Lewis_RX8
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Think these are common in north Korea as any petroleum is hard to import in there with all the sanctions so its very valuable hence the wood-burning cars trucks etc.
- Thread starter mart
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Think these are common in north Korea as any petroleum is hard to import in there with all the sanctions so its very valuable hence the wood-burning cars trucks etc.
I had a workshop for twenty five years that was off grid due to the power company wanting twenty eight thousand plus VAT back in 1979 to connect power to the premises, I ran a 50KVA three phase generator to supply the workshop and the power worked out at just under half the cost of buying from the grid and servicing was taken care by the saved cost of connection and no standing charge. The unit ran on gas oil which was considerably cheaper than diesel from the pump. Due o the governments ban on the use of gas oil/red diesel other than for farm use that is coming into force in April this will no longer be the case, although you can use up what you have in your tank after April so get a very big tank now?
addjunkie
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I have its a manual start genny. And a break before make switch, and cable. Switch can be had in a box from about 50 quid, cable and plugs sockets etc about 50quid tops, plus a generator of your choice,from about 900 quid to thousands. With Arwen we were off 6 days. We have electric cooking too, the Mrs has bought foodie Ninja for next time so proper meals rather than microwave stuff.
Chris Snow
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A small generator will never work out cheaper than grid unless you have enough renewable generation and storage that it's only for occasional use.
dobbslc
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Sitting here, still with no power, thanks to Eunice. Massive vote of thanks to the aerial and ground teams of SSE engineers working to get us back online - weather is horrible. Power is historically unstable here, and I have considered a standby genny simply to provide enough juice to power the CH oil boiler, and the fridge/freezer. Not quite going off grid, as the OP was asking, but I’d be very intested to hear from anyone who has that set up, and how much it cost, please.
I'm sat here watching the lights flicker as I've hooked up the genny due to a massive tree hitting the overhead lines! It's noisy, smelly, a PITA to rig up as I don't yet have a changeover unit but I do have some light, heating and the missus is watching Borehamwood on TV in the FA cup football thingy
brightspark
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might not seem it but supplied electric is cheaper than generating your own unless you get free fuel to run it
mart
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Yes, that certainly seems to be the consensus of opinion. Cheaper than a gennie, but still not 'cheap', especially now.
I wonder if the sale of log burners has started increasing.
brightspark
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yes until the gov stop you using waste wood and can only use approved logs
gaz1
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theres a restriction coming in you cant buy wet log wood has to be dried before you can sell them which is pure stupidyes until the gov stop you using waste wood and can only use approved logs
but thats what you get with pen pushers
they forget the drop off and storage that can soon wet logs
8ob
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That`s pretty much it, run them 18/7 and they don't last that long. The other thing is sizing, get one that meets max demand and that`s a lot of generator and fuel being used when its only the lights that are on.
Bob
KemppiFrog
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I used to look after a sizable estate that had two Listers. 15kva for everyday and a 35kva for when lots of people home. Everything was electric in the house apart from oil heating. Tanks held 12,000 lts.
At the same time, I lived off grid and shared a 3kva Lister Start-O-Matic with the next house. No choice at the time. Cooked on gas and gas fridge freezer. During the day we mostly didn't run it, except for the washing machine, agreed with the neighbours as to when, as it used all the power.
When it became available, we got mains. For the estate, that meant a km of HT line with all the posts etc and a 100kw transformer, then undergound for several hundred metres to the house. NOT cheap.
But, fuel was relatively cheap back then. As for durability, our genset was over 20yrs old, with daily use.
Here, we just keep a little petrol one in case of outages, last one was a week, but not common.
Oh, 80% of our juice is nuke, might have some effect on the price rises, which are not like yours.
Just looked at the last bill. Included was a listing of prices. Seems we are the cheapest in europe. Bit less than 2/3 that of Germany. €193/mwh inc tax.
At the same time, I lived off grid and shared a 3kva Lister Start-O-Matic with the next house. No choice at the time. Cooked on gas and gas fridge freezer. During the day we mostly didn't run it, except for the washing machine, agreed with the neighbours as to when, as it used all the power.
When it became available, we got mains. For the estate, that meant a km of HT line with all the posts etc and a 100kw transformer, then undergound for several hundred metres to the house. NOT cheap.
But, fuel was relatively cheap back then. As for durability, our genset was over 20yrs old, with daily use.
Here, we just keep a little petrol one in case of outages, last one was a week, but not common.
Oh, 80% of our juice is nuke, might have some effect on the price rises, which are not like yours.
Just looked at the last bill. Included was a listing of prices. Seems we are the cheapest in europe. Bit less than 2/3 that of Germany. €193/mwh inc tax.
as much as high electric prices screw me over at work... I've got my fingers crossed they'll affect the competition more than they affect me - frozen dog food trade has picked up since covid and it seems like every cowboy outhere has jumped on the bandwagon
idiots who don't know what they're doing pricing their products way too high - they don't last long but they make high offers for raw materials based on their over inflated sales price and screw everyone over
no-body realises how expensive it is running big freezers :-o
idiots who don't know what they're doing pricing their products way too high - they don't last long but they make high offers for raw materials based on their over inflated sales price and screw everyone over
no-body realises how expensive it is running big freezers :-o
Actually, its a lot cheaper than that.
Just priced this up on friday. All in, so gen set, batteries, solar, everything ready to go (except installation) big enough to run a hiuse AND workshop with some healthy demand. £40K + VAT.
Yes, a big chunk upfront, but your "per KWH is much less than the grid. If you are staying there, its actually isnt so ridiculous.
JMS1972
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Depends why you were doing it.I'd say a £40K capital cost is pretty ridiculous for most people...
I found out because i was considering a property without a grid connection. But thats reflected in the price of the property.
The cost of a grid connection would be way more than £40k.
Chris Snow
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There is an easier way to get cheap electricity..
Just finished my DIY battery at home. 30kWh of LiFePO4, good for 6k cycles at 100% DoD. Probably more like 20k if 50% DoD. Calendar life may be more significant than cycles but that's a bit tbc. Still good for 10 years minimum either way.
Charge up off peak and discharge all day.
Electricity now only costs us 4.5p / kWh!
Batteries cost approx £3500
8kva inverter was 2k ish
EDF are even doing a 2 year fix at that rate currently!
Payback probably 3 years given current costs. But either way 2k a year more in my bank account!
A smaller say 5kva 15kwh could probably be done for more like £3.5k and payback faster. But I went big for future proofing and longer cell life.
Just finished my DIY battery at home. 30kWh of LiFePO4, good for 6k cycles at 100% DoD. Probably more like 20k if 50% DoD. Calendar life may be more significant than cycles but that's a bit tbc. Still good for 10 years minimum either way.
Charge up off peak and discharge all day.
Electricity now only costs us 4.5p / kWh!
Batteries cost approx £3500
8kva inverter was 2k ish
EDF are even doing a 2 year fix at that rate currently!
Payback probably 3 years given current costs. But either way 2k a year more in my bank account!
A smaller say 5kva 15kwh could probably be done for more like £3.5k and payback faster. But I went big for future proofing and longer cell life.
Sounds like time for you to start a build thread!
Chris Snow
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I was considering it, will take me a bit of time as I want to tidy up a few things before photos!
In the meantime have some data..
pressbrake1
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Red diesel is going except for strictly agricultural use so I hear
I might build a big steam engine and burn old tyres for fuel...
I might build a big steam engine and burn old tyres for fuel...
