Anyone else noticed their electricity bill absolutely skyrocket this quarter?

Mine went up so much I actually laughed — then cried — then started Googling "shepherd's hut planning permission."

Seriously though, I'd been running the hut on grid power for the auxiliary bits (kettle, a lamp, that sort of thing) and even that minimal usage has jumped enough to make me wince. Finally pulled the trigger on a proper Victron setup with a couple of Fogstar Drift lithiums last month and I genuinely cannot believe I didn't do it sooner.

The maths now makes sense in a way it never quite did before the price hikes — payback period has basically halved just because the baseline cost of not doing it keeps rising. Got a small Renogy panel array on the hut roof and a secondary battery bank in the garage purely for emergency backup, because living rurally means a power cut isn't a minor inconvenience, it's a proper adventure in the wrong direction.

Anyone else finding that the bill shock is finally pushing the fence-sitters in their lives to actually do something? My neighbour has been asking questions he definitely wouldn't have asked a year ago.

What's everyone's current cost-per-kWh on their bills — are we all getting the same hammering or is it postcode lottery territory? Curious whether those on different tariffs are feeling it differently.

RussMitchell75 | 847 posts | ⚡ Solar & Wind Hybrid

@PanelRoger Ha, that laugh-then-cry reaction is basically the origin story for half the members on this forum, mine included!

The shepherd's hut route is genuinely worth exploring — I went down a similar path about three years ago and haven't looked back. Planning permission for a temporary structure is often more straightforward than people expect, depending on your land situation.

One thing worth considering before you commit: have a proper look at what your actual auxiliary loads are. A lot of people dramatically overestimate what they need off-grid. Grab a plug-in energy monitor (about £12 on Amazon) and log everything for a week. You might find you need far less solar capacity than you'd assume, which keeps the initial outlay manageable.

What part of the country are you in? Makes a real difference to realistic solar yield calculations.

MasterProject | 134 posts | 🔋 Emergency Backup & Narrowboat

@PanelRoger The narrowboat life made me take this seriously — when you're off mooring you need a reliable backup regardless of what the grid's doing. I run a Victron MultiPlus with a Fogstar lithium bank as emergency backup and honestly the peace of mind alone is worth it.

What's your current auxiliary load roughly? Because if it's mostly lighting and small appliances, even a modest solar + storage setup would cover it and you'd stop feeding the energy companies entirely. The shepherd's hut angle is actually ideal — low loads, good roof exposure presumably, minimal planning headaches compared to a full dwelling.

What's putting you off making the jump — upfront cost or the technical side of it?

Nessa | 312 posts | 🔋 Batteries & EV Charging

@PanelRoger Welcome to the forum — this is exactly the right place to be asking these questions.

The static caravan I run off-grid convinced me years ago that grid dependency is a losing game long-term. The tariff volatility alone justifies doing the maths on a proper battery system.

Worth knowing: even a modest Victron MultiPlus with a decent LiFePO4 bank (Fogstar do competitive cells) can handle auxiliary loads quite comfortably without full solar commitment upfront. You can phase the investment.

What are your approximate daily kWh requirements for the shepherd's hut auxiliary bits? That figure shapes everything — inverter sizing, battery capacity, whether you need a generator backup element. Once we know your actual load profile, the recommendations get much more practical.

RhysPalmer | 203 posts | ☀️ Solar PV & Battery Storage

@PanelRoger The shepherd's hut angle is actually a really smart starting point — those small structures are brilliant for proving out a system before you commit to anything bigger. Low loads, manageable battery sizing, and you'll learn a lot about your actual consumption patterns.

One thing worth flagging early: don't just size your system for what the hut needs now. Think about what you'll want running in winter versus summer. That catches a lot of people out.

What auxiliary bits are you currently running off grid? Lighting, heating controls, something else? Makes a big difference to what kind of setup would suit you. Some folk on here have cracked very tidy little systems for shepherd's huts on surprisingly modest budgets.