Good resources for Off grid property conversions?

[jammie*dodger]

Hello all, thought I'd try and tap into the pool of knowledge here.

I'm having a browse around at rural properties and most of them seem to be either Oil Fired central heating or LPG. I keep thinking that is a bad situation long term and wondering how you could reinstall to make them as energy efficient and semi "off grid". If we go ahead the lower property price is likely to mean I can investigate alternative energyu sources.

Initial thoughts are Ground source heat pump, solar, wind, or a combination of some or all of these. I'll be honest though, despite having reasonable google skills I keep getting hits for people seeling this stuff who are more interested in getting my details than in an honest representation of my options.

Is anyone aware of any good resources I can start reading up from?

Thanks, Rob.

[Maysie]

I have found the same and it is a nightmare trying to sort the wheat from the chaff of online guff websites.

In the end I used the Green Building Forum as my starting point and then took recommendations from there. The problem is trying to find anyone who offered the 'big picture' initial options discussion - which it sounds like you are after at this stage.

I was surprised how little incentive there is for doing this sort of thing given our future eco obligations. The cost of installing a pellet boiler for example was nearly 4x the cost of replacing our existing oil boiler with a new oil fired version. Absolute madness in this day and age.

[jammie*dodger]

In the end I used the Green Building Forum as my starting point and then took recommendations from there. The problem is trying to find anyone who offered the 'big picture' initial options discussion - which it sounds like you are after at this stage.

Thanks, that'll keep me busy for a while :)

[Maysie]

Thanks, that'll keep me busy for a while :)

'Fabric first' was the name of the game when I looked into it all and is as true today as it was then, ie improve the fabric of your building to reduce your overall energy usage (insulation, air-tightness and heat recovery). This should mean that all of the eco-tech you invest in to heat your building can therefore be smaller and therefore cost less to buy - and run of course.

It sounds obvious, but so many people forget to reduce their energy demand as part of the process.

The problem for us came when we priced it all up. We could generate the most solar energy in the summer - when we don't use much, so would need to invest in solar (£££'s) and wind generation (more £££'s) for a year-round solution. When coupled to a large drafty poorly insulated building, which we cant improve without spending many more £££'s the payback periods were just far too long and sums involved were eye watering.

[plw]

The National Self Build and Renovation Centre has some very good independent advisors on things like eco houses and retro fitting.

There's a day that sounds of interest coming up in November https://www.nsbrc.co.uk/eco-workshops

I talked at length to one of their guys when we were embarking on our last project and the bottom line was that most of the options were unsuitable for the property. Proper unbiased advice.

[Gavgolf]

As pointed out earlier - to get self sufficiency you must reduce your demand by super insulating. As we move to an electrification of heat (typically via air or ground source heat pump) and transport (EV’s) electricity use will climb compared to now and so you would need a very large PV array (or wind turbine if you have acres) to get close to generating all you need - and even then you would need large batteries / storage to dispensate the big seasonal disparity between solar (summer) and the need for heat (winter) hope that helps

[reecie]

I watched this a while back and it was fascinating. In particular the shrinkage in the depth of insulation required from when it was built.