Decisions, decisions
Posted: 04 Oct 2018, 18:16Been a lot of humming, haha ing, talking, working outs been going on over here in the last few weeks.
Our solar system got hit by lightening and stopped sending lecky to the house
We'd already found out that it would cost around 6,000€ to replace the batteries, which would take us about 15 years to recoup the cost and as they only last about 15 years………..
So we got a guy up to have a look and see what could be salvaged. We could still use the panels, but would need the tracker being fixed, as well as a sensor and the invertor. Costing about 2,000€. Not bad, we thought, we could do that. Then he came in with saying that this needed replacing, that needed replacing. Final cost, about 3,500€ ish.
So we decided not to bother. But what to do with the battery store and the one that held the generator, now gone. A spare room, I said, knock the wall down between the two.
Then the thought was, what shall we do with the money we have in investments. I know that Ria will think we'll make good the ruin, but to be honest, I think it would cost about 20,000€, on a conservative estimate and even then, not sure we'd get planning permission.
Then we thought of a holiday home, in Portugal. We love the Monsarraz region, also over towards the border with Spain.
We've spent many a happy hour, looking a properties
Saw a lovely one, not too far from Mértola, for 39,000€ 
Then we have the concrete base which the previous owner had as a chicken house, now gone. We had planned on using it as another store room, with Grumpy building it. Although I was a little concerned, as we're not supposed to have a permanent building 15 metres of the boundary, and that's right on it
Decision has now been made.
No holiday home, no re-building the ruin, no solar.
We use the base that held the chicken house as a nursery for our plants, veggies etc, which are normally kept either near the house or by the kitchen window. Grumpy will build a small wall and we'll have netting over it.
We'll get guttering for the car-port and he'll build a store for the water.
And we'll go on holiday more
Our solar system got hit by lightening and stopped sending lecky to the house
We'd already found out that it would cost around 6,000€ to replace the batteries, which would take us about 15 years to recoup the cost and as they only last about 15 years………..So we got a guy up to have a look and see what could be salvaged. We could still use the panels, but would need the tracker being fixed, as well as a sensor and the invertor. Costing about 2,000€. Not bad, we thought, we could do that. Then he came in with saying that this needed replacing, that needed replacing. Final cost, about 3,500€ ish.
So we decided not to bother. But what to do with the battery store and the one that held the generator, now gone. A spare room, I said, knock the wall down between the two.
Then the thought was, what shall we do with the money we have in investments. I know that Ria will think we'll make good the ruin, but to be honest, I think it would cost about 20,000€, on a conservative estimate and even then, not sure we'd get planning permission.
Then we thought of a holiday home, in Portugal. We love the Monsarraz region, also over towards the border with Spain.
We've spent many a happy hour, looking a properties
Saw a lovely one, not too far from Mértola, for 39,000€ Then we have the concrete base which the previous owner had as a chicken house, now gone. We had planned on using it as another store room, with Grumpy building it. Although I was a little concerned, as we're not supposed to have a permanent building 15 metres of the boundary, and that's right on it
Decision has now been made.
No holiday home, no re-building the ruin, no solar.
We use the base that held the chicken house as a nursery for our plants, veggies etc, which are normally kept either near the house or by the kitchen window. Grumpy will build a small wall and we'll have netting over it.
We'll get guttering for the car-port and he'll build a store for the water.
And we'll go on holiday more
