Low Energy LED GU10 Downlights

When the house was built we had some halogen downlights fitted  in the kitchen and a couple in the dormer bedrooms - 11 in total. Five of the 50w halogen bulbs have gone since we moved in.

I found you can get much bigger energy and cost savings with LED  Gu10 replacements - some run on only 3w or 4w - that's a 90% saving! LED bulbs are getting better and brighter all the time . They are a good bit more expensive than the standard halogen 50 Watt bulbs - but you soon get that back in electricity savings.
After a bit more research and reading reviews I  bought ten of these 4watt LED Gu10 bulbs .  I have replaced all the halogen lamps in the kitchen with these. Those Gu10 fittings can be a pain to get in - so hopefully they won't need changing again for a few years.
The light from the LED bulbs is whiter than the old halogen bulbs and  I am very pleased with them.

Instead of using 500 watts with all 10 switched on - I'll now only be using 40 watts.
I've worked out - that if they are switched on for 6 hours a day - they will use just €13 in electricity in a year- but the old halogen ones would cost €180 a year to run.  I will save €167  a year in electricity. The bulbs will pay for themselves in less than 6 months - and after that it's just savings of  €167 a year.

Someone with 30 of these in a house could reduce electricity bills by a serious amounts .
You can get some LED Gu10 bulbs for around £9.99 at  Amazon with delivery to Ireland.

If they last as long as promised I won't need to change them for at least 15 years! They don't generate any heat either - so much less of a fire risk than the halogen equivalents.

Cost of Building a House in Ireland

At the height of the property price boom in Ireland there were plenty of people getting sites and building their own  houses.  It normally worked worked out cheaper per square meter than buying a house. On top of that - you could specify exactly how the house would look (subject to planning permission)
With the drop in house prices since 2007 - the savings to be made by going down the self build route are no longer as attractive.
Building costs have fallen in the last couple of years - but they have not fallen by nearly as much as house prices. Building materials have risen in price - labour costs have generally fallen.
In 2011 -in  many parts of Ireland if you can find a good second hand  house in a suitable location it may well work out cheaper than building a new one. (Less hassle too)
You might have to compromise on some of the features .

According to figures from the Society of Chartered Surveyors the rebuilding cost of a 4 Bedroomed Bungalow in the Galway area is €1277 per sq metre .
The figures assume a basic quality specification with normal foundations, brick/block walls, concrete tiled roof, concrete ground floor and timber first floor, softwood flush doors and hardwood double glazed windows, painted plaster to walls, plastered ceilings,standard electrics and central heating.

This cost needs to be increased for extras such as a garage  (Garage building costs range from €14,296 for a single attached garage to €25,701 for a double attached garage)
Also - add on extra for things such as  fitted wardrobes,  higher than average kitchen fittings,  fire alarms and security alarms, and for any outbuildings, walls, fences, patios, etc.
The price of the site also neeeds to be added on to this figure. Land prices have fallen - so you can get a site in a rural area for €25k. Quality sites on the edge of towns or in tourist areas will cost more.

So - for a  200 Metre sq detached 4 bedroomed bungalow with a garage in the Co Galway area  - the figure for rebuilding would be about €275,000 - and that is without any garden walls or fencing or patios.
Add on the cost of a site - with a minimum of €25000 - you are looking at around €300,000 to build the house.(According to SCS). Even if you are being given the site - the cost is going to be in the region of €275,000.

There are plenty of 4 and 5 bedroomed bungalows built in the past 5 years that are selling for less than €275000. ...    So if you are prepared to settle for something that might be 80% of exactly what you want - you could save money by buying instead of building. (Not to mention the lower hassle and headaches)

Generating Electricity From Solar Panels

Photovoltaic’ means electricity from light. In essence, photovoltaic systems use daylight (not necessarily direct sunlight) to convert solar radiation into electricity. The light which shines on the PV cells creates an electric field causing electricity to flow. The greater the intensity of the light, the greater the flow of electricity.

Photovoltaic systems use semiconductor materials to convert solar energy into electricity. This technology is widely used in consumer products such as solar calculators, watches or garden lights, and is increasingly used as a cost-effective solution in Ireland for stand-alone applications where a grid connection is too expensive (e.g. parking meters, caravans or remote holiday homes).

Solar PV can also be used to provide free solar electricity to houses as well as for commercial and industrial applications. Recent developments in regulation mean that it is now possible to connect solar PV systems to the grid, opening up a new era for solar PV in Ireland.

Photovoltaic domestic systems range in size from 1Kw – 11 Kw.

Each Kw can produce approximately 1,000 units (1 unit = 1Kwh) of electricity per annum. The average Irish household uses 3,000 – 4,000 units per annum

ESB will offer to pay  of 19c per unit for the first 3000 units sold back to the grid that the user did not consume. This is worth €570.

Further excess units are rewarded with the  ESB Customer Service 9c there after.

Units that are produced by the user and used by the user are a saving of 17c each as of May 2009 for normal rate electricity.


ESB Networks are offering their 10c for the first 3000 units produced per annum to the first 4000 customers to send in their RECI certificate of completion for the micro generation installation.

Since 2005, PV electricity prices have dropped by 40pc and the cost of PV systems are expected fall by a further 40pc by 2015. According to the EPIA, if this is the case, PV systems will be able to compete with electricity prices for households in many countries of the EU within the next five years.

Sky Digital

The installer finally came on Saturday to put up a dish for Sky. We had cancelled on the phone because the viewing card hadn't arrived - but it turns out the card was sent to the installer! We have managed without satellite for years and I have always thought that the dozens of channels would just cause arguments and ovedosing on TV for the kids. The plan is to get the free installation by signing up to the cheapest subscription for 12 months - and then just use the dish and digibox to view the free to air channels. I know Sky hope you can't do without the extra channels after a year - but I think even our kids will be sick of Malcolm in the Middle and the Simpsons by then.
With all the mix up with Sky - who originally had us down as living in the UK - we got an extra viewing card - a UK one. It is deactivated but can still be used to get the UK free channels - BBC1 2 3 4 ITV 1 2 3 Cbeebies - which is what we were hoping to try and get anyway. So it all worked out OK in the end. The only problem now is how to stop the kids from arguing about what to watch next.
Th emajority of the channels are just complete rubbish.

Stonemason still working

The boundary wall at the front of the house is still in progress. Bad weather delayed it a bit - bit it's more than half finished now. It's on;y stone on the front - with a concrete block wall behind the limestone. (Cheaper that way) We are thinking maybe we should have gone for stone on both sides - but hopefuly when the garden gets going any shrubs and trees will hide the blocks a bit.
We need to get the driveway sorted soon - we will need some more "804" - crushed limestone to put down - another lorry load or 2 should be enough.
I planted 6 more trees last week - but there's still 10 more left to put in.

Sky Digital - still waiting

Supposed to have Sky instaled this week - originaly it was Monday but no one came. I rang and they said it was booked for Tuesday - which was not convenient so I rebooked for Thur - yesterday. No one came and I rang several times but gave up hanging on waiting to talk to someone. Finally got through this morning and was told that they had no trace of my Thursday booking and then was told I would have to reapply for another installation because they had set me up wrong on the system (with a UK postcode!) I feel like not bothering - but the rest of the family reckon they need the extra channels. The plan is to cancel the subscription after 12 months min contract is up - then use the dish and box to get the free to air channels. Hopefully the kids won't get to used to the extra channels during the 12 months. I might give them a ring later today and see how it goes.


www.sky.com

Fitted Wardrobes

The fitted wardrobes were done yesterday - by the same people who did the kitchen.We only had them in 2 rooms - but might do one more later. Excellent stuff - reasonable price and well fitted by tidy workers. Now we can stop living out of suitcases and tidy up all the clothes.

Planting Trees

I've been planting a few trees this week - probably doing it too soon because the rst of the garden still needs levelling - but I thought I needed to get something in! Hopefully they will live and won't need digging up again.
We got a landscape plan done last year - before the house was built and before the site was levelled at all. The trees are all native species - Ash, Birch , Beech , Rowan, Alder,Lime (not sure if they are really Native Irish). I probably went a bit over the top and got thirty! There are still at least half of them to plant - but they might have to wait a while till the lawn area is dug and levelled and the kerbs for the driveway put in. The soil is pretty much like gravel - and is very stony and hard to dig - so I hope the tree can cope!
The front wall should be started on Friday - blocks with a natural stone facing (Limestone).

The kitchen - solid maple with stanley solid fuel range and gas hob and electric oven. 

The painting started - still some more to do. 

It's not over yet...

Still plenty to do in the house - even though we have been living here for 4 weeks now.
The outside painting is almost done - just the black trim to do - but that takes longer than the walls.
The garden is still a bit of a state - I got a price from a landscaper to rotovate and rake it and sow lawn seed - I might go for it because if I don't do something soon it will have to wait till spring.
A garage door is coming today - so that will stop the birds from nesting in the garage! Not sure how to get the ones that are living there out though!
Insulation of the loft space is still waiting to be done - but it will have to be done soon - winter is on the way.
We finally got the gas hob connected - but not by the man that we were waiting and waiting for - we called another "Colgan gas" based near Castlebar - and he did it that evening.