What sort of house?

We've got a septic system. Drilled well out back for water. 500gal propane tank for the furnace. Primary heating is via electric.

Septic system probably needs emptying once every 3-4 years, and the cost is pretty insignificant.

The well has more than adequate flow rate, and for the first time ever I found water that "tastes nice". Means no water bills of course (but factoring in the cost of a new well every 25 years or so, it works out about half the price of typical main water bills)

Electric heating isn't so bad at all - it's all on a cheap-rate load-controlled tariff, which means it works out cheaper than heating by gas or oil anyway.

Propane furnace picks up the slack when the electric heating is off. I don't see how it's any different to mains gas; I think it's comparable in price. Only 'burden' is checking the tank periodically (usually once a month during heating season) to know when to re-order (delivery company gets upset if the tank runs completely empty)

Flat roof: we've got one on an extension (and the front porch). I suspect they need new material laying once in a while, but for it to be easy work. So long as the drainage is kept clear I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with them (although I admit to preferring a peaked roof just for the loft storage space it gives)

Anyway, not 'bad news' in those terms at all. Maybe you can get some form of grant to sort out the windows (and/or other energy-saving stuff).

Oh, I did have storage heaters in one house once - hated them. Always seemed to be no heat available when I actually wanted it.

cheers

Jules

Reply to
Jules
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You qualify for a lot of "insulation grants" because we all do - =A31 / roll insulation for one (check the moneysavingexpert & npower web sites for regular offers under CERT). Although you say you have "a lot" of roof insulation, ideas of insulation levels have increased in recent decades. Certainly my parent's wind-swept bungalow was "heavily insulated" in the '80s after they bought it, but I regard it as very poorly insulated today.

Looking to the future, I'd base your possible stay/move choice much more on how isolated your location is, not on the bungalow/flat choice. My parents' "retirement bungalow" was bought a couple of years (age-wise) after yours and they saw 20 years of very active gardening and pottering there. Their heating choice was coke C/H, as they didn't have a gas connection either. Mum died a couple of years ago, Dad has now moved into a nursing home, but the time when "sheltered accomodation" would have been actually useful to them (given that they already had a well-sorted bungalow in a good area, albeit slightly isolated) was very short - maybe 6 months at most.

Sounds like your husband needs to take up gardening 8-)

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Most woman I know around the age of 50 think of themselves as more like 30 and would be more likely to lynch anyone who suggests moving to an old folks home than agree to it. He seems to have given up. Taking early retirement can involve a loss of identity I would agree, however I think I would see your bungalow and grounds as a 'new career'.

He doesn't seem to consider your views in any of this, where is the equality in the relationship? Seems to be more of a parent-child scenario to me. Why are you still with him? Does he have any good points?

mark

Reply to
mark

Vegetable gardening - he could save on food bills that way.

Reply to
S Viemeister

That sounds like it's way over the top. There are two of us here and we pay ~£80 per quarter. That includes management indulging in her pastime of watering the garden...

Reply to
F

Similar here, for two of us. £90 /qtr.

Andy C

Reply to
Andy Cap

Ditto I would suspect your neighbour quoted an annual rate

P >
Reply to
Peter

No mistake I saw her bill. It got dropped at my house by mistake and I opened it. I was terribly embarrased but I saw how much it was.

My water rates are less than £200 a year - as I said on a septic tank and no water meter its a big difference. if we had a water meter, it would rocket my bills even SW water told us that. They said we were amongst those who would never benefit from a water meter because having a septic tank meant we only paid for water to the house not sewerage. A water meter calculates a standard cost which includes sewerage ( which of course we do not have from them) so we would be paying for what we do not have and cannot get.

Reply to
whiskeyomega

As far as I know, you get a rebate if you've a septic tank.

Reply to
F

But do a search on Warmfront here first... Too many cowboys doing the work that you have no option but to use. There is no mechanisium for you to choose your own known and trusted trades person to do the work.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

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meters questions and answers for domestic customers - Page 9

If you do not use our sewerage service you will receive a bill for water comprising the water standing and volume charges only.

From :-

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forecast the average metered bill for water and sewerage will rise by £10 or

2.6% to £395 and the average unmetered bill will increase by £23 or 3.4% to £697.

HTH Andy C

Reply to
Andy Cap

With 2 adults and 3 school age kids I'm paying Bournemouth & West Hants water around 200 quid a year for water, about the same for sewerage IIRC. So the OP's figures do sound high.

Reply to
airsmoothed

Not true! A water meter measures the amount of fresh water which you use. If connected to a main sewer, an assumption is made that an equal quantity of liquid (etc!) will be taken away by that - and you are charged accordingly.

*But* the water and sewerage charges are shown separately on the bill, and if you have a septic tank, you *won't* be charged for sewerage based on your water consumption.

You seem to have got hold of some very dubious 'facts' from somewhere!

Your neighbour would need to consume a *collosal* amount of water to have a water bill like you describe. If it's genuine, it sounds like they've got a massive leak between the meter and the house.

Reply to
Roger Mills

I think he is looking at the bigger picture here, and you should too. The house is cold and damp, and in the next 8 - 10 years is going to be even damper and probably colder, which at your (and his) time of life isn't going to do either of you any favours healthwise, plus the fact that your 200 per week will probably be a distant memory by then and you'll have to survive on half what you are getting now.

To put the house right, IE central heating, DG, new kitchen, bathroom and pitched roof on extension plus a DPC is going to cost more than you can afford, unless you remortgage the place, wheras if you sell, considering it's in a rural area (another minus point for two pensioners in a cold, damp property), you might get twice what it's going to cost you for a modern unit in town, leaving you a nice nest egg and a comfortable retirement in a warm, safe environment.

OTOH if you really want to stay there, for the sake of the health and wellbeing of both of you, you need to get proper heating(*) and a chemical DPC installed at least. The flat roof will cost you a couple of grand every

25 years or so if you want to leave it on, and I'm sure you could put up with the green bathroom suite for a while.

(*) You can get CH that runs on bottled gas or oil, and it still probably works out cheaper than electricity.

Reply to
Phil L

Only 'cause he refuses to have the heating on, have a cooker hood vented to the outside etc...

Not a lot in it as far as oil in concerned now, I suspect LPG is similar as well and there would be a significant installation cost. Both gas an oil have maintenance costs, storage heaters generally just work without any maintenance.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Bloody silly is not strong enough. To move into a geriatric unit at 50 or 59 is madness. Life will be utterly depressing. To give up life in a pleasant rural area to live in some geriatric urban squat it truly madness. At 59 your husband is young enough to learn how to fix whatever needs to be fixed and he needs something do do anyway. Vegetating in a geriatric squat will probably kill him in less than 10 years. Dig your toes in and kick his arse.

Your septic tank should probably be pumped out every three or four years, perhaps longer. That is not a big deal. Replace the guttering with uPVC. You just glue this stuff together. Buy a ladder and kick the useless bugger up it. It is a bungalow for Christ's sake not two or three floors.

R
Reply to
Roger Dewhurst

In message , whiskeyomega

Reply to
Clint Sharp

and switch it on!

Average costs of space and water heating for a 2 bed house (Sutherland tables - Scotland, May 2009)

Scottish Power White Meter storage heaters, electric rads, immersion =A31102 LPG condensing boiler =A31279 Oil condensing boiler =A3752

This assumes LPG is 46.87p/l and oil is 41.22p/l

Owain

Reply to
Owain

That sounds more than a little drastic given your ages, but it is a sad reality that health problems do increase with age and life out in a rural setting is very reliant on your continuing abilities to drive. There are lots of lower maintenance options apart from this.

I moved from suburban London to a high-rise city centre flat in Melbourne a year back and have no regrets. When I go away it is great to lock the door and have no worries re burglars etc. I don't run a car because I have no need for one (am in a car share club). A bike accident in July put me on crutches for six weeks and I then realised even more how great it is to have so many amenities within a very short distance. If I live to be old and decrepit, then this will still be a good place to live, so thinking ahead and making a move at the time of your choice, rather than being forced to by circumstances, is not a bad strategy. But my mum would hate living here; she wants a house and garden, even if it does mean work. Being happy where you live is the most important thing.

Your quoted water meter figures sound very high?

As the poor condition of your house reducing its value, it may be that the real value is in the land. As there is a house there getting PP for a replacement house should be relatively straightforward and depending on location the land value may well be a lot more than you think - you need to get a valuation and that will tell you what options are open to you.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

I suppose that's one way of solving the problem.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

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