I would have liked a tiny home on a bit of land, but UK law makes that challenging. So I’m trying to have a lower cost, lower impact life in a 1970 bungalow.

On the roof of the shed I made from recycled materials, two ShadowFlux 12V 200W Anti-Shading solar panels feed an Anker Solix 7 kWh battery. It is enough to run most of my kitchen. If I charge the battery overnight on cheap electricity, I can roll it out to top up the 49 KWh electric car (parking is about 50 metres away in the cul de sac).

In the garden, I collect rainwater, compost, and grow many of my own vegetables in a hugelkultur bed.

All of this has been made, or installed by me, a 56 year old woman. The numbers: I use 31 litres of mains water a day in the winter months, and my summer electricity bills are £25-£30 — rising to about £125 midwinter, mostly down to storage heaters and not being on gas.

I’m happy to share ideas for cutting waste, energy use, water consumption and bills, whatever size home you’re in.

Alex Hallatt, Cartoonist and Writer

Click here to get my Illustrated Epistle from Substack. I think you’ll like it more than most emails you get.