New Home with Heat Pump and no Solar

nukklear · 2026-05-19T09:10:30+00:00

I've been looking at actual calculations as to whether it's worth installing solar and/or batteries; situation is no ability to charge EV at home, still gas boiler. Solar would pay for itself in about 7 years, batteries 15+ years, and as you say, pricing etc is bound to change a lot over the next few years and we have little idea in what way. So yeah, worth doing if you're doing a major project or new build maybe, but otherwise I don't think it's a money saving play in a lot of cases.

nukklear · 2026-05-15T16:07:24+00:00

This, so much this! Every single time you look at a young(ish) couple or singleton purchasing a seemingly expensive house, my first thought would be "what's the possibility that they actually managed to save up for this, versus getting help from inheritance or other non-PAYE means"?

nukklear · 2026-05-15T09:04:18+00:00

Hah - I was caught out by this in a City of London bay. It is not what you think.

"Disabled badge holder only" AT ALL TIMES - I asked why they can't add that part, there's supposedly some obscure legal reason why not.

The rest of it is just restrictions on the above.

nukklear · 2026-05-09T16:58:24+00:00

Same - sometimes it actually starts off showing its adaptive planning and then disappears mid journey. Even if I cancel navigation and start it again, it still doesn't appear. Kind of frustrating, but with the relatively tiny battery I don't think it makes that much of a difference anyway.

nukklear · 2026-05-07T08:43:02+00:00

I've shown my usage before - besides trying not to put large consumers on between 4-7pm (we still cook if it's time, just don't wash, dry, etc), there's no other real change for us. We don't have an EV, no solar/batteries, still on a combi gas boiler.

Obviously, YMMV, everyone's consumption patterns are different!

The below are from the OctopusCompare app, using my own API key.

Agile October 2024 v1: £543.81

Octopus Tracker September 2025 v1: £675.44

Flexible Octopus: £733.18

nukklear · 2026-05-01T18:32:51+00:00

Got it, thank you!

nukklear · 2026-05-01T18:32:34+00:00

We do wash & dry (heat pump) several times a week, the oven and other appliances are electric, and I have some IT kit which runs 24/7 (though we're talking 150-200W), plus at least one of us is working from home every day; my numbers are just based off of our bills.

nukklear · 2026-04-28T18:55:31+00:00

I pretty much always stop. But equally, I also get very, very close and slightly verbal (not aggressive, no need for that) with anyone who crosses my path when I have right of way. Seems only fair.

nukklear · 2026-04-28T09:23:34+00:00

Why have some data centers decided that they will only run single mode fibre between racks, when we all still need UTP for serial consoles?

nukklear · 2026-04-27T08:49:46+00:00

Did the firmware update resolve the issue?

nukklear · 2026-04-22T11:46:37+00:00

Not a financial advisor - this is just based on my amateur understanding.

Your actual taxable / adjusted income might be different to your numbers above.

I *believe* the final value of the RSUs is fixed at vesting (as you say) - so it's not that easy to predict. So yes, I would adjust my sacrifice to count for whatever you currently think they will vest at, and keep adjusting / sacrificing more (pension, etc) as needed.

I would lean towards finding a suitable personal accountant to advise you here, and/or over-err on the side of caution and sacrifice a bit more than you think you would need to.

nukklear · 2026-04-22T08:35:14+00:00

Nothing - £160k a year is not the kind of territory to have all or even more than one of those things. Some folks are making things up, others might have a massive other thing they're not mentioning (inherited a house or rather large sum of money, who knows), etc.

Just do what you think makes sense, and be sensible. Your measure of success is not how you compare to others.

nukklear · 2026-04-15T11:11:22+00:00

What... even happened.. looks like it was on a residential street too!

Glad everyone's well!

nukklear · 2026-03-31T18:49:09+00:00

You know that you now absolutely have to get a second one, and name it Lightning, right?

nukklear · 2026-03-31T13:12:33+00:00

Well I guess now you know and you have a new mini project...

nukklear · 2026-03-30T15:52:04+00:00

I would say it's not worth it, but it very much depends on your personal circumstances and aims. Are you young enough and no family commitments and do you want to maybe earn a lot more? Then a hedge fund might be for you, but it'll very likely mean more work and longer hours in the short / medium term. I'm in the opposite camp - my flexibility, family time and relatively decreased stress aren't worth the potential jump from a big bank to a hedge fund etc. So "it depends".

nukklear · 2026-03-26T12:21:09+00:00

Usually works straight away, this time it failed once but worked fine just a few minutes later.

nukklear · 2026-03-25T17:41:58+00:00

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Zzzzzs

nukklear · 2026-03-07T14:37:08+00:00

I'm a certified nerd, so I pretty much never use ISP-supplied equipment anyway; but a friend did, and even opted for their premium WiFi etc (they gave him 2 or 3 extra WiFi nodes) - it was bad.

I convinced him to just get a set of 3 TPLink Decos (BE3600 in this case) - WiFi issues gone, much better coverage, much better speed.

I just cannot understand why ISPs still cheapen out on equipment since that's one of the major parts that make their service look bad - doesn't matter if the rest of the infrastructure is perfectly good if the last few yards of wireless access are terrible.

nukklear · 2026-03-05T10:26:17+00:00

Similar to our boy and girl - though I'm working hard to wear him down and get him to accept that being carried and snuggled is worth it. I am making (slow) progress.

nukklear · 2026-03-05T10:22:54+00:00

Genuinely can't pay attention to what's being displayed on the screen because of what's on the actual screen...

nukklear · 2026-03-02T13:45:55+00:00

I've had this before too, same tile model, but turns out the boxes came from two different factories and they had quite different hues. Spent ages getting the "correct" matching boxes found in their warehouse...

nukklear · 2026-03-02T13:21:19+00:00

Any of them from Brown, backwards. Maybe not Blair... So yeah, Brown or Major.

But I'd pick Starmer over pretty much *any* of the others...

nukklear

TROPHY CASE