Caddy

Not sure if this should be here or in electrics but anyway.... I'm getting a battery fitted soon and have been thinking about how the installers will get a cable to the CU from my preferred battery location. Running along the outside of my house is difficult as it sits in a stream and they would need wellies and ladders and to drill through a 500mm wall, up a ladder and next to where the main feed into the house is located. The other option is when I got the CU updated 12 months ago there was a 10mm cable from an electric shower in the bathroom. The shower was removed at the same time but I had them leave the cable in for potential future use. The rest of the cable is coiled in the loft. Can this cable be extended to reach the battery location? I'm happy for them to put an accessible enclosure of some kind in the loft for the joining but I'm sure this is non preferred option for sparks as it creates a point of weakness. Replacing the cable back to the CU from this location would be very difficult. I'm not planning on doing any of this myself, just want to make them aware in advance of any possible problems.

I need to stop looking at batteries, the sums just don't add up in my favour. I don't have an EV and I'm too light (tight) a user of elecric to make them economical even being all electric having solar, immersion heater and a heat pump (A2A). The lure of new tech to play with is battling with my common sense.

This is the data for the inverter https://www.victronenergy.com/inverters-chargers/multiplus-ii

Been looking at battery options with the upcoming change to the VAT rates on them to see if they make sense yet. I've seen this company on a few You tube videos doing some pretty complex installations and thought to have a look at what they offer. The 15Kwh Big Lemon system with all Victron kit and their battery seems a nice bundle and the price is competative. Anyone used this company before? I think they are based on the south coast near Bournemouth. https://lemonenergy.co.uk/products/15kwh-battery-5kw-victron-ess

Could anyone with experience in A2A heatpumps give me some advice if possible. Are you supposed to leave it running 24/7 like an A2W heat pump system with lower set-back temps for during the night and other times or are you ok to schedule it on/off as required, as the room heat up times are quicker that A2W? Thanks

@Bramco I was reading your reply again and wondered if you could help with a quick question? In your set up is the Eddi using the thermometers on the immersions to know when to shut off or have you got the extra myenergi relay board and a couple of ST1000 sensors to monitor water temp?

Hello, does anyone know if you can use a secondary return connection on a UVC as temperature/thermostat insert point. Can the "pockets" you can buy screw into these connections or be made to fit somehow? Thanks

@Bramco I have just been looking through the Eddi installation manual and seen this option. My Eddi was fitted by the PV installers and they did not discuss the different config options with me when installing. I'm going to look what is possible and your set-up is a definite contender, thanks for the info.

@JohnMo I probably did not explain that well, I mean the integrated HW cylinders with the heat pump on top like an aroSTOR 200 or similar.

I'm in the process of changing my DHW set-up. Currently my tank is ~100L vented system with 2 immersion elements, with the bottom element connected to my Eddi. When there is excess solar generation then I get hot water, if there is not, I just put up with cold water. The top immersion is connected to the mains I'm just too tight to put it on normally. I have no mains gas where I am and my heating is from A2A heat pump so I have no boiler and the HW has to be electric generated. I'm being a bit stupid about all this so I'm updating my system. I was thinking about a heat pump cylinder but I live in a small stone cottage and have nowhere to put one. My only space is where the current cylinder is and that is only 1200mm high and in my bathroom in the middle of the house. I was seriously thinking about a Sunamp and have been dithering over this for some months. I work with someone who has one and loves it but I have also seen the comments on this forum and elsewhere about reliability. A neighbour is a G3 qualified plumber, so I think I will take the advice of some of the members on here, keep it simple, and just go with a 200L UVC from Telford or Joule. They both make a direct model the correct size for my spacing. My actual question is what is the correct configuration for the feed from the Eddi and the mains for heating the tank? Should the bottom immersion be connected to the mains via a timer on some cheaper rate tariff for heating during the night. Then the Eddi be connected to the upper immersion to top as and when there is excess solar generation or to use the boost function? Or should it be the other way around like I have it now and have the Eddi do the night time timer function? Also am I correct in that the Eddi has 2 outputs that can be connected to resistive loads. I have a fancy electric towel rail that is 300W resistive load and was thinking to wire this to the Eddi and use excess solar for towel drying and to take the edge off the cold in the bathroom . Maybe play around with the priority settings between the 2 outputs at different times of the day if that is possible. Any advice much appreciated.

I think they balance the outlet heat/air flow at each outlet when installing, but then it's fixed and you get the same output at each vent in each room. It's this lack of individual room control thats making me pause to be honest in getting this ducted system. A wall unit system is more controllable. I could make the ducted system the same but it would be another ~£1500. The installers argument for me is that the house is so small (58sqm total) that individual room control is pretty pointless and the house would level out at a standard temp anyway.

Just had another quote from another local aircon company for 1x7kW outdoor unit and 2x2kW and 1x2.5kW indoor wall units. It was £10.4k 😮 £4.6k more than a quote for a similar system from another local company. Makes £7.5k for a ducted system seem ok to me. Prices seem to be all over the place to be fair.

Do you have an Eddi or similar solar diverter so at least the excess solar is heating your hot water during the day before any export?

I've been getting quotes for an A2A system for my small 5 room stone cottage. Heat loss calc came out at 5.9kW and I've been getting quotes for 3 indoor wall unit systems (2 x 2.5kW and 1 x 3.5kW) normally. These have been coming out in the £5750 to £6000 range depending on which manufacturer they use. I was trying to decide to which installer/system to go with and how best to route the pipes so there is not a mass of pipes on the gable end of my house. Then, one supplier has quoted me for a ducted system with a 7kW Daikin outdoors unit with a single concealed unit in the loft distributing a ducting run to each room. There will have to be some vertical drops through the upstairs rooms to get to the ceiling of the first floor but the layout of my house makes this really simple and easy to hide. I've not really thought about this kinds of system and wondered if anyone has had one intalled? It will provide the same heat output to all the rooms at the same time and so is not super controllable by room, but I have a small house with few doors so it might not be an issue anyway. I like the thought of an A2A system without the wall units and it seems to be a fairly simple system with just the one run of refridgerant from the outdoor unit up to the loft. The return air pickup would be on the landing and as this is open to my living room as the stairs are also open, this would also pick up any heat from my stove and re-distribute the hot air around the house (and any smells?). Anyone had any experience with a system like this? The units seem to be from more on the comercial side of the industry but are all hidden apart from the outside unit which would be a Daikin Skyair Alpha. We have talked about a MHVR system add-on but Im not sure it makes much sense for me. Single person, living alone and eating a lot of sandwiches, not sure how much heat there would be to revcover for the added expense and complexity of installation. The quote for the ducted system was ~£7500 depending on control systems.

I've just been gathering quotes for an A2A system and most of the people have been commercial installation companies that are moving into the domestic market. I have a small house with 5 rooms and one outdoor unit is fine for me but I agree they seem to sum the indoor units and size the outdoor unit from that. Not sure this will work well for highly heat efficient houses with small heat requirements.