Roger440

Jesus, i shouldnt have looked at that link. There is no hope is there?

Easy to identify those on the grant harvesting gravy train. Alledgedly................

I dont have any answers, but i had the same issue with DVLA and their ombudsmen. They point blank refused to refer me, despite having reached that point in the process, whilst at the same time, point blank refused to deal with the issue. Not sure what the point of an Ombudsmen is if you are reliant on the fcompany that has failed to refer you.

Im not sure its weird. Just some "chums" have influenced policy such that they can make out like bandits. Im expecting that £7.5K to go up a lot more yet.

Agreed. It is outrageous. And a timely reminder whilst still in the early planning stage, a very good reason not to bother with an ASHP. Because im not allowed to fit one! Yes, i could apply for planning (though i prefer not to involve the council in anything as only pain lies down that path) , but i think we can be pretty confident what the conditions will be. Indeed, as seen on this very forum, asking for conditions over and above what MCS would sign off.

You maybe right. Thats not how i read it though.

I know, but devildamo said it would need BR because its oak frame. That makes no sense as a criteria. At least not that im aware of.

Why? If its under 30sqm its exempt. Cant see why it being Oak would change that?

Website doesnt work. Wonder if there inspections any better?

What risk is that? In law, they cannot be held liable for anything. Thats why so many are happy to sign off any old crap. Council pay for a BCO is, im sure rubbish!

Its not as bad as yours was, but its certainly not good. Ive twiddled it down a fair bit, but it still cycles, especially in milder conditions. I really need to fit a temp probe to the return to see what it actually is before i go further. If i saved 20% then another 20% with solar, plus a few bits to house i could be at circa 50%

That is a much bigger difference that i thought wasa possible. In the context of my solar ponderings elsewhere on the forum, of which fitting a buffer tank comes with a number of costs, if it reduced my oil consumption by 30% would put a different slant on it all. So just to be clear, essentially you inserted a big buffer such that the boiler could run for long periods, and in condensing mode, to achieve that improvement?

Thanks for that. Hmmm, essentially you have pointed out my idea wont work, ie, use an ASHP. Essentially because, despite the overall collection, there will only be enough to run it for a short amount of time. Which, as you say, leaves the only option as direct immersion units. Clearly, it has simplicity on its side, as looking at that video there are no additional things other than panels and heating elements. (though with that level of simplicity how do you prevent overheating?) I need to do some more accurate calculations, but im not sure i see this making good financial sense. If i could just put the immersion into an exsisting tank, it might be OK, but given all the extra work to get to that point im not so sure. One thing i didnt understand in that video, is he showed how having them in series didnt work. But at the end on his calculator, he turned the sewries/parrall numbers round and still had the same output. Which directly contradicted himself. Dont understand that bit?

Its up there somewhere ^^^. Im connected to the grid. Heating is oil, and thats going nowhere. This would supplement it. Ideally to drive an ASHP to heat water in a massive tank. Ie, storing the energy as hot water instead of batteries. The principle being simple enough. Whilst the current array is 4.5kw, the panels are circa £100 each off ebay and i have unlimited space so would be able to expand. JohnMo seems to be getting some worthwhile output from his vertical panels, circa 17Kwh per day out of a sub 8kw array. If we assume a COP of 3, thats becomes a worthwhile contribution to the daily heating requirements. But at the risk of repeating myself and boring everyone to death, this doesnt fly if i start paying people thousands to do work. No doubt ill have to have a smart meter to export, which wont work as there is zero signal. Really, just not interested in export. Or the hassle of buggering about fretting about tarrifs i dont understand, getting my export rate reduced arbitairly etc etc. I just want simple. If i cant install it and maintain it myself, then its not happening. I cannot be beholden to other people in the event of issues. Its borderline impossible get anyone to do anything out here. Sadly, i dont think i have enough understanding to design what i need. As per the previous few posts, what im trying to do seems simple in principle, but not so easy in practice. My initial enthusiasm is waning fast as reality strikes! Theres a whole bunch of cost to deal with to do this aside from the solar side. I need to build a shed to put said water tank in, which would house the boiler, ASHP, stanby genny, as well, relocation of plumbing, power supply etc etc etc.. I can do all that myself, but its still not free. As i also said earlier, this has to make economic sense. I appreciate many on here have applied "man maths" to there own justification or other reasons, or super long payback periods, but im not doing that. It has to make sense. The context is 2000 litres of oil a year. So £2k a year. With no capital investment required. Its all there, working and relatively new. So you see, it needs be pretty cheap to make it fly. I thought having a "free" array would tip things the right way.

If you say its good gear, im sure it is. Its somewhat acedemic, however, as there absolutely no chance of me spending that kind of money. It would be irrational. If what i do isnt at least close to making financial sense, im not doing it.

Me? Because connecting to the grid adds cost and complexity. I can consume everything i could generate in winter for heating, reducing the use of oil. Keeping this part off grid means i can do what i like, and myself. If only i understood it.

In my previous life i spent a lot of time doing reliability reports (on trains) . Despite what manufacturers would have you believe most of it simply isnt reliable. There were exceptions though, ill give you that. Worse, is that invariably, there is no fix. Just off an on again and no one is any the wiser. Until the next day, repeat, repeat, repeat. Fit new one. Shortly after, failed. My phone, repeated failures, all my computers, failures. Even the electronic timeswitch thing on my central heating fails, randomly, to turn on the heating. Ive wired round it to force on 24/7 and use the programmable thermostat to control instead. All just utter garbage. None of its reliable. I dont need to insert this crap into my heating system. Meanwhile on the trains, under the floor, the 2 stage voith transmission just got on with the job for 600k miles. Still working when you take them off. Anyway, we digress. Ive been round the solar thermal. Not much cop in winter, plus the solar array will be 200 feet or more from house, so eliminates that as a solution. This was the bundle. Just what is it all for???? Is this really necessary to transfer energy from my solar panels to my heating water.?? https://www.bimblesolar.com/offgrid/complete-packages/over-10kw-off-grid-solar-power-kits/10kwcomplete-victron-600

Thanks for taking the time. I understood most of that before, but its something of a leap from there to actually doing it. The bimble solar stuff had 7 boxes of wizardry. Which i simply couldnt understand what it was all for. Which you have confirmed with your explanation, which ties up with JohnMo's original diagram. Sadly, car electronics have gone the same way as everyone else. They used to be exceptionally reliable up until a decade or so ago. Been going downhill ever since. Seem to have fell into the same process as everone else, cobble something together, dont complete it, dont test it, then release it anyway. I cant think of a single electronic device that ive owned (cars aside) hasnt failed/gone wrong. And then, very relevant to this little project, no sooner have you bought it, it gets dropped like a hot potato and is no longer supported. Given the long paybacks on much of this stuff, you will likely be replacing it before you even get to payback. Simple is better, but sadly, doesnt make as much money. If i could do it with relays, i would. Back to the task in hand, even with a free PV array and invertor, its questionable if this makes any economic sense by the time ive bought all the other clutter i need. It definitely wont if i have to pay others to do it. I did consider ditiching the ASHP and using the solar to heat the water directly with an immersion heater. But thats hopeless in terms of its contribution to the heating costs. Id need an array 3-4 times as big to achieve the same aim, which would cost much more than the ASHP and associated changes. Would be simpler though. My original plan of sticking 100% to oil certainly has simplicity and reliability on its side.

Yes, a buiried cable will need to be a bit bigger. Yes, it will be more expensive. Odd, given that we seem, to be able to spend billions on other stuff that will have no useful benefit to anyone. My "rental" is a one off payment of £1 or £2k, cant rember eactly. Plus the annual payment which is some minimal figure of about £3.50 a year. Not much recompense to offset the £x 100 k loss of value, inability to move and having a pylon literally outside you back window. If it follows the other proposed route across the road, it will actually be nearer still, but as its not my land, ill get nothing. With all the same negatives. His rental will be jack all in the scheme of things. This isnt being run like HS2 where those affected did at least get something worthwhile. Certainly, if you were in the affected area, the government were only to willing to buy your house from you.

Bute energy are currently planning 10 onshore farms in wales. They appear to be a vehicle to progress planning on said projects.

Which is great in principle. But they simply wont come here. So self measurement is necessary, or the windows/doors wont get done. Yes, im limited who i can use because i need something that looks traditional, nt your run of the mill UPVC. But that just where we are. @novice becky please take pics of the threshold when you do it.

That got expensive real quick! Though i see no descriptions. Just bundles. But with stonking big batteries. Surely i only need a tiddler to take out any surge? Obviously with a bunde, you know everything will work together, but at a significant cost. And i suspect, overkill in some respects for my application. Im sadly, not much wiser, probably more confused after reading up on solar convertors. Maybe im dumb, but i cant find simple explanations/diagrams of what i actually need to do. But im probably searching for the wrong thing? I know what i want to do, which, granted is a bit unconventional, but doesnt seem radical in any way. Collect electricity, run ASHP to warm water up in big tank (thus avoiding a large expensive battery) . Does it really need to be this complicated? The 10kw bundles have no less than 7 devices stuffed full of electronics!!! Hardly likely to be reliable If these are the sort of prices im in for, ill abandon it before i ever start. Sorry if i sound like im moaning. I get enthused with the ideas, but then realise im niether smart enough or rich enough to do them

Im with some of the posters above. Just forget export. You have no guarantee over the rate at which you will be paid. Its totally outside your control. Could easily double you payback, maybe worse.

Hmmm, interesting. Whats the "thing" to the left of the solar controller? What even is a solar controller? How does one identify a correct one? Whilst i have indeed learnt something, for which im grateful, theres now more questions than i had before! I do like the 12v batteries. Thats a tech i can understand, install and look after. Which is really one of my key objectives. I really dont want to be reliant on other people every time something goes wrong. With the exception of the alarm on my barn, there not a single thing i cant look after, maintain or repair myself. A failed alarm is not remotely a problem to life. Broken heating is.

I think we are talking cross purposes.