Leeds Vineyard

Energy saving ideas

These are from Raimondas who is happy to talk more if anyone is interested.

Solar PV
Solar panels must face south or slightly to the South west or South East. A 2.8kw system will generate approx. 2.5Mw and reduce CO2 footprint by 1.7 tonnes per year with no maintenance needed. I have it for 10 years with no problems. The system switches off when the power grid is down. Much more expensive systems store unused energy and work despite the grid being down.
duel fuel radiator

Instead of buying a system with energy storage, I installed a box which diverts surplus energy to towel rail (which is connected to the gas central heating) turning it into a dual fuel radiator. This raises the temperature in the house, so that the central heating uses less gas. It is legal to use generated energy diverter.

  
Electric car
A medium size car with 40kwh battery will give me up to 100 miles driving at 70 mph, 120 miles when 60mph on motorway and 140 miles in town. If you bear in mind that tail wind will extend mileage whereas head wind will reduce mileage, you may be able to follow a large vehicle on the motorway at a safe distance to extend your range.

There are phone apps showing all charging points with prices, charging speeds, users’ comments on each point, etc. Many companies own charging points. They all have their apps showing if a point is available or faulty, their charging price and more. Some of them offer a subscription which reduces charging price. Sometimes both charger and the app show the point is ready to charge. I arrive, plug my car and find it refuses to charge. Then I call the company. Wait from 5 to 50 minutes, then wait till the charger reboots, then start the charge.

Most of charging points, charging approx. 25 miles per hour a medium size car, are free to charge. Some require subscription to have the free charge. Rapid charger charges approx. 100 miles per 40 minutes. Driving longer distances need to bear this in mind. My car is three years old and over 77 thousand miles on the clock. It still has 90% of battery capacity left.

Most energy suppliers have special low tariff for electric and plug-in hybrids, usually 4 to 5 hours night time.  Most cars have easy to use timer.

Repair, not replace
Most dishwashers stop working properly due to a broken seal on a part (left hand image below) which only costs £5, is easily accessible and does not need any tools to replace but can be tight to unscrew. The new part is grey on the image (middle, right hand images below).
dishwasher image 1dishwasher fixdishwasher fix 2