Rob van Rossen
Ōhope · 2 people, 260 m² · Battery, EV, Heat pump, Solar
As retirees planning to stay in our home long-term, we feel good about our investment in solar and going down the EV path.
$7,200 saved per year
What's in your electric home?
We have electric cooking, a hot water system, and three heat pumps. We even have electric underfloor heating in the kitchen and all bathrooms, along with an electrically heated spa pool.
When did you start, and why?
Environmental value and I calculated a 7-year payback on investment when including consideration of EV running costs. I figured that return was better than I expected from my investment returns on retirement savings, plus the benefit of a 1% interest green loan from my bank.
What do you love most about it?
As retirees planning to stay in our home long-term, we feel good about our investment in solar and going down the EV path with low risk tax-free returns on investing some of our retirement savings.
The EV is in all respects a better vehicle than the vehicle it replaced, and it had a similar new purchase cost. In the last 2 years we have only used a public charge station 12 times. The rest of the charging has been done at home utilising 3 hours of free power 9pm to midnight, plus solar surplus.
How has it changed your behaviour?
We try to use as much of the power we generate and minimise pulling from the grid, apart from 9pm to midnight.
Any advice?
If you plan to stay in your home for a while yet, the combination of solar, a battery, and an EV is absolutely the way to go for the best returns. The whole set up is outperforming the investment case we considered before proceeding.
Solar: 9.35 kW, 22 panels
Battery: 10.8 kWh
Vehicles: 1x EV, 1x HEV