'Good Life' couple cut gas bill to £2 a month (From Daily Echo)
When news happens, text SDE and your photos or videos to 80360. Or contact us by email and phone.
Hampshire couple's green lifestyle cuts gas bill to £2 a month
12:00pm Sunday 21st October 2012 in News
By Sally Churchward, Senior Feature Writer
Dan and Jane Fish at their Hampshire home
IT’S the kind of bill we would all like to see. A Hampshire couple who have spent thousands of pounds making their bungalow “carbon-neutral” have got their gas bill down to just £2 a month.
Dan and Jane Fish have installed solar hot water system, solar panels which produce more electricity than they use, a wood-burning stove, solar-powered car and a garden full of fruit and vegetables.
But for the couple, their innovations aren’t about saving pounds but saving the planet, and are part of a whole green lifestyle.
The couple never fly, and Dan, now 77, even celebrated his 70th birthday with a cycling holiday from his home in the New Forest to Dundee.
The couple, who live in Bashley in the New Forest, have opened their doors in the hope of inspiring others to live in a more environmentally friendly way and reduce their own carbon footprint.
Reminiscent of the TV series The Good Life, which hit screens in 1975, the couple set out to become self-sufficient in the 1970s.
It was a difficult economic time and Dan, a naval architect, had work worries. The couple and Dan’s mother decided to sell their homes, buying a larger one in the New Forest where they could all live and also keep livestock and grow their own food.
“We went in for self-sufficiency in a big way,” says Dan. “We had a cow, pigs, chickens, sheep and grew masses of vegetables. It was hard work but great fun and good for our children.”
Initially their decision was as much for economic reasons as environmental ones, but as the couple learnt more about global warming they became increasingly concerned about their own impact on the environment.
“From the 1970s I was reading about climate change and realised it was the most important issue around,” says Dan. “The science is quite clear. For the developed world to have a reasonable chance of halting runaway climate change it needs to have a 100 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide by 2050.”
When Dan semi-retired around ten years ago the couple decided to step up their efforts to live a zero-carbon lifestyle.
Some of the self-sufficiency aspects have gone – they found they didn’t have time to keep animals – but it has been replaced by a renewed zeal to do everything they can to reduce their carbon footprint to zero.
They are, they estimate, somewhere between 90 and 99 per cent carbon-free, depending on whether you count things like the fuel used by trains and the energy used to make tinned food.
They have photovoltaic solar panels, which produce more electricity than they use, a solar hot water system which gives them piping hot water even on winter days, a wood-burning stove run on scrap wood to back up the solar heating, huge tanks to harvest rain water to be used on their vegetable beds, lots of insulation and an electric car which charges up on a normal plug socket.
Carbon-reducing measures range from insulating one room to a very high standard based on a study financed by the New Forest National Park, which cost “rather a lot”, to a polystyrene box which they have had for 30 years, which can be used to cook food which has been heated on the stove.
Their house is filled with inherited furniture and things that have stood the test of time – they are still cooking with pans that were a wedding present 55 years ago.
The only gas they use is for their stove, and their bill is around £2 a month – which also includes the annexe they rent out as a holiday home.
When they made the decision to go carbon-free they gave up flying.
“Flying releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide,” says Dan. “There is no solution to this and since we don’t want to feel we are killing people while we travel, we don’t fly any more.”
Jane adds: “Our last flight was to see family in Canada about ten years ago. We came back by cargo ship.
“It took us a week. It was expensive – it cost about three times as much as flying – but lovely.”
Since then their holidays have involved travelling by ferry, train, bus, cargo ship and bicycle. They made their way to Crete using a variety of these methods.
“We haven’t always been cyclists,” says Jane. “It was an environmental decision. I had to relearn when I was 56.”
“We’re not terrific tough guy cyclists but 20 or 30 miles isn’t too much of a problem,” adds Dan.
The couple admit they are in a fortunate position to be able to put all their environmentally friendly methods in place, but hope to inspire others to make some steps to reduce their own carbon footprint.
“Of course, we’re lucky,” says Dan. “We’ve never been terribly well-off but we do have this place and I’ve got engineering skills, which helps.”
“Because we’re retired we do a lot of things that people who do work can’t, but there are things they can do,” adds Jane. “All our grandchildren have given up driving cars and they’re managing.”
Although some of their projects have required an initial financial cost and others are time-consuming, it seems that for Dan and Jane the most important factor in making their lifestyle changes has been their concern for the future and willingness to make the effort.
“The solar hot water system is fantastic but if you want to be economical you have to use hot water when it’s sunny rather than just when you want it,” says Dan.
“It gives one a nice feeling when you have a boiling hot shower on a cold winter morning and know the water has been heated by the sun. I claim that’s a completely different tingle!”
Comments(33)
Linesman
says...
12:23pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Linesman wrote:**** = pharts
Flatulence produces methane gas.
If they bottled their ****, they could even knock out the £2 they are spending on gas.
stay local
says...
2:02pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist
says...
2:11pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Mr E
says...
2:32pm Sun 21 Oct 12
My home sellers energy survey recently had in amongst its recommendations, fitting a Solar Water heating system that would take 156 years to recover the cost of fitting before you add the cost of any maintenance..
downfader
says...
3:28pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Mr E wrote:You can build a solar water heater for not very much. Theres a whole raft of websites showing how. One guy painted an old radiator and gave it a glass box to insulate it.
Lots of talk about saving on energy costs, nothing about how much this stuff costs to install or run.
My home sellers energy survey recently had in amongst its recommendations, fitting a Solar Water heating system that would take 156 years to recover the cost of fitting before you add the cost of any maintenance..
For a grand thesedays you can get a 5 foot solar photo-voltaic.
Where did you get this nonsense of 156 years..? Not from Shell was it, haha!!
Mr E
says...
5:12pm Sun 21 Oct 12
"Cost of system £4000-£6000 Typical savings £32 per year."
take the average cost of £5000 and divide by 32 to get a time to recover costs of 156.25 years. This doesn't include any maintenance costs.
nedscrumpo
says...
5:23pm Sun 21 Oct 12
lavalady
says...
6:41pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist
says...
6:56pm Sun 21 Oct 12
nedscrumpo wrote:Depends on how efficient the stove is.
Not sure that a wood burning stove is carbon neutral?
Inform Al
says...
6:58pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist
says...
7:02pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Inform Al wrote:Too bad it's not really a viable energy source in Britain but I would like to try geothermal energy.
I had a smallholding in Kent near the Thames Esyuary outside the Medway Towns. As it was a windy area I built a small traditional looking windmill powering a 24 volt lorry generator to light the stables and pig sty etc through batteries. Worked for a while until the wind decided to go elsewhere and never really came back before I moved. I'm quite keen on solar panels now but suspect the sun will wamder off into the universe if I go for it.
skin2000
says...
7:29pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist
says...
7:38pm Sun 21 Oct 12
skin2000 wrote:Talk about extreme.
I tell my misses to put another jumper on, and only eat salads, save pounds.
downfader
says...
8:27pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Mr E wrote:Solar PV has pretty much halved in price since the subsidies were slashed. You have to surely ask - if there is no benefit then why are so many people clambering to get the grants and have the installations?
The figures come from an official house sellers energy survey. Quote.
"Cost of system £4000-£6000 Typical savings £32 per year."
take the average cost of £5000 and divide by 32 to get a time to recover costs of 156.25 years. This doesn't include any maintenance costs.
I get the feeling that many people are going to be left behind when the next rise in energy bills comes through (and they will do it)
loosehead
says...
9:32pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Mr E wrote:You don't need Solar panel water heaters.
The figures come from an official house sellers energy survey. Quote.
"Cost of system £4000-£6000 Typical savings £32 per year."
take the average cost of £5000 and divide by 32 to get a time to recover costs of 156.25 years. This doesn't include any maintenance costs.
you can get UV strips that heat up a tank of water which when hot enough will go to your emersion heater providing you with all the hot water you'd need.
So there's a saving on the electricity bill.
Solar panels could have been attainable on a scheme where you lease your roof space you get free electric whilst it's light they take earnings from any excess electricity.
I don't know if any company is still doing this.
Sell your house & it stays there & go to an estate agent & you'll see the value of your property is about 5thousand more than a similar property.
you get it maintained twice a year at no cost so the actual thing you pay for is UV strips but these are if you decide to buy them.
As SE has put on standing charges which if your an existing customer you don't have to have now they've increased their charges by 7% & they reckon we'll get rises every winter investing in either of these could see them paying for them selves much quicker than your estimates & if you had got the lease deal they would have saved you money
loosehead
says...
9:37pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Mr E wrote:Really? in 4 months of having these installed ( Solar Panels) I saved £80 on my electric.
The figures come from an official house sellers energy survey. Quote.
"Cost of system £4000-£6000 Typical savings £32 per year."
take the average cost of £5000 and divide by 32 to get a time to recover costs of 156.25 years. This doesn't include any maintenance costs.
Whilst it's daylight in the winter I can use convector heaters so not needing to put on my gas central heating so I should save on both & this will come to a lot more than £32 per year?
If you didn't get them installed under the scheme that was up to you but as with any product the more people buy them the cheaper they become.
Come back on here after the winter with the new energy prices & if it's a bitter cold one let's compare energy costs(bills)
loosehead
says...
9:46pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist wrote:Ginger there is a newer type of panel that produces three times the power than the older ones & they don't need direct sunlight just daylight.
Inform Al wrote:Too bad it's not really a viable energy source in Britain but I would like to try geothermal energy.
I had a smallholding in Kent near the Thames Esyuary outside the Medway Towns. As it was a windy area I built a small traditional looking windmill powering a 24 volt lorry generator to light the stables and pig sty etc through batteries. Worked for a while until the wind decided to go elsewhere and never really came back before I moved. I'm quite keen on solar panels now but suspect the sun will wamder off into the universe if I go for it.
we have sun from 05-00am going on to 22-00 then this slowly cuts back until we have the winter hours but unless we are going to live in perpetual nightime we still produce electricity so why is it no good here?
in normal daylight hours with a washing machine going or cooking my meter doesn't move so I'm saving money so once again try it before you knock it sounds right & now i've tried it I wouldn't be with out it
loosehead
says...
9:51pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Mr E wrote:I live in a two bedroomed terrace house. two similar properties on my estate went up for sale.
The figures come from an official house sellers energy survey. Quote.
"Cost of system £4000-£6000 Typical savings £32 per year."
take the average cost of £5000 and divide by 32 to get a time to recover costs of 156.25 years. This doesn't include any maintenance costs.
one for £145,000 the other for £139,000 both two bedromed both mid terrace & in the estate agents words both in immaculate condition.
So why a 6 thousand pound difference in price ? well I asked that question & the dearer one had Solar panels on a lease scheme the other one didn't.
the Solar panel one sold in no time the other is still for sell so I think that speaks volumes for the benefits of Solar Power
Brusher Mills
says...
9:51pm Sun 21 Oct 12
loosehead
says...
9:52pm Sun 21 Oct 12
nedscrumpo wrote:They reckon if the woods from a sustainable forest for every tree knocked down two are planted & they eat more carbon than you'll produce burning wood
Not sure that a wood burning stove is carbon neutral?
loosehead
says...
9:55pm Sun 21 Oct 12
Brusher Mills wrote:Do you have a fridge ?
The people who make a killing here are the companies that install PV for free, they rake in the feed in tariffs (getting their money back for the installation and more) and you get no use of the free electricity whilst your at work all day.
Do you work right up to ten o'clock in the summer months?
do you work all week ends?
if you do you save a small amount but if you don't you must cook, wash clothes,watch TV ?
do any of those in day light your saving money
Ginger_cyclist
says...
12:09am Mon 22 Oct 12
loosehead wrote:Do you not know what geothermal energy is? Because you're talking about solar energy which I agree, is very viable here as is wind, wave and tidal energy but geothermal is about utilizing heat from deep in the ground and seeing as the UK is predominantly a stable geological area it isn't particularly viable to use geothermal for power whereas if we were sat near or on a fault line or where a lot closer to the thinner crust of the earth like at the north Atlantic ridge (like Iceland is sat on it) then like Iceland, we would have geothermal energy to play with as well, without drilling 3 or 4 Km like we would have to do in Britain to use that energy source.
Ginger_cyclist wrote:Ginger there is a newer type of panel that produces three times the power than the older ones & they don't need direct sunlight just daylight.
Inform Al wrote:Too bad it's not really a viable energy source in Britain but I would like to try geothermal energy.
I had a smallholding in Kent near the Thames Esyuary outside the Medway Towns. As it was a windy area I built a small traditional looking windmill powering a 24 volt lorry generator to light the stables and pig sty etc through batteries. Worked for a while until the wind decided to go elsewhere and never really came back before I moved. I'm quite keen on solar panels now but suspect the sun will wamder off into the universe if I go for it.
we have sun from 05-00am going on to 22-00 then this slowly cuts back until we have the winter hours but unless we are going to live in perpetual nightime we still produce electricity so why is it no good here?
in normal daylight hours with a washing machine going or cooking my meter doesn't move so I'm saving money so once again try it before you knock it sounds right & now i've tried it I wouldn't be with out it
Brusher Mills
says...
1:22am Mon 22 Oct 12
loosehead wrote:We know what you do for a living then.
Brusher Mills wrote:Do you have a fridge ?
The people who make a killing here are the companies that install PV for free, they rake in the feed in tariffs (getting their money back for the installation and more) and you get no use of the free electricity whilst your at work all day.
Do you work right up to ten o'clock in the summer months?
do you work all week ends?
if you do you save a small amount but if you don't you must cook, wash clothes,watch TV ?
do any of those in day light your saving money
Vonnie
says...
3:25am Mon 22 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist wrote:You obviously do not know that Britain has a fault line running right through it, and Southampton actually produces energy from it to heat the Civic Centre and other places.
loosehead wrote:Do you not know what geothermal energy is? Because you're talking about solar energy which I agree, is very viable here as is wind, wave and tidal energy but geothermal is about utilizing heat from deep in the ground and seeing as the UK is predominantly a stable geological area it isn't particularly viable to use geothermal for power whereas if we were sat near or on a fault line or where a lot closer to the thinner crust of the earth like at the north Atlantic ridge (like Iceland is sat on it) then like Iceland, we would have geothermal energy to play with as well, without drilling 3 or 4 Km like we would have to do in Britain to use that energy source.Ginger_cyclist wrote:Ginger there is a newer type of panel that produces three times the power than the older ones & they don't need direct sunlight just daylight. we have sun from 05-00am going on to 22-00 then this slowly cuts back until we have the winter hours but unless we are going to live in perpetual nightime we still produce electricity so why is it no good here? in normal daylight hours with a washing machine going or cooking my meter doesn't move so I'm saving money so once again try it before you knock it sounds right & now i've tried it I wouldn't be with out itInform Al wrote: I had a smallholding in Kent near the Thames Esyuary outside the Medway Towns. As it was a windy area I built a small traditional looking windmill powering a 24 volt lorry generator to light the stables and pig sty etc through batteries. Worked for a while until the wind decided to go elsewhere and never really came back before I moved. I'm quite keen on solar panels now but suspect the sun will wamder off into the universe if I go for it.Too bad it's not really a viable energy source in Britain but I would like to try geothermal energy.
Put "southampton geothermal plant" in your browser and read some of the sites that come up.
loosehead
says...
6:42am Mon 22 Oct 12
Brusher Mills wrote:I'm on a company pension plus one other which comes to £18,000 a year so exactly what do you think I do besides go to my allotment or offer my services as a qualified level one Rugby coach to the local schools free of course?
loosehead wrote:We know what you do for a living then.
Brusher Mills wrote:Do you have a fridge ?
The people who make a killing here are the companies that install PV for free, they rake in the feed in tariffs (getting their money back for the installation and more) and you get no use of the free electricity whilst your at work all day.
Do you work right up to ten o'clock in the summer months?
do you work all week ends?
if you do you save a small amount but if you don't you must cook, wash clothes,watch TV ?
do any of those in day light your saving money
loosehead
says...
6:43am Mon 22 Oct 12
Vonnie wrote:Was this aimed at me or Ginger?
Ginger_cyclist wrote:You obviously do not know that Britain has a fault line running right through it, and Southampton actually produces energy from it to heat the Civic Centre and other places.
loosehead wrote:Do you not know what geothermal energy is? Because you're talking about solar energy which I agree, is very viable here as is wind, wave and tidal energy but geothermal is about utilizing heat from deep in the ground and seeing as the UK is predominantly a stable geological area it isn't particularly viable to use geothermal for power whereas if we were sat near or on a fault line or where a lot closer to the thinner crust of the earth like at the north Atlantic ridge (like Iceland is sat on it) then like Iceland, we would have geothermal energy to play with as well, without drilling 3 or 4 Km like we would have to do in Britain to use that energy source.Ginger_cyclist wrote:Ginger there is a newer type of panel that produces three times the power than the older ones & they don't need direct sunlight just daylight. we have sun from 05-00am going on to 22-00 then this slowly cuts back until we have the winter hours but unless we are going to live in perpetual nightime we still produce electricity so why is it no good here? in normal daylight hours with a washing machine going or cooking my meter doesn't move so I'm saving money so once again try it before you knock it sounds right & now i've tried it I wouldn't be with out itInform Al wrote: I had a smallholding in Kent near the Thames Esyuary outside the Medway Towns. As it was a windy area I built a small traditional looking windmill powering a 24 volt lorry generator to light the stables and pig sty etc through batteries. Worked for a while until the wind decided to go elsewhere and never really came back before I moved. I'm quite keen on solar panels now but suspect the sun will wamder off into the universe if I go for it.Too bad it's not really a viable energy source in Britain but I would like to try geothermal energy.
Put "southampton geothermal plant" in your browser and read some of the sites that come up.
loosehead
says...
6:47am Mon 22 Oct 12
what happened to the complaints about a new plant being built in Nursling?
didn't they say about palm oil?
did they not say it was not green energy?
There was an article saying Southampton is using too much of it & not giving the water we use enough time to heat up again?
I guess this is Geo Thermal & the only way to transfer that energy?
Ginger_cyclist
says...
11:43am Mon 22 Oct 12
loosehead wrote:Actually they changed it so that 3 trees have to replace one that has been cut down.
nedscrumpo wrote:They reckon if the woods from a sustainable forest for every tree knocked down two are planted & they eat more carbon than you'll produce burning wood
Not sure that a wood burning stove is carbon neutral?
Ginger_cyclist
says...
11:49am Mon 22 Oct 12
Vonnie wrote:Didn't know we had a fault lines but it doesn't change the fact that the geothermal plant in Southampton, cost a lot to build due to needing pipes to be drilled down so far, if we were in a geological area like Iceland, we could drill pipes to shallower depths and it would be cheaper.
Ginger_cyclist wrote:You obviously do not know that Britain has a fault line running right through it, and Southampton actually produces energy from it to heat the Civic Centre and other places.
loosehead wrote:Do you not know what geothermal energy is? Because you're talking about solar energy which I agree, is very viable here as is wind, wave and tidal energy but geothermal is about utilizing heat from deep in the ground and seeing as the UK is predominantly a stable geological area it isn't particularly viable to use geothermal for power whereas if we were sat near or on a fault line or where a lot closer to the thinner crust of the earth like at the north Atlantic ridge (like Iceland is sat on it) then like Iceland, we would have geothermal energy to play with as well, without drilling 3 or 4 Km like we would have to do in Britain to use that energy source.Ginger_cyclist wrote:Ginger there is a newer type of panel that produces three times the power than the older ones & they don't need direct sunlight just daylight. we have sun from 05-00am going on to 22-00 then this slowly cuts back until we have the winter hours but unless we are going to live in perpetual nightime we still produce electricity so why is it no good here? in normal daylight hours with a washing machine going or cooking my meter doesn't move so I'm saving money so once again try it before you knock it sounds right & now i've tried it I wouldn't be with out itInform Al wrote: I had a smallholding in Kent near the Thames Esyuary outside the Medway Towns. As it was a windy area I built a small traditional looking windmill powering a 24 volt lorry generator to light the stables and pig sty etc through batteries. Worked for a while until the wind decided to go elsewhere and never really came back before I moved. I'm quite keen on solar panels now but suspect the sun will wamder off into the universe if I go for it.Too bad it's not really a viable energy source in Britain but I would like to try geothermal energy.
Put "southampton geothermal plant" in your browser and read some of the sites that come up.
loosehead
says...
12:55pm Mon 22 Oct 12
An inventor has come up with a viable Liquid Air generator which can power cars & can be used as a source of storage for Solar & Wind energy so meaning we'd have electricity 24hour a day from these energy sources.
now if he can invent a viable small device to power up in daylight hours to then be used at night all those people who knock Solar will look a bit daft.
In Thailand with frequent power cuts in the Rainy season you can but stand alone batteries for your computer so you charge them up & use them when the cut's occur why can't similar devices be bought here?
Why couldn't we adapt it for the TV's?
you would see a massive cut in your electricity bills.
Ginger_cyclist
says...
9:57pm Mon 22 Oct 12
loosehead wrote:Would also see battery technology become massively improved and become a lot cheaper which would then make electric vehicles sound more appealing, especially if they make it so you can visit a "petrol" station and charge the batteries in 20 minutes or less, maybe stick a restaurant or something of some description at each one to make it more appealing to charge your car there, I mean TNT already have all electric delivery vehicles that trundle around Southampton all day long.
As I have posted this on another site here goes again.
An inventor has come up with a viable Liquid Air generator which can power cars & can be used as a source of storage for Solar & Wind energy so meaning we'd have electricity 24hour a day from these energy sources.
now if he can invent a viable small device to power up in daylight hours to then be used at night all those people who knock Solar will look a bit daft.
In Thailand with frequent power cuts in the Rainy season you can but stand alone batteries for your computer so you charge them up & use them when the cut's occur why can't similar devices be bought here?
Why couldn't we adapt it for the TV's?
you would see a massive cut in your electricity bills.
loosehead
says...
8:14am Tue 23 Oct 12
Ginger_cyclist wrote:Looked at the Nissan electric car at the ideal home expo. looks very good but a bit too pricey.
loosehead wrote:Would also see battery technology become massively improved and become a lot cheaper which would then make electric vehicles sound more appealing, especially if they make it so you can visit a "petrol" station and charge the batteries in 20 minutes or less, maybe stick a restaurant or something of some description at each one to make it more appealing to charge your car there, I mean TNT already have all electric delivery vehicles that trundle around Southampton all day long.
As I have posted this on another site here goes again.
An inventor has come up with a viable Liquid Air generator which can power cars & can be used as a source of storage for Solar & Wind energy so meaning we'd have electricity 24hour a day from these energy sources.
now if he can invent a viable small device to power up in daylight hours to then be used at night all those people who knock Solar will look a bit daft.
In Thailand with frequent power cuts in the Rainy season you can but stand alone batteries for your computer so you charge them up & use them when the cut's occur why can't similar devices be bought here?
Why couldn't we adapt it for the TV's?
you would see a massive cut in your electricity bills.
they have an electric car that uses the same type of battery as your mobile phone so it's quicker to charge & will last longer at higher speeds.
the inventor I was telling you about ran a car on a Liquid Air motor which had been charged up with electricity could be the way to go?
Linesman says...
12:23pm Sun 21 Oct 12
If they bottled their ****, they could even knock out the £2 they are spending on gas.