Week 39

Week 39 

 

The weather is slowly changing - officially into Autumn now, but I still call it winter :)

 

 We have to stoke the floor heating  for a while - to further "cure" the concrete - sometimes it feels too hot and uncomfortable. We'll have to find a "normal" and lower temperature - probably about 18 degrees, in deference to the higher energy prices - and then light the fire for the colder evenings when they arrive.

Walkin' the dog...

Janny and Mum on the Duo-fiets (two seater electric bike).

Janny's youngest sister, Greethilda turned 50 - we had the surprise party at our place. (although totally organised by others!)

Including a snack food truck strategically placed in case it was going to rain...

There was just 1cm to spare on both sides...

I managed to "retire hurt" before the singing and dancing started :-)

Around the farm

Very little work done this week... (Tjeerd has one more week off)

Beading on the bathroom door...

The "tocht strip" (draught strip) on the front door replaced after more than 25 years! Nicely sealed again - all to keep our precious warmth in!

Solar panels

The government says it will press ahead with a major overhaul of the way solar panel users get paid for excess electricity they feed back into the grid. Solar panel owners can currently subtract the energy they “sell” to energy companies from their bills, but from 2027 that will no longer be possible. Instead, energy companies will have to pay a “reasonable” price for the electricity. How much has yet to be decided.

Comparison website Energievergelijk.nl estimates the change will increase the length of time it will take back to earn back your solar panel investment, possibly by as much as 12.5 years. Others are more pessimistic.

“Of course, much will depend on how much of the electricity you generate you use, or store, yourself,” says Energievergelijk.nl’s Koen Kuijper. “But the coalition agreement does not say how much energy firms will be required to pay you for your energy, only that it be ‘reasonable’. And this is only adding to the uncertainty for people who are considering investing in solar panels.”

Transport costs
Transport costs – the fee you pay for having electricity and gas delivered to your home – does not vary with how much you use, although there is a discount if you use less than 500 m3 of gas a year.

The government has pledged to spend €19 billion to strengthen the national grid and offset the current shortage of capacity. But the bill will eventually be picked up by consumers. The Dutch consumers authority ACM expects each household will pay some €60 more in transport costs to pay for the work, and that would take the average household’s payments to some €710 a year.