newhome

I asked that and it’s because they don’t use the garage for cars but just to access freezer, gardening equipment etc.

My friends have recently moved house and are doing some renovations. They want to replace their single garage door and want a side hinged one. They’ve been quoted over 3k to supply and fit an insulated Teckentrup door. They were expecting a quote of nearer 2k. Does over 3k sound a lot (including VAT)? It’s guaranteed for 2 years. They are in Kent.

I did win my case against Scottish Power 2 years ago (not about a connection). I was awarded £250 which was peanuts compared to the time and hassle.

You can’t go straight to the ombudsman. You have to complete the company’s formal complaints procedure first.

My plot had planning permission for 2 dwellings and as soon as I put the VAT reclaim in HMRC contacted me and asked me what I intended to do about the second house. I rang them and explained that I didn’t own the other half of the plot and the house there had already been built and the title split. They were ok with that and the woman said that they asked in order to identify those who were self building as a business and not paying the appropriate tax. You might get away with claiming that the second property is a holiday home for relatives but that can affect the council tax position and you could be liable for CGT as it’s not your principal residence. As you are not married it might be possible for you both to claim that you are living in separate houses and that may get round the principal residence issue as you can have one each (married couples can’t).

I don’t think it works that way round unfortunately. HMRC have refused VAT reclaims where someone hasn’t been able to move in because their job changed and took them out of the area. I seem to recall a guy from the Hebrides getting caught out like that. If you intend to live in the house and shortly after moving in you have to move I think that’s ok in relation to intent.

You know you won’t get the VAT back unless you pretty much just buy doors, a hanging rail and a single shelf?

If you are going for RHI I don’t think you can have a back up boiler? I was told that my existing boiler would need to be replaced if I went for an ASHP and wanted RHI.

There were some big delays with Daikin ASHPs a couple of years ago (a colleague was waiting on one having ordered it and paid upfront). Just make sure that you’re not switching one delay for another. Daikin are a pretty big player in the market I believe.

What rate are you getting? There is a 12.59p rate with EDF for EV owners. I've just moved to it (or will have once they complete the transfer). I couldn't switch to Octopus as I don't have a smart meter either (none available for my set up yet) but once I can have a smart meter I will switch again. https://www.edfenergy.com/sites/default/files/ev_rate_card_go_electric_nov_21.pdf

I haven’t even got as far as anyone wanting to give me a quote. As soon as I say it needs roof access they’re not interested. I don’t blame them in truth as I wouldn’t want to go on the roof either! Payback means different things to different people. I don’t mind paying for things I value but getting the same energy using 2 different methods, if the outcome is the same why would you want to pay more using one method over another unless one way of deriving the outcome has value to you?

In the summer I tend to just heat up the water before I want to shower / bath rather than having it on at a set time each day. As it's only me here that tends to work out fine as I don't have anyone screaming that there is no hot water. And I invariably don't shower immediately after the water is up to temperature. I think the way to go is an electric shower as PV is not a viable option due to the long payback period and the ST system is still screwed and no one will fix it.

Ouch! My heating is all electric (no gas here) and I have no PV and a broken ST system that I can't get anyone to fix. I use just over 12000 Kwh per year but it would cost lots more if I heated the whole house (I only heat the rooms that I actually use as the house is really too large for me). I also have a PHEV but since lockdown I've worked from home constantly so it get used much less than before. What sort of tariff are you on?

Yes it does. The temps above were based on how I use it in summer when the heating isn't on. When the heating is on I just let it do its own thing as there is enough hot water to shower / bath then anyway. The heating is only on once a day and then set back as the floor temperature is in comfort range during the day and I don't need it to switch on again until the following morning.

So totally not scientific but I heat my 475l thermal store to 68 degrees C at the top of the tank. That then provides enough hot water to fill a large bath and have enough hot water for the rest of the day for other uses. If I shower then it needs to be at least 50 degrees or the water is too cold before I've finished. Ok so that includes using various hair products too so not a uber quick shower. It's an expensive way to have a shower in summer though with no need to use the water for heating. I wish that I had installed an electric shower in one of bathrooms as that would be much more economical in the summer (I'm still considering doing this). No ASHP though. The one quote I got was crazy money (£14.5k) but mostly I can't get anyone to quote at all. I just switched to EDF and saw that they install ASHPs so thought I might be able to get a quote from them. 'No EDF approved installers in your area' it said.

For peace of mind I would stick with options 1 or 2 as they are above board. Asking for future dated invoices is asking for trouble. HMRC have been known to use Google Maps satellite and street view to catch people out (we have evidence of this in an appeal that went to the tribunal). You are also asking your builder to do something illegal. What date do you ask them to put on the invoices? It could take 2 years to get full planning, and that’s if you get it at all. Your builder (if he’s doing supply and fit or labour only) will need to zero rate his invoices which he can’t if you don’t have the correct permissions for zero rating. You can only reclaim the vat on materials and there isn’t a chance in hell that you’ll get a builders merchant or similar to future date invoices.

Too much dosh needed for the outlay and that's if I can even find someone to fit one (rare as hens' teeth round here). God knows why more people don't become MCS registered as there's gold in them hills and whilst the paperwork is clearly a pain it seems to result in £££ quotes. Only managed to get one quote here and that was with nearly a dozen enquiries. It was 14.5k which is way more than I wanted to spend.

I always forget that people get mains gas ?. No such luck here. I’d be on that in a heartbeat if I could.

Adding this info here in case anyone on a 2 meter system with Scottish Power or SSE with huge bills reads this. I have just moved my 2 meter system across to EDF. No changes to the meters or wiring are required. My heating tariff is 11.49p KWh and the other meter is 12.59p kWh (that’s based on an EV tariff) Standing charge is 28.14p The guy confirmed that they’ve been swapping people from SSE in their droves who have these meter set ups, in particular from the Shetland Islands. He was able to tell me that in the north of Scotland the rate is 11.51p kWh for the heating meter and that the rate for the standard meter would be dependent on what your requirements are (eg I have a PHEV to get the EV rate). You need to call their complex metering team on 0333 009 6980 to get a quote. I look to save quite a lot over the current Scottish Power tariff.

I contacted Octopus at the end of Aug to ask for an update on 3 phase meter availability (I have been on their list for nearly a year). I was told: “I’m checking the list and I’m afraid it’s moving very slowly. It will be a long wait unfortunately. Thanks, Hector ?” I would save ££ on Agile as I can easily push car charging and heating to overnight. In the interim I have today swapped to EDF on a flat rate with no smart meter (Go Electric tariff for EVs). It’s 12.59p as a flat rate and 11.49p for my second meter (used for heating). That’s still likely to save me quite a lot over the tariff I’m on with Scottish Power. So for the interim I’m sorted until a 3 phase smart meter becomes available on my area (Scottish Borders) through Octopus or otherwise.

@Crofter and @Sandybay for info I have just moved across to EDF. No changes to the meters or wiring are required. My heating tariff is 11.49p KWh and the other meter is 12.59p kWh (that’s based on an EV tariff) Standing charge is 28.14p The guy confirmed that they’ve been swapping people from SSE in their droves who have these meter set ups, in particular from the Shetland Islands. He was able to tell me that in the north of Scotland the rate is 11.51p kWh for the heating meter and that the rate for the standard meter would be dependent on what your requirements are (eg I have a PHEV to get the EV rate). You need to call their complex metering team on 0333 009 6980 to get a quote. I look to save quite a lot over the current Scottish Power tariff.

???? Yes I could do that I guess but would probably be fined or something. In reality I just need to move supplier as SP is just dire and none of their operators understand the tariff either so I end up spending way too long trying to get them to address issues. The latest is that my tariff has come to an end but I can’t change tariff online as they want me to as the system only recognises one of the meters. The woman who I spoke to on the phone couldn’t manage to do it, gave me a reference and said that someone would call me within 3-4 working days. 2 weeks later I’m still waiting and they have moved me to their standard rate tariff which is ££££. Called again today and was asked to go on hold while she checked something. After 30 mins on hold I hung up. Disaster of a company.

Bulb were pretty expensive for me. Just over 12p per kWh for all of my electric from EDF will save me money over what Scottish Power want to charge me for the current set up. Their ‘cheap’ rate for the second meter is about the same as I will get for all of my energy from EDF (hopefully).

I don’t know what SSE are like but Scottish Power wouldn’t do anything other than decommission the second meter once I had paid to get everything wired into the main meter. I wasn’t thrilled about waiting for them to do this and then paying £££ until they removed the second meter and put me on a different tariff. I have been looking for someone to move to for a while and it appears that I have finally found a supplier that will take over the set up as is. There are no price comparison sites that will work due to the relatively uncommon nature of the set up. I tried EDF EV team as I have an EV too (well a PHEV anyway). The guy called me and said that it wasn’t a set up he knew about (but they clearly share meter info as he looked up and found both my meter numbers). He said he would pass my query onto the complex metering team and he emailed back this morning to say that they can support the set up. The guy from complex metering is supposed to be calling me tomorrow. I hope it works out if only because Scottish Power are a complete pain in the ar4e to deal with. Will report back. Sorry @Crofter I seem to have hijacked your post!

@ProDave said that if I was to change my set up to run a single meter (whether an E7 one or not) I needed an electrician to direct both CUs into the same meter using Henley blocks (or something like that anyway). I'm hoping that EDF will allow me to swap using both meters as they are. When (if) there is a 3 phase smart meter I plan to get one and take advantage of the much cheaper rates overnight.such as Octopus Agile as I know that I can direct my high usage to that time period very easily. Heating and car charging are my big uses of energy and I can do both of those at night albeit that since lockdown started I haven't used the car nearly as much and it appears that we will be working from home until at least spring next year ?. I asked Scottish Power about E7 and it was 9.1p at night but 20.6p during the day so I didn't go down that road as I would still need to get the rewiring done.