Finding the chase and cutting to it

This is another piece on how air sourced heat pumps (ASHP) work… Oh no, can’t we talk about anything else? Not yet, and bear with me. This is a fundamental thing to consider when trying to get the most out of your pump. But it helps to understand how a heat pump works to get […]

Transparency Note: This post contains affiliate links to energy partners like OVO (marked with [Ad]). If you click them, I may earn a commission. I am sharing my personal data and journey as a homeowner; please remember that energy performance is highly specific to each property. Individual results will vary [AD]. I’ve obviously had some […]

Can I be honest, here? I love data: I am a bachelor of science even though I did maths and computer science, and some of my natural scientist friends do look down on that “type of degree”. Can I be honest, I do think maths is more of an arts subject, as we don’t tend […]

In the East of England, we have an “artic airmass” causing freezing weather. It’s 2°C out there at the moment, and has been as low as -6.5°C in our bit of the world over the past couple of days. So, what is it like living with an air sourced heat pump in this climate? It’s […]

A question was asked after publishing Is there such a thing as breaking even? “Does the carbon cost for windows repay sooner or later than the financial cost?” I am going to find that a difficult question to answer, as we had some substantial building work done to put in a French door and take […]

This is a look at the second half of 2025, and a follow up to Number crunching part 1. The summer saw us pretty much “off grid” apart from backup. Of course, we still have to pay the standing charge, currently a whopping £0.4595 a day, though I know that is better than many companies […]

The UK, that is. We have, as a nation, declared a set of tough targets: We’ve got some politically sticky situations about transportation of said power, especially sourced from off-shore wind farms or tidal power plants. It is far cheaper to install and maintain overhead power cables, but these have an impact on residents of […]

As you know, I’ve been passionate about making the most of the excess power generated in the UK during our peak solar periods. I am sure I haven’t influenced Australia, but I love this idea and wish it were copied across the world: free-energy-while-the-sun-shines. Power shifting is something I have spoken about and makes so […]

I love when people say this, because the thing I’m interested in is the total cost of ownership. Since lockdown, we’ve kept up many of the dishes and techniques we learnt when we had more time. And when you are doing the cost, you really should take your time into consideration. When you are money […]

For many, the costs of producing energy efficient good, thermal insulation, or green power consumption, far outweighs the benefits. In the past, Number crunching part 1 has examined how much carbon was used in producing our batteries and solar cells, and whether that effort made a return – is the juice worth the squeeze? – […]