Show-Time

 

On Friday we went to a House Building and Renovation Show. After building our current home (well we didn't actually lay the bricks ourselves, but you get my gist) 24 years ago, we do not have any intention of repeating the experience in retirement. We love the finished product but the memory of the stress and hassle of getting there, militates against doing it all again. A sport for younger people you might say.

We've always been happy with our home, so much so that, and despite the decluttering, we still haven't seriously contemplated down-sizing which I'm advised is a must at some point in the future. As for remodelling, well that's always sounded like even more hassle than building afresh. 

We were potentially the show's most lukewarm visitors, surrounded as we were by a throng of amateur but enthusiastic would-be developers. Our presence was, of course, encouraged by the thought that ripping our house apart to deal with the contamination under it could be the perfect opportunity to embrace the eco-home concept or at least an alternative heating source to an oil boiler.

Choice and more choice. A net zero home or just something that's a little greener than our current dependence on fossil fuels? We had the foresight to build with exemplary levels of internal and external wall and floor insulation, but to go the full hog and aim for a passive house could be somewhat over-zealous, particularly if we want everything putting back together in the shortest time possible. A heat pump with or without back-up from solar energy is a serious possibility but it's not the most exciting of propositions at this time of the year when the ambient temperature has dropped and the sun remains steadfast in its refusal to shine.

We listened to presentations, we talked to experts and traders, we picked up literature, we even learnt the full extent to which we could convert to a home run by smart technology (is it really so much easier to control  heating and lighting from an app on the phone than a switch on the wall?).

There was nobody there looking to sell boilers. They may work but they are very definitely old technology and their supply pipes can leak!

The jury remains out on the way forward. Do we seize the opportunity to do something different or to restore what we have and are familiar with? The rate at which the remediation is progressing (no action to report as yet) means we have plenty of time to mull over the options. 

In the meantime the show provided the opportunity for Mister E to good-naturedly chide a salesman from a company that has been pestering us by telephone after we expressed interest in finding out more about heat pump technology, whilst I chastised a representative from a local heating company who has failed to get back to us with costings for various options that we had talked over with him. He looked in good health but claimed sickness had prevented him from responding to my emails reminding him! I think that's just the kind of hassle I really want to avoid in retirement: chasing and fending off tradespeople. Somehow I think it might be about to become the next phase of  our lives.

(Image by caitlynlea from Pixabay)