Finding the chase and cutting to it

I promised results from April, so this is a little late. Here they are as a follow up to Going with the flow. We made a change to the temperature at which the electrical heater comes on for our heat pump. The question is: was that worthwhile? Our heat pump gives us the means to […]

Yesterday was the first day this July we were using electricity supplied from the national grid. In fact, since the middle of May this year, we have, where humanly possible, run ‘off-grid’. Where humanly possible? Some things are scuppering this philosophy. This sounds so ungrateful, but our electricity supply company gives us free hours of electricity and […]

Was it all worth it? The hardest thing about a purchase like windows for your house is that feeling you don’t know if it was worth it. It feels intangilble. Even thermal imaging is a hard thing to assess because bricks have a high thermal mass, or in terms of house insulation efficiency a low […]

If you live in the UK, you energy company is probably making a big fuss about “Power Moves”. Part of demand flexibility schemes are operated by National Energy System Operator (NESO) as a means of ensuring the UK makes the most of the renewable energy it produces. Power move, first launched by Ovo in 2024, […]

I’m no saint. Yes, I have been the one to make the suggestions of looking into the electric car and the heat pump, but, like everyone else, there are big areas I, personally, should do better. We are alpine skiers, and living in the UK, that means foreign travel to some mountains. Last year, we […]

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 […]

Last week, we looked at the cash return on replacement windows, which, on the face of it looked marginal at best. But of course, we have made other investments over the past twelve years. Easy steps, let’s look at the LED lighting. About a year, just in saved electricity. Initial cost was about £350 for […]

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 […]