As a few of you know from other threads I’ll be retiring in around 5 years. I’ve started thinking about where I want to live and the front runner will be buying land near where I live now and building 2 houses on it, one for us and one for my youngest son’s family who lives next door to us at present too.
2 Questions: Firstly what size land should I be looking at for a couple of small houses with a swimming pool (and still some garden space)? Is the law different for 2 houses like that as opposed to one large house?
Secondly, I’d like to go all solar, to do that I’d need to have storage batteries within the house. I’ve read up a little on this but wondered if we have anyone with experience or true knowledge. How much storage do you need for a home’s consumption etc.?
why not ask your Mairie … that’s normally the first port of call, especially re “the Law”… and you’ll want to check with them which local land parcels are available for building and for a pool… etc etc
My thoughts on this may not be of much help to you. Especially if you are an architect, experienced builder or similar.
If I was looking at a project like yours - which for many people would be a substantial project and financial outlay - I would try to locate a local architect as early as possible to help find & evaluate potential sites, deal with planning, design the houses with the latest eco principles / technology in mind, manage the bidding process, appoint the appropriate contractors and manage the construction phase of the project.
The cost of hiring an architect may well save you (a) money if he/she helps you avoid mistakes, (b) time, as they will most likely know the artisans and manage their involvement better than you might, and (c) stress.
To my mind, there are lots more things to be done before I’d worry about details like where I’d store the batteries.
But, as I said at the beginning of my comment, my thoughts may not be of help.
Good luck with your project!
An obvious point, the amount of batteries is directly linked to how much power you are going to use. We dont really go above 3kw at any point but on days where you may not get sufficient sun like winter etc you may want 2-3 times that capacity.
I run about 3kw solar with a 6kw Ecoflow powerbank and a1 kw Ecoflow powerbank I use to charge a secondary 12v lighting circuit all kept inside my offgrid small barn. Ecoflow kit is temperature stabilised through its own management system.
It’s fine for 3 season use for 2 people. You have to manage how you use it but that becomes quite good fun when it’s free power and no standing charge. I haven’t used a generator this year though I have a 50kw 3 phase for running workshop machines and backup if required.
Also works when there are power cuts!
For a typical house with a swimming pool you would need much more than that though, and also learn “power management thinking”.
And things are really moving on quickly with solar and battery systems. An enlightened govt in UK would make it necessary for new homes in suitable locations/orientations.
My barn roof is perfectly oriented and pitched..those old builders knew what they were doing.