if you're using the kettle to do that then thats more again. Also presume you're using a couple of rings to cook the pasta then meat/sauce separately, unless you're just having plain pasta!
Solar panels and battery - any real world reccomendations?
- Thread starter GinG
- Start date
Soldato
i never said i was boiling water or anything like that...its a one pot pasta meal. Costs around £2.50 a bag, feeds maybe two at a push, but my partner wasnt well last night, so just had a sandwich. So i had the full bag.
Pasta, Chicken, bacon, spinach in a creamy garlic sauce all cooked in 1 Saucepan.....supposed to take 5mins, but i cook it slower as i found it sometimes got caught on the bottom of the saucepan, if your not keeping an eye on it
Last edited:
Man of Honour
No computer, outdoor cooking, barely any electrical use when cooking... It's kind of nice as you're clearly far less dependent on things than a lot of us.
I've just accepted that as a family of 4 life is expensive and I enjoy cooking too much to care about the cost of it!
I've just accepted that as a family of 4 life is expensive and I enjoy cooking too much to care about the cost of it!
Soldato
i also one of these if i have to cook multiple things for meals, as its saves using multiple pans and lessens the washing up too
Soldato
i have works laptop and ipads.....so i do have computers, just not running 24/7. i also work in the data analytics industry, so after work i dont really want to see a computer, as my brain can be friedNo computer, outdoor cooking, barely any electrical use when cooking... It's kind of nice as you're clearly far less dependent on things than a lot of us.
I've just accepted that as a family of 4 life is expensive and I enjoy cooking too much to care about the cost of it!
Man of Honour
I'm the same I don't use my pc after I finish working (which is basically never
). however I have kit up and running to help the house running in the way I want (automation, NAS, media etc...). IT's daft I have a very powerful pc that I barely use these days unless I'm not using my work laptop and need something a bit more beefy.
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 14,218
Are any of you fine solar aficionados using Home Assistant in conjunction with your inverters?
Looking at the SolarEdge stuff there's a decent local API that HA can query to check export/battery/generation status. Still planning fully, but I'd like to integrate with HA to automate a few things using inverter signals.
Plus dashboards. I like dashboards.
Looking at the SolarEdge stuff there's a decent local API that HA can query to check export/battery/generation status. Still planning fully, but I'd like to integrate with HA to automate a few things using inverter signals.
Plus dashboards. I like dashboards.
Last edited:
Soldato
Yeah I think you guys are the people would would benefit most.
You need to export quite a lot to get over the hump that flux is more expensive on incoming compared to go if you have a decent amount of battery storage.
Its a good tariff though. It ends up with a reasonably similar cost to Go and its a tariff specifically designed for us.
Its just a shame the charge window is so short, its borderline not enough for many people.
You need to export quite a lot to get over the hump that flux is more expensive on incoming compared to go if you have a decent amount of battery storage.
Its a good tariff though. It ends up with a reasonably similar cost to Go and its a tariff specifically designed for us.
Its just a shame the charge window is so short, its borderline not enough for many people.
Soldato
Yeh im not that tech minded anymore, i used to be....but decided to go back to basics and rely less on energy consumption. Even got a large greenhouse that supplies veggies, salad, fruit trees, grow beds etc etcI'm the same I don't use my pc after I finish working (which is basically never
IT's daft I have a very powerful pc that I barely use these days unless I'm not using my work laptop and need something a bit more beefy.
Associate
I have a 500sqm garden, but in the winter it's just too cold
Plenty of room for a nice garden shed/workshop with a south facing solar roof, always good for storage as well.
Man of Honour
I just don't have the time - but that is the dream to spend more time growing stuff. I do a few things, just life is too full on to be able to spend extensive amount of time in the garden, it already takes a half a day per week in spring-late autumn to keep on top of what's already there!
Man of Honour
Yes my garage is at the back / side of the house, it's got a flat roof unfortunately, but I could do a "ronski" and get some brackets done. Could fit at least 6 panels there... dammit don't tempt me
Soldato
But i dont have kids, i work from home 7am - 3pm and dont work weekends. Its taken a while to get to this place in life, where my time and space is more important. Yeh we get winter months that can hurt the mind a little, but come march and the signs of spring, makes it all worth it
Man of Honour
Soldato
We have a company that installs solar panels coming to look at our office building on Tuesday.
We don't have gas and the heating is via Economy 7 which seems anything but economical - our bill for Nov/Dec was £800.
I'm going to go through with them the whole solar panel installation and whether batteries will be a useful addition (I say this as my colleague had the same company fit hers and was told not to bother with batteries) but I know very little about solar in general.
I'm also going to ask them to quote for my home. Again I know nothing about solar and batteries and the pros and cons etc. My house is famous within the family for being very cold and the work required to improve the insulation of the property would be extremely expensive. I doubt we could give up gas for a heat pump without serious structural work.
We're unlikely to move from the house for at least 10 years and may not move again (I want to because I want more garage space but this may pass as I get older)
Is there a way I can calculate roughly how long it would take to recover say a £15K solar installation? I've been looking at plug in hybrid cars but again it boils down to whether the initial costs will ever make up the difference from not moving to renewable energy.
We don't have gas and the heating is via Economy 7 which seems anything but economical - our bill for Nov/Dec was £800.
I'm going to go through with them the whole solar panel installation and whether batteries will be a useful addition (I say this as my colleague had the same company fit hers and was told not to bother with batteries) but I know very little about solar in general.
I'm also going to ask them to quote for my home. Again I know nothing about solar and batteries and the pros and cons etc. My house is famous within the family for being very cold and the work required to improve the insulation of the property would be extremely expensive. I doubt we could give up gas for a heat pump without serious structural work.
We're unlikely to move from the house for at least 10 years and may not move again (I want to because I want more garage space but this may pass as I get older)
Is there a way I can calculate roughly how long it would take to recover say a £15K solar installation? I've been looking at plug in hybrid cars but again it boils down to whether the initial costs will ever make up the difference from not moving to renewable energy.
Soldato
Emailed the company that installed our system last year.
I'm after 3 additional panels on the garage roof, only 1 string on out inverter is being used and it's got extra capacity, so should literally be a job of putting 3 panels up and wiring them to the existing inverter on the other string.
How much you reckon they say?
I'm after 3 additional panels on the garage roof, only 1 string on out inverter is being used and it's got extra capacity, so should literally be a job of putting 3 panels up and wiring them to the existing inverter on the other string.
How much you reckon they say?
Soldato
£3K
Soldato
How many kWh of Electric do you use on an average day?
What is your baseline with no heating needed?
How much extra do you use when it's really cold?
Solar is typically worse in winter, if you use a lot in the home anyway without taking heating into account, solar by itself probably won't help you much.
Batteries can be used to store excess generation in the 8 or so good months of the year and help keep you going until the next day when sun comes back out.
If you get a cheap off-peak tariff then you can also pre-fill the battery, which is what I do, takes care of a lot of my day to day usage.
Electric car on Go tariff can be good as well depending on mileage, as it's 12p/kWh off-peak for 4 hours overnight (which can also fill the battery).
Your usage stats are very important here, and your budget!
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 14,218
Single storey roof, 3 panels... I'd be so tempted to have a crack at that myself.
Soldato
I am seriously thinking about it, my only hesitation is if the inverter needs configuring and they've somehow locked it.