Saving money with Sustainable Energies

Solar Thermal Panels Savings

A Solar thermal installation could conservatively be expected to pay for itself within 12 to 15 years and properly serviced could easily last twice that long. An installation costing around £4,000 could mean total savings of over £10,000 over it’s life span. These savings are partly based in the direct production of hot water and partly taking the strain off the existing boiler which, because it isn’t being used as often, should last up to 20% longer.

Because of the long lifespan of solar thermal panels they can also add great value to your home if you wish to sell it. Research has shown that people are more likely to purchase a home with renewable technology to save on fuel costs.

Solar PV Panel Savings

Installaing solar panels to your home is an excellent iway of saving money from which you can get an average 8% return on the investment in the current climate and due to spiralling fuel costs this can only increase. The panels have a lifespan of 25 years and need very little maintenance and the initial investment could pay for intself within 12 to 15 years.  

Heat Pump Savings

A groundsource heat pump can provide all your hot water and heating for your home by simply drawing from the natural energy in the ground and the savings are made by not soley relying on gas or electricity to provide these requirements and as a sustainable energy source there are no direct emmissions or damage to the environment. Air source heat pumps also made a considerable saving to your home giving an excellent efficiencey rate combined with low maintenance.

There are a number of government schemes to promote microgeneration. These include buy back schemes from power companies as well as the government’s Feed-in-Tariff where any power you produce is sold back to the grid at a higher rate than it costs you to buy. This means that every bit of power your panels produce makes you money but any produced over and above the amount you use yourself is all profit.

For more details on how good an investment Solar PV can be and how it can be made to work for you have a look at the Energy Savings Trust’s Cashback Calculator.