Making home improvements to save money is still possible with a little bit of imagination – and online ordering.
Handy-man TOBY WALNE looks at some installations that will still prove useful long after coronavirus has been beaten.
GREENHOUSE – £200 upwards
A greenhouse provides an outdoor sanctuary to help maintain sanity – as many will appreciate in the current lockdown.
Sanctuary: Growing vegetables in a greenhouse will appeal to many families
It is also a practical space to grow fruit and vegetables – enabling you to avoid shop queues and knock perhaps £500 a year off your grocery bills.
Prices start from £200 to more than £1,000, and online orders for quick delivery are still available. It can take a couple of days to put up so those with spare time might find it a good project.
A good size is an 8ft by 6ft house. Although horticultural glass is cheaper, toughened glass is best as less likely to break in windy conditions or accidents.
Aluminium frames are usually the best choice as they don’t rust. Roof vents ensure there is no overheating in the summer.
The Royal Horticultural Society offers free advice on growing fruit and vegetables in the greenhouse. You could also invest £50 in an automatic watering system connecting an outside tap to your greenhouse – gadgets that can be bought on the internet and installed straight away.
SPY CAMERA – from £300
Surveillance cameras guarding your home can be key in deterring burglars.
But you no longer need to spend thousands of pounds on complex burglar alarm systems – just a few hundred pounds on high-tech spy cameras linked to your smartphone. Although not currently necessary, they will be useful after the lockdown ends.
So buy now online and most can be installed without assistance. Among the most popular is the £300 Nest Cam IQ system that allows you to watch for intruders both inside as well as from outside the home – and includes a face recognition system.
Others include the £280 wireless D-Link Pro camera kit that has a siren to ward off robbers. Another is the £550 Arlo Pro 3 that has a pinsharp camera lens for spotting any unusual movements.
All you need is an electric drill to make the holes to fit the equipment – with the screws and wall plug fixings included in the kits – plus a ladder to set it up in a corner with good visibility.
When they detect any movement, the cameras can send alert texts with a photo of what is going on to your phone. They not only capture the image of intruders but also keep an eye on pets. Useful now when out shopping – or if you are a key worker.
RAIN HARVESTER – from £1,000
An underground 2,000-gallon plastic tank with a water pump and filter system might cost £1,000, but will prepare you for all future outdoor water needs.
You can save money on installation by getting out a spade and digging a space for it now. Terry Nash, a director of the UK Rainwater Management Association, says: ‘Unfortunately, we can expect more droughts and floods due to global warming – and increased water shortages.
‘You may need a space about the size of a small car – and it must be at least 6ft deep if you want to store a good sized tank out of sight. Our members offer a range of tanks that can be ordered online – plus free advice and installation options.’
More than 20,000 gallons of rainwater falls on the average house roof every year – enough for many indoor needs on top of watering the garden. Nash adds: ‘You could consider a harvesting system for water to be used indoors, but it requires internal plumbing work. Filtered rainwater is great for flushing toilets.’
The average home flushes a toilet 5,000 times a year, using about 15,000 gallons of water. A water harvesting system that can also be used indoors can cost £3,000. If your home has a water meter, a harvester might help knock £100 off a £415 annual water bill.
BROADBAND – from £220 a year
Lockdown has made many families realise how much they rely on the internet – everything from doing your job online at home to family entertainment.
Under a ‘universal service obligation’, all internet suppliers should deliver broadband speed of at least 10 megabits per second (Mbps) – a speed sufficient to enjoy high-definition film and TV streaming services.
Websites such as Broadband Speed Checker test your speed. If a provider is letting you down, ditch it for a rival.
Comparison websites such as uSwitch will help find a cheaper deal. Among the cheapest offers is £18 a month plus £5 set-up with Now Broadband for 11 megabits per second. Streaming services are a lifeline for many trapped at home – but consider ditching them to save money after the lockdown is over.
SOLAR PANEL – £7,000
Investing in solar energy panels can help cut energy bills.
You will have to wait until after the current crisis is over before installation is possible – though you can do your homework now and find someone to come round.
You usually require a south-facing sloping roof with at least a 20ft by 13ft space on which to have photovoltaic panels professionally installed.
A new ‘smart export guarantee’ – that replaced the ‘feed-in tariff’ in January this year – pays up to 5.6p per kilowatt hour of energy produced by panels that then goes back to the National Grid.
This can knock £85 a year off your bill. On top of this, there may be savings of £215 a year from using solar rather than traditional energy. The Microgeneration Certification Scheme website lists details of locally qualified installers.
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