Show me the way...

Hi All,

Apologies in advance if this in the wrong section, ever since the change I can hardly navigate the forum, but this post is also multi levelled and does involve some/alot of renewable questions.....

We (2 adults) bought a house 2 years ago that we have kind of settled into now, and I really need some help/guidance on where to go or what to do in terms on bringing our energy costs down and future proofing it where it makes sense.

The house : Dormer style, built in 2000, sold with a C2 BER rating however I do intend to get an independent assessment done asap. The house is pumped with beads and dry lined internally, it has some attic insulation too. and the roof is sprayed with foam (all done correctly and poses no health or damp risk, inspected before buying) and double glaze windows throughout, however they are now 30 years old and most of the seals (and some hinges) have failed leaving a lot of draughts in on the windy days, nullifying any insulation we have. There is also 4 velux windows which appear to be still in very good condition, and our front is solid wood (teak) which also needs to be replaced.

It sits on about 0.6 acre site with a south facing garden and back roof, the front gets very little sun.

Heating : Currently we have a small solid fuel stove to heat our living room and a condensing oil boiler to heat the house, the boiler has been serviced recently and is in ok condition but the engineer did say we would benefit from an upgrade to a more efficient condensing boiler. Over the past 2 years I'd estimate we use about 700 litres of kerosene per year, that seems a little high for 2 people, but not an expert here, and maybe if we upgraded to a more efficient boiler, that might reduce.

My wife works from home, so during the colder days she could also use an electric fan heater in the office to keep that room warm, I dont know if this is more economical that maybe turning the heat on for an hour or so, but I might get some of those plugs that con monitor energy usage to figure that out, with the wild price swings in Oil, and the ever increasing electricity cost, this doesn't seem too crazy to do.

Plumbing : We are quite remote so there is no mains water supply, we have a well and filter system that has basically failed on us and we are in the process of getting that upgraded now, our water is heavy in maganese which can cause discoloration to water, sinks, baths, clothes etc.

Its fine to wash in, but is currently not drinkable and is ruining some clothes, so we have started the upgrade of our pump and filters now, which 80 - 90% of will be covered by a grant. This will give us very clean water to the house again.

1 electric shower used daily (about 60 mins per week)

Immersion used to heat house water outside of the winter months as the heating will heat it then.

Energy Usage : This is partly why I started this long winded (sorry) thread, I didnt realize until I sat down with a friend recently and chatted about the cost of electricity, but it appears of electricity usage is quite high compared to others, we used 900 units for June & July @ 0.33c per unit, where as colleagues with various different set ups and different numbers of people in the house were between 300 - 700 units.

Caveat, we do have an ID.3 which I would maybe once weekly charge off the granny cable, I have free charging in work which I try take advantage mostly, but sometimes it doesn't always work out. So I mean I do charge from home, but its not predictable, but I on average probably 2 - 3 times per month to full (50KW)

There was also a smart meter installed on the house before we bought it, not sure I would have chosen this, but I cannot get it removed now without a big upfront cost, so we have a flat rate of 33c with energia currently, this might increase soon I assume.

So here is where I am fairly lost and looking for your guidance or opinions.

The house has no solar tech at all, and I have no idea what best makes sense for our needs. I thought our electricity needs were quite low, we cook, we watch some TV, WFH, small bit of gaming and moderate shower usage, but we do both enjoy a bath and that has mainly been the immersion so I guess I underestimated that and possibly the car charging is bumping it up the odd time too.

So we have a budget to upgrade our windows, doors, maybe add a little more attic insulation, however the house stays relatively warm if its not windy, so I really think the doors and windows will make a marked improvement, and then another 50% of the budget earmarked for adding solar for PV and/or water heating.

I just don't know where to start, I'm an electronic engineer myself so quite comfortable with the terms, however I've never had any exposure to solar really, so I just don't even know what's available out there.

Should I get PV panels for electricity, and tubes for water?

Are batteries worth it, considering the smart meter and south facing only?

Would somebody typically generate enough to charge a car aswel as power there home?

I've attached pics of the house and the garden as I'm also open to ground mounting an array, however it does get very windy here, I'm just off the coast.

Planning on putting a decent sized shed soon too that I could orientate as best whatever makes sense to put them on the roof.

All opinions and help is greatly appreciated!

I'll be keeping this thread updated with any progress I make, thanks in advance!