The cost of living... what can we do?

A lot of the 'green' energy measures are only really viable if incorporated into new builds. I very much doubt that developers would absorb the extra costs, though, so it would make houses prohibitively expensive for buyers. Having been told by one such developer that 'people don't really want gardens nowadays' () that rules out geothermal, too.

 

There can't be any extra costs as the green party and labour party were pointing out that by the Tories rolling back some of the measures that were due to take place by 2030 would cost us all more money.

 

I don't feel sorry for house builders i think in many cases they are selling a substandard product for an exorbitant price.
Most look like they are only expected to last 30 yrs, I foresee big problems in years to come with mass⁸ demolitions required but then that may be part of the plan, nobody wants something likely to last 100 yrs
They slag off the old tower blocks of the 60s but they seem to be putting up replicas of Nelson Mandela house a lot these days along with converted office blocks.

 

It depends on the type of heat pump. We've already established that those air/radiator boxes aren't really ideal for the UK climate but they're cheap and easy to install. A truly efficient system with optimum insulation is pretty expensive (I've still got the bills ) so I can't see builders and property developers (or the Gov) absorbing the cost. The same goes for good quality solar panels. It would be reflected in increased house prices and from what I hear, they're already silly.
These 'new' technologies are best incorporated into new builds. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of those, but short-term profit is king, and all this talk of energy saving just lip service. So much hot air?

 

The ground source heat pumps are surely out of the question for most new builds or existing housing in the UK.
Even if you pay around a million for a new build you are unlikely to have enough land for it to work.
So we will all be stuck with those outdoor fans that I thought were aircon units up until the last few years.

 

I don't know what surface area is allocated to a UK new-build 'garden' these days? We've got a 400m2 captor bed to heat a 250m2 single storey house with wet underfloor heating, but the central part of the house is 6m high, which makes a big difference. In a normal, 2.4m high ceilinged house with good insulation a smaller captor bed would do? The main problem is that you can't plant trees or shrubs over the pipes, and there are minimum distances for drainage pipes/sewers etc. from the heating pipes. If people nowadays really aren't interested in gardening and are happy to just have a bit of lawn, it might work.

 

Most houses are two storey so the 6 mtr high ceiling does come into effect almost, you have to heat 2 floors.
400 square meters I take it is 20 mtrs by 20, which is more than a lot of new builds have and I assume you would have to be a certain distance from the neighbours system.

I dont think its viable.

 

Octopus energy have offered a customer only fixed rate. Based upon current rates. What would you do?

 

I think there is something in the building requirements regarding a minimum outdoor space, I think it is 100m2 but I am not 100% sure. There is a 5.4 acre plot for sale not to far away from me that has outline planning permission for 80 dwellings. Without taking in to account there will be a road and pavements to access the dwellings that would give each dwelling about 275m2, if I have got my sums right.

 

Not much we can do over here, as that awesome P. just left yet again 11Thousand unvented illegal immagrants cross the border in the last 24 hours.