How we got rid of gas to arrive at 100% electricity

Thanks so much for your Christmas card​ and personally written news.  Good to read and lovely to hear from you.

I am horrified by the spread of war - now to the Middle East as well as eastern Europe/Russia and our own ecocidal behaviour from economic/population growth instead of ecological growth and sustainability.  My blog, timweller1.blogspot.com reveals more of my outrageous opinions​, concerns​ and my jaundiced/sad interpretation of human history.  Don't read it!

​I have changed my opinion on batteries to complement solar PV.  Our Nov 2021, 14.4 kWp set of batteries is working well to import Octopus (transferred in April 2022) Agile tariff in the early hours of the morning when electricity is very cheap and charges up the battery to make for enough electricity to last throughout the day.  In October we completed our transition from gas to 100% electricity and our total energy bill, last week was £50.85 for four weeks, 22 Nov to 21 Dec.  The house is a mini power station to power the UK in the summer months, instead of massive power stations feeding the grid.

In March 2022 we stopped using the gas-fired central heating and now use only Herschel infrared portable electric heaters.  We next got rid of the old gas cooker and bought an inductive electric cooker.  Finally, from gas water heating to instant electric water heaters.  Expensive to do but I used my lifetime savings from 48 years in the one house (thanks for your help in decorating in the 70s - do you remember how you were so brilliant in helping me?!)  The gas meter was taken out for free, by Octopus, on 30 Nov 2023.

Love and best wishes to you all.

WMCA Director of Housing

Dear Gareth

Thank you for your email.  That is fine and I hope they copy you in, too.

I would like to try and influence you away from affordable housing which I suspect is not really affordable at all!  I would like this: 'Very low cost, highly energy efficient apartments or terraced housing, partly powered by solar PV on their roofs'.

My own home since Jan 1976 is just that!  Mid terrace, 3 storey town house that is so cheap to heat, run and maintain with the E/W roofs with 12 solar PV panels on each.  £1/day in total energy bills for the last six months with Octopus Energy as my supplier.  More for the next six months, of course!

I'm also asking you to fast track High Plateau and Daniels Land at Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill.  Both remain designated for housing for decades but nothing is ever done.

Please can you authorise ACTION!  Only your good self has the power and authority to make all the difference.  To smash through all the paralysis as superman!

Best wishes

to David Morris re water meters

Hi David

We talked about water meters at church, yesterday.  When we got one many years ago, at least Jonathan was still living with us, if not Becky as well.  Our water bill definitely went down from £30/mth to, I think, £20+.  Now, with living on our own, earlier this year the DD went down from £18/mth to £17.50/mth from S Staffs Water.

Our Nov 2013 purchase of 24 PV panels has made us loads and loads of luverly MONEY!!  I was so glad I put them on Les Hardwick's house, too in Feb 2014.  He and the present young mum living there both benefitted and she is, too.  I was so sorry I could not do it on your dad's roof.  My solar electrician was so overwhelmed with work he switched off his phone and, then, your dad changed his mind.  However, even with no FIT payments it is even more worth doing if your dad can switch to electric heating and cooking, as we have done.  It sounds as though you and Ruth will, one day, move into dad's house and will benefit if you, this time, pay for the max PV panels you can fit on E, W, S rooves (even N, as I saw in Dornoch, Scotland!).  Or, I can lend you the money (or part).  With low inflation, the cost has gone down.  The cost in 2013 was £8,000 and Les's bill was £6,000 for his fewer panels the following year.  The cost of energy is now very quickly rising and thus inflation must be pushing up prices of PV, plus rising demand for them, too.

For Linda and I last month, Octopus wanted £11.50 for elecy and £15 for gas, including VAT.  It will rocket in the winter, of course.  This month's bill will come in shortly.

All the best and thanks for all your hard work in leadership on a Sunday morning.  Much appreciated.

Octopus Review

Tracey in Sales at Sheffield was excellent in helping me on 8 Feb 2022 to explain the different tariffs. She had the time and knew what she was talking about. Thanks, Tracey. I hope to go over to Octopus but they must be competitive and pioneering with their trials and schemes to help customers get out of gas and using more 100% renewable electricity and PV solar, like me.

from Anthony Dyer re Octopus Agile

There’s a lot of handsome export money right now on octopus agile. 20p seems common ever since October. I wouldn’t worry about the import price as the volume of export obliterates your grid consumption.