Katriina and Lari Tammilehto live with their daughter Alisa in Jyväskylä in a detached house completed in 2019. When building the house, the family tried to favour the most ecological and energy-efficient solutions possible. As part of the project, Taloturva installed a total of 12 solar panels on the roof.
– Our idea was to build a house that was just right for our family, with nothing unnecessary. We wanted to make sensible housing solutions. A large part of the budget was spent on geothermal heating, for example. The house package also included a low-energy structure, Katriina says.
– They wanted the right number of squares. No 250-square-metre mansion would have been anything like ours. Here you can do a quick clean in 15 minutes and it’s really good,” laughs Lari.
“The victory could not have come at a better time”
Before starting the construction, Katriina researched different solar panel solutions and compared prices. While surfing, he remembers, in his own words, participating “a little left-handedly in a raffle for solar panels on some pages.” So when they got a call from the House Security and were told that they had won the prize, the whole family was pleasantly surprised.
– The victory could not have come at a better time. The extra costs of quarrying on the site had just become so unexpected that we had to leave the panels out of our bills,” Katriina recalls.
Set-up was easy after a good introduction
After the draw was closed, a suitable installation date was agreed. All 12 panels were put in place within the same day. Lari was at home at the time and was able to follow the installation work closely.
– The installation did not cause any disruption. All the employees at Taloturva were really nice. We also got a really good introduction to the system. It’s very easy to monitor its operation and everything is done conveniently via the mobile app,” says Lari.
– The inverter was very conveniently placed in the technical room where the rest of the building services are, Lari continues.
An effortless system that works by itself
The panels were installed on the roof around mid-June. The commissioning took place in July, so the photovoltaic system could already be used in the final phase of construction. The family moved into the house in August and, thanks to the sunny autumn, the first electricity bill only arrived in October. Until then, the electricity company paid only refunds. The use of solar power is also reflected in other aspects of the family’s daily life in their electricity bills. Especially in summer, it is handy to turn on the washing machine and dishwasher during productive hours, for example.
– It’s always nice to know that they will be powered by solar electricity. The system as a whole is very easy to use. Now that it’s on the roof, there’s nothing to do about it, Katriina says.
– Once the system has been in use for a full year, it will be very interesting to see how much we’ve earned for the whole year and how much we’ve benefited financially,” Katriina sums up.
