Solar panels & other green building options

[edeluna]

DH and I are in the very early stages of considering buying a house that would need total renovation. I love the idea of going as green as possible and am just starting to research costs and options. The house we're looking at is a 4-bed semi-detached in north London.

Has anyone here done a green re-build/refurb? I'd be grateful for feedback on the cost of solar panels and other eco-friendly building options. TIA

My solar panels were £5k for a 4kw system, but not in London. With the loss of feed in tariff it is not as clear a benefit financially, but if you are doing a complete strip out then you would be able to build things like battery storage in if you wanted to maximise the benefit.

One of the main things I would look to do is greywater harvesting, which if you are completely redoing the plumbing would hopefully not be too difficult or massive additional cost.

Ground source heat pumps are good, but expensive and (I presume you are on the gas network) the payback period is a long time.

BTW, the greywater won't save money, I just think it is A Good Thing to do.

there is no financial encouragement at all to refurb or go 'green' which is a long standing evil of all colours of government. But with infrastructure for 50 million in a country of 70 million you'd be wise to do all you can.

difficult in a city property - probably can't have log burners, will be on mains gas rather than bottled, no room for ground source heat pumps etc.

solar panels are good if costly (and of course not 'green' due to manufacturing). I am waiting for battey technology to catch up so we can store electricity against power cuts, the smart meter programme is there to ration use.

not doom mongering or prepping, just facts in a country not prepared to pay the taxes needed for the increased population.

I'd go for an Airsource heat pump over a Groundsource heat pump. Originally, (about 15 years ago) airsource heat pumps were quite noisy, but now they're really quiet. They're really neat and not very big. They're also easier and cheaper to install - much easier than a ground source where you need to dig up a massive area of land! Airsource is certainly a great, and very viable, alternative to the norm.

Another thing you could look into is insulation. Obviously, if there's already insulation there, don't replace it. But if you need to buy new stuff, look at that which is made from natural materials (like wool) - although this can be more pricey. - same with paints and wood - use untreated european larch, and a non toxic paint -like the little green company- they're both great.

If you've got a cupboard/bathroom which doesn't have much light, what about a sun-tube? You wouldn't need to switch on the light so much.

Air source is definitely worth considering, but if I had the capital I'd want to go for ground source. They are more efficient (particularly in winter), you get a higher payment tariff, and should last longer. If you don't have a big garden then you can do a borehole instead, though that is more £££.

I would do some serious research on heat pumps - we have local new build which have them (air). We didn't take the plunge when replacing our gas boiler, but would have felt better.

Our solar panels (7kW) were about £7k a few years ago - we've nearly recouped the cost but just got in before the feed-in tariff disappeared. Of course we still save in electric and it's nice to know we are trying - but I too wish batteries were further ahead/cheaper to be able to make the most of them.

It's very difficult to go green - everything has an environmental impact.

For instance, installing solar panels is not all green. Same for Heat Pumps etc. They all cost the environment when they're made.

Insulation is one of the best options for sure. Don't heat the house, put on more clothes. Then get rid of the car and walk or use public transport. Then go vegetarian. Grow your own food in your garden. Build your house from ethically sourced timber (concrete spews out loads of CO2 when made.) Replace all lights with low power LEDs. Have showers not baths and reduce the number of showers you have per week.

Forget reusing grey water, it's not needed in this country - we're under water most of the time.

And of course the big one, don't have any kids. They consume resources.

Its not easy really going green.