Information and Advice on Housing and Living - 2007

With the essentials costing more and more each year, it is no longer good enough just to buy fuel and home furnishings without any thought. Here is some information and advice we have collected on owning, renting, selling and housekeeping through the years.

Solar PV by the roll

Solar PV Electricity 29 Dec 2007

The Guardian reports that wafer thin solar cells are now being manufactured on aluminium film. The firm is Nanosolar, a Silicon Valley startup ...

Energy-saving Lightbulbs

29 Dec 2007

Our house is smattered with halogen lights - Dichroic Lamps, and these are about as energy-inefficient as you can get. The good bit of news ...

Wind 'could power all UK homes'

Wind Turbines 10 Dec 2007

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/7135930.stm
All UK homes could be powered by offshore wind farms by 2020, under plans ...

Close-ups of the WS-1000

Wind Turbines 09 Dec 2007

Here are some pictures of the WS-1000 Wind Turbine, taken quite close up to show the anti-vibration mounts more clearly.

Prices heading steeply up

Heating Oil: A Buyer's Guide 26 Nov 2007

Domestic oil in the UK is now comfortably above the 40p/L mark, and current crude prices indicate that this is only going to get worse. This ...

Solid Wood Kitchen Worktops

24 Nov 2007

We're considering whether to invest in solid wood worktops for our kitchen. We currently have a vast expanse of chipboard laminate which does ...

The WS-1000 is Installed

Wind Turbines 15 Oct 2007

The Mark Group has finally installed our wind turbine. Two men (initially only one) used a cherry picker hoist to bolt a large metal frame to ...

General Oil Price Trends

Heating Oil: A Buyer's Guide 13 Oct 2007

The price of domestic heating oil in the UK has stuck at around 33 to 35p/L for several months now, and this looks set to continue. Here is ...

Solar Panels under $2/watt

Solar PV Electricity 26 Sep 2007

Okay, not just yet - but soon we may have much cheaper solar panels. This is down to research by the Colorado State University. The panels ...

Our New Stove

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 22 Sep 2007

We now have a small stove in our front room. Originally there was a tiny open fireplace (with an opening barely more than 300mm across). Chopping ...

Warm Front Grants

18 Sep 2007

From WarmFront.co.uk: The Warm Front Grant provides a package of insulation and heating improvements up to the value of £2,700 (or £4,000 ...

SCF Econotherm Oil

Heating Oil: A Buyer's Guide 14 Jul 2007

A Customer Press Release from SCF: Attention Heating Oil User Southern Counties Fuels would like to give you the unique opportunity to ...

Stream 1 Grants: Trying to Apply

Wind Turbines 29 May 2007

Our experience of trying to apply for the new round of Stream 1 grants has not been fruitful so far. In our application for a wind turbine, ...

Low Carbon Householder Grants Re-Launched!

Wind Turbines 29 May 2007

As heard on This week the government announced it will start paying grants again for home owners who want to fit them. The DTI Low Carbon Buildings ...

240W PV System

Solar PV Electricity 27 May 2007

Solar Panel 240W ET Solar Monocrystalline PV from envirergy - £700.
Water Immersion Heater 24 Volt 600W from The Windmill Shop ...

Low Carbon Grants Suspended

Wind Turbines 23 Apr 2007

The Government has shown its 'support' for low carbon initiatives by suspending the grants system for it. Since an extra £6m was announced ...

DIY Solar Installation

Solar Water Heating 21 Apr 2007

Yes, you can even do a Solar Water Heater Installation yourself! Here are some other resources I found to get me going: Build Your Own Solar ...

Steinway Upright Grand Piano

15 Apr 2007

These pictures are here for insurance purposes. Our piano is an 1878 Steinway piano, with restored walnut veneer. It has an eight-and-a-quarter ...

Insulating the Loft

15 Apr 2007

We started off with 6 inches of rockwool in our loft, which by modern standards was insufficient. So we shifted all the wool from the centre ...

Carbon Reduction Meetings in North Walsham

Wind Turbines 12 Apr 2007

Called 'Power to the People', North Norfolk District Council's (NNDC) Carbon Reduction Group and the Energy Savings Trust (East Anglia) are ...

Stove Installation by Solid Fuel Heating Services (N. Walsham)

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 04 Apr 2007

A couple of models here: Fireview Slender 6kW 17" logs, £534, 505mm W x 605mm H x 302mm D, 5kW Vermont Aspen II £625, 375mm ...

Stove Installation by Norwich Fireplace Centre

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 04 Apr 2007

The Norwich Fireplace Centre features three models that would suit a small fireplace like ours: The Hawthorn from The Evergreen Collection ...

Turbine Planning Permission: Information Required

Wind Turbines 20 Mar 2007

I asked our Council's planning officer for more information about our application, and whether it was overly detailed. Here is her response ...

Planning Permission Granted!

Wind Turbines 04 Mar 2007

Ok, we now have planning permission for our Windsave turbine. It's temporary approval until 31 May 2008, because of the uncertainty over noise ...

Chimney Engineers

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 23 Feb 2007

According to the National Association of Chimney Engineers (NACE), there's only one chimney engineer in North Walsham: Eastern Flue Lining ...

Stove Suppliers and their Stoves

Solid Fuel Stoves and Central Heating 22 Feb 2007

Aarrow Stoves - aarrowfires.com Bridport - 01308 427234 - info@arada.uk.com Aga-Rayburn - rayburn-web.co.uk and agaliving.com - 08457 125 ...

Energy Crisis - A Holistic View

Sustainable Living 07 Feb 2007

On 12 March 2007, Dr Richard Aldridge shall be giving a talk to the IET (Anglian Coastal Network). It is at Pinebanks, Harvey Lane, Norwich ...

Environmental Impact Assessment

Wind Turbines 16 Jan 2007

We had a call from Sally Harris, Environmental Health officer at the NNDC. She is concerned that since we're the first North Norfolk application ...