sjp23480

Squires: https://www.squirestools.com

31 August marked the first anniversary of the installation of our 3.5kwh solar system and 3kwh battery.  

I have been monitoring its performance and will let the figures below speak for themselves.  Observations:

1.  Battery power consumption is much lower than the panels, but probably makes the battery worthwhile

2.  The overall return of 12.8%  is based on the overall cost of £7,250.  12.8% is a significantly higher return than these funds might of achieved in the bank or other investments.  

3.  IMHO - it doesn't make such sense to calculate the payback period, as any returns from the system have to offset by any returns the money might have achieved had it been invested differently.

4.  I am surprised at the continuing level/cost of imports

5.  Switching to the market leading rate for exports would increase the annual return by £100 to >14%

4 hours ago, TomScrut said:

 

It depends.

 

They shouldn't charger you VAT when you order it, it will be for our customs to pick it up on the way into the country.

 

Some stuff will probably get through without you being charged, but don't buy anything without the expectation to pay it.

Correct the price quoted excludes German VAT and shipping. 

You can choose DHL or UPS to ship (€2 difference between them). 

I expect to pay VAT on arrival, but it may not get levied - depends on how Modellbahnunion complete the paperwork.

Modellbahnunion have a wide selection of OO gauge bargains (mainly Hornby).

Most significant is 21C1 Channel Packet for €135.42 - excluding P&P and VAT. I realise there will be import duty to pay, but I calculate the total cost to be ~£190 - which is still a decent saving on the UK retailers. 

They have a selection of other tempting stuff including Railroad class 40s for <€58.77 plus P&P and taxes - worth a trawl: https://www.modellbahnunion.com/e-vendo.php?shop=modellbahn-union-en

They also give out freebies with orders based on the value of your order, which is a nice touch.

Steve

John

July will get close to May's production figures, but we had a fault in the system in June so the data is way off.

I estimate in the full year to the first anniversary of the install, the benefit will be £900; a 12% Return on our investment.

Our imports are down 2/3rds to about £675, plus approximately £144 standing charge.   So £820 cost for the year.  Prior to installation, E.ON Next estimated my annual electricity bill at over £2000 or >6000kwh!  I estimate our last 12 month usage will be <5000kwh.

Like you, the solar option continues to make sense for us.  

Now, where's the sun?

Steve

Mick,

Welcome to the solar club.

I am not sure about the specific Octopus tariff - I suspect John knows.

Apparently, the best export tariff is with E.on Next, who offer 16.5p /kwh.  

Although we suspect all of the export tariffs will be dialed down following the reduction in the price cap.

Steve

John,

My DDI will go down about £50 per month from August, but we still built up a reasonable cushion for the winter.

Looking back, the other benefit was that my DDI did not increase when the cap went up in January, so we were very lucky - unlike many.

Steve

John,

I am similar, December (49kwh), followed by November (69kwh) and January (77kwh) - mines a 3 kwp system.

in the 10+ months since installation (September), it has generated 1855kwh.  

With a couple of good months still to come, I am hoping to be on target to save £700 since installation, based on the new import costs and a paltry £0.04/kwh feed in tariff. 

This will be a 10% return on investment.

Some back of a postage stamp maths:

According to the HM Govt:

25.160,000 dwellings in England (2022)

775,000 of which are second homes (2019)

= 24,385,000 dwellings

Population of England was 56,000,000 (2018)

UK average people per household was 2.36  (2022)

24,385,000 dwellings x 2.36 people per dwelling = 57,548,600 people

56,000,000 - 57,548,600 = -1,548,600 people

🤔 Something's wrong somewhere - probably my maths!

21 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

 

The main protagonist's of higher house prices are the property developers and the so called incentives they offer buyers.  Also house valuations tend to go on what previous similar houses sold for, with some new houses not the net sale price.

 

Also after the last property crisis banks changed the loan criteria  from gross income to affordability, the trouble is when interest rates are low people can afford to borrow more. Chickens coming home to roost. Still like most of my age we benefitted by downsizing, but straight away most of our disposable savings went on a big extension and remodelling our property, still we have a house designed for us 

John,

I think everyone is (in part) responsible for the price increase.

People have been conditioned by successive governments to see property as an investment, started by Thatcher?  

Lenders have been too ready to lend money to feed the prices.  Additionally, until comparatively recently many lenders owned estate agents - conflict of interest maybe?

Land owners, councils, developers, estate agents, the legal profession and many others are all vested in driving the property market and prices.

If there was a 30% house price correction, as suggested by some,  it would reduce the average house from £285,000, to £199,000.   Of course it is relative; all properties will take the hit.  But....an adjustment of that magnitude would rock the whole economy and trigger recessionary spiral.  Developers would go bust or downsize (raising unemployment), mortgage offers would evaporate, owners with more than 70% mortgage to valuation would be bankrupt (effectively).

This would be catastrophic and would likely have social implications.   The government cannot afford to let it happen and (I suspect) would do anything to avoid this scenario?

Steve

1 hour ago, cornelius said:

 

The shop is now closed as of the 30th June, I believe. 

Ah, I know Harry and Veronica were looking to finally retire. I haven't been there for a month or so. 

Thanks Cornelius for the update. 

Did AIMREC take there stock?  If they did, they can be found in Bethersden, about 4-5 miles from Woodchurch. 

Steve

You can try the model shop in Woodchurch - near Tenterden and the KESR.  They don't have much RTR, but a really good for spares, accessories, scenic items and continental (esp French) RTR.  

Their opening hours are very limited now so I suggest you ring first to check they are open.

http://www.hmbaseboards.co.uk/

This is such an emotive topic and I wasn't going to chime in, but.......

Unfortunately, unscrupulous people try to take advantage of the system.

Sometimes I feel like the old fashioned value of:

"give when you can and take when you need to"

Has been replaced with:

"give when you have to and take when you can"

My experience of the benefits system (not old enough to be pensioned, yet) relates to my wife, who is severely sight impaired.  Her consultant insisted she claim PIP.  We completed the forms, sent them off with the additional paperwork and duly received confirmation of her entitlement.

We accepted the forms needed completing and we were prepared to attend a meeting to evidence her condition and secure the benefit.   As it turned out, she wasn't called in but we have repeated the form filling several times over the last five years.  Last time we were told the annual check was no longer required - but............PIP is not a means tested benefit and there is no prospect of any change in circumstances or her condition.

I can understand why some people find this difficult, unnecessary, inconvenient and (in some cases) distressing but in our case it felt like a small price to pay for a monthly payment that enables the recipient to have a modest but regular income.

Steve

Gosh!  Having read the last five and a bit pages of this thread, and risking the wrath of some contributors, that's 10 minutes I could have spent modelling!  

I really don't know how @AY Mod does his job and stays sane. 

I was intending to order the Heljan set for fear of them all getting snapped up - remember their B tanks!

In my opinion we are very lucky to have the choice.   Whilst some of us will be loyal to one or other brand, I buy from both and have no preference.   

EFE (or is it Bachmann?) have done us a favour as it seems unlikely either version will sell out on the first pass. 

I shall wait until both versions are available, reflect on the considered opinions of the RMWeb cognoscenti and make my purchase. 

I am sure Heljan and EFE/Bachmann want customers to buy their products on their merits.  Bravo to Heljan and EFE/Bachmann for producing this vehicle and may the best model win.  

Steve

Thanks John,

I accept that we cannot reduce our consumption to zero. Like you, my production has consistently outstripped our consumption for the last 10-12 days. 

Just a shame I can't store more of that power to use in the winter months. 

Steve

5 hours ago, Ian Morgan said:

Fridge/freezer still on? That would account for 2kWh per day, unless it is very old and has poor door seals.

Fridge freezer I forgot about, there are a few other small appliances left plugged in. We also set timer plugs for a few lights for a few hours each night. But these are minimal. 

I will have to get a new smart meter and track down my vampire devices!

So we have been away for a few days, which as coincided with some nice weather. 

I switched pretty much everything off at the wall: TV and related hardware, cooker, gas heating to holiday mode, etc. 

However, our consumption stayed consistent at 5kwh per day. When we are home we only use around 6kwh.

I don't have a functioning smart meter so I cannot see real time consumption changes, but am wondering why we didn't see our consumption go down during our absence?

Anyone else had similar experiences?

Steve

2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Who fits banjo domes on to post-War LNER Pacifics? The builder of this SE Finecast A3 did. Not only that, it didn't run that well. 

Tony,

Could you expand on this comment.  I recall seeing you reference banjo domes earlier in the thread 

I am not an expert on LNER Pacific's, but I do have a couple to build so would like to know if there is a rule of thumb for them?

Many thanks

Steve

There appears to be one for sale on eBay right now, but no RXXXX reference and no picture of the box: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225432147979?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=1xBOkZs0Q3u&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=saSnTyIOQLy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

56 minutes ago, PMP said:

The Heljan UK operations are doing well. 

It appears to have originated from a poorly edited Danish local Tv interview which changed the context of parts of the conversation. 

That is good news, I must confess I hadn't picked up on the poorly edited/translation issue.  

Thank you for the clarification

I seem to recall some recent (this year) comments from the CEO of Heljan reflecting on the difficult operating conditions and their profitability - not sure if these comments were restricted to their UK operations?

Its interesting to consider the new release of the O2 in the light of these comments.  I have to state that I do not own an O2, nor am I likely to (not relevant for my interests).  Clearly, Heljan are trying to address some of the earlier criticisms (handrail knobs and a couple of other tweaks).  But the comments here suggest they need to do more, but at what cost?  

If Heljan are struggling, any revisions to the tooling is a significant investment that they may struggle to justify - unless these improvements would convince buyers to "invest" in the new model. 

If I were making the decision, I would minimise risk and maximise the return from the earlier investment. 

I guess we will see when the production models hit the shops!

Steve

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

As for assembling the whole thing? I assume you have the statutory three hands?

A third hand would be useful, but I am trying to minimise calling on it by bolting the chassis frame to the underside of the tender and then secure the tender side frames.  I guess that, with the wheels in situ they cannot be removed when it comes to painting? 

I used to use the old brass cup bearings many years ago but will have to have a rummage to see if I can find my stash!

Thanks for your guidance Tony and no problem on the delay to your reply, I don't work nearly as fast as you do!  

Thank you

Steve

Hi Tony,

As the resident DJH A1 "meister" I am starting to dry assemble 60127 Wilson Worsdell and I would like a little advice.

When assembling the tender chassis, do you use brass bearings?  

I have experimented with the bearings, but it will need a lot of drilling into the axle boxes to get the side frames to seat on the tender base.  I also reckon it would be good to have a little "slop" in the chassis to get round 30' curves and through pointwork.

Your comments (or anyone else's) would be most welcome.

Best

Steve

The replacement axle is only £5 from Bachmann (plus P&P). 

If tyres aren't available, you could try Bullfrog  Snot but at £27 from Peters Spares - the spare axle may be the more cost effective solution.

Steve

268kwh for us in April, which is the highest month since the system was installed at the end of August last year.

Consumption was 330kwh

We had to import 133kwh (@£0.35/kwh) or £46.55, and exported 86kwh (@£0.04/kwh) or £3.44.

Our 3kwh battery discharged 113kwh and self use was 83 kwh - so a saving of £103.60 or £3.45 per day - very close to @hayfieldprojection.

Steve