newhome

Prevaricating, procrastinating or both?

So have you moved in now @Christine Walker?

My shower is way above 38. 38 is like COLD! ❄️ I guess what I mean by not hot enough is unless the tank is at 50 at the top there isn't enough hot water to keep it at my preferred temperature for the duration of a shower unless the top is 50 plus, better still 60 plus ?. But then I never shower really quickly so may use more hot water than some ...

Do you find 40 degrees high enough to shower / bath? I find that unless the top of my TS is 50 plus then it’s not hot enough ?

Whilst I was busy using Google looking at the RHI scheme I came across this magazine that appears to be available online as a freebie. It's intended for those in the industry but I thought some of those here might be interested in reading some of the articles too as it seems to have a varied content. https://issuu.com/phamnews/docs/sept_small http://www.phamnews.co.uk/register/

That's interesting thanks as it negates the view I formed from the RHI documentation that ST could not supply space heating alongside an ASHP without metering for payment kicking in instead of metering for performance. Due to the size of my house and the fact that there is only me living here I believe that I would do better on a metering for performance basis. I also read in the RHI bumf that ST is only eligible for RHI if it only heats DHW and of course a combined tank doesn't tick that box. I'm confused as hell now if your ST qualifies lol. My ST isn't eligible for RHI as it's been installed too long anyway but it would seem crazy to disgard it just because of the quirky RHI rules relating to ASHPs IMO. Here is what the RHI guide says re ST eligibility: Solar thermal heat delivered through a liquid medium can only be used for heating domestic hot water. I just can't fathom why is isn't (supposedly) allowed for space heating.

Whilst we’re on this subject I have a similar issue in that the insulation is above the joists. I need to lay boards down a path to get to the MVHR every 3 months or so. Don’t need to use them other than that. I thought I might pull the extra insulation out of that bit, add the boards and then put the insulation back over the top (I’ll roll it back when I need to use the boards). Can I do that or is that approach flawed?

Neighbours tried beech to start with - it died, then they planted about 100 laurels to make a hedge. Most have died or are weedy things. Neighbours the other side planted bamboo. They were delivered as huge plants in pots and I imagine that they cost a lot but 2 years later they are the same size but weedy looking. I wanted some plants that were evergreen and would grow a decent size to screen a wall and be relatively attractive, but they had to be wind tolerant. Someone on this forum recommended Griselinia so I bought a few last spring and they've done well here. I bought the variegated one but they come in a non variegated too. https://www.best4hedging.co.uk/griselinia-littoralis-hedge-plant-pp20 As an aside euonymus never grows here either. It either dies or literally never grows any bigger from when it is planted.

I've been trying to persuade him since he joined BH but to no avail so far lol! I first bought one when I moved into a house with no central heating. Always had one since. I like being cosy in bed but hate warm bedrooms so it works well even in a heated house.

How is your ASHP being set up? Direct to the UFH and DHW into a tank where the ST is also connected or is the TS feeding the UFH too? Do you have a backup immersion?

Changes to the RHI scheme earlier this year mean that ASHPs must be metered in order to be eligible for RHI payments. There are 2 types of metering. The first is 'metering for performance' where performance is monitored but it does not affect RHI payments that are based on the expected heat demand. If that cannot be 'accurately assessed' then 'metering for payment' is required. Having read the rules on this (again!) I'm still not 100% sure when metering for payment is required. I am still looking at an ASHP to replace my electric boiler. Currently my set up is that I have a thermal store that provides for both DHW and UFH. That TS is also connected to a solar thermal system. It's not working currently but assuming it was does this still meet the criteria for metering for performance rather than payment? It looks as if Solar Thermal is only eligible for RHI payments if it provides DHW only, ie any provision for space heating makes it ineligible (as an aside any guesses as to why that is? ). From the various RHI documents: SOLAR THERMAL There are two types of solar thermal technologies eligible for the Domestic RHI – evacuated tubes and liquid filled flat plate collectors. Solar thermal technologies must be designed and installed only to provide heating for domestic hot water. Solar thermal systems designed or installed to provide space heating, heating to a swimming pool or for any purpose other than heating domestic hot water will not be eligible for the Domestic RHI. So I can't claim RHI for the ST. I'm ok with that but does the fact that it is installed mean that I have to have metering for payment for the ASHP? How do you know if you need metering for payment? Metering is not required for solar thermal systems. For the other eligible technologies, these are the three most common situations where your renewable heating system will need to be metered for payment: 1. If you have back-up heating You have a renewable technology eligible for the Domestic RHI, e.g. a biomass boiler, and also a fossil fuel source of heating, e.g. a backup oil boiler; Using solar thermal for heating hot water doesn’t count as back-up heating; So reading this as my ST feeds the same TS that provides DHW and space heating does this mean that I have to have metering for payment? In addition I have a 3kw immersion heater attached to the TS. The only time I ever switched it on was when the boiler broke down as it's pretty inefficient at heating 475l of water anyway, but does this also mean that I have to have metering for payment too? So my conclusion is that if I disconnect both the ST and the immersion heater an ASHP is eligible for metering for performance but if either is connected I have to have metering for payment, however I've read this too many times and have gone word blind now! Anyone able to make more sense of it please?

That's pretty vague! So if an ASHP is MCS certified, or was eligible to be then you are ok, but if not then it's subjective?

My PP states that my drive has to be tarmac. I wasn’t even aware until I asked the council to send me a copy of the PP for the VAT reclaim. There was already tarmac for a few metres where the drive joins the road but I have never bothered with the remainder of the driveway. Unless someone complains I plan on leaving it be.

You have to have ‘metering for performance’ for a new ASHP installation in order to claim RHI. It doesn’t impact the payments however and I understand that several models have this facility built in. If you don’t meet specific criteria (the Ofgem site has full details but mostly because you have a back up source such as an immersion or ST) you have to have ‘metering for payment and in those circumstances the payment is based on the amount generated which of course is more unpredictable. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2018/07/factsheet_doineedmetering_july_2018.pdf

What really matters is that the warranty is accepted by the buyer’s mortgage company if you come to sell. That’s a moving target TBH as these things change and this list may not be the same 10 years from now. You need to decide if that is an additional risk you are prepared to take. https://www.cml.org.uk/lenders-handbook/englandandwales/question-list/1913/

As @vivienz says your contractors need to zero rate the entire bill both, labour and materials. You can ONLY claim back vat on eligible materials through HMRC, and even then the invoices need to be in your own name. Any claims for anything other than materials will be rejected. You need to address all other types of zero rating at source.

Likewise Moira, I hope you find someone decent to move forward with.

Buy an electric blanket. Peanuts to run and much more pleasant in the conditions you note. You will wonder why you didn’t buy one before.

New houses are always crazy money and bungalows even more so.

'Avin a giraffe!!

Knowing the premium they put on new homes - 300k? I quite like the layout TBH. It would probably suit me.

People get sucked into buying what's displayed in the show home which of course is finished, in a cosmestic sense at least, and cleverly furnished to make it seem spacious. Then of course when completion day comes for their own house it's not finished properly and there are tons of issues. The time I bought a new house we used to go down every weekend to see how it was getting on. On the weekend before we were due to complete there was still so much to do and there were so many houses in the same position all due to complete on the same day to hit the builder's end of year accounts. On completion day I went down in the morning and there was so much that was still not finished that we refused to complete. The builder said they would sue us and I said go ahead as I had lots of photos showing that the kitchen and bathrooms weren't even finished, there was a massive hole in the threshold and it simply wasn't ready. We decided that if we completed we would have little leverage to get them to fix the issues asap. So they did fix the main issues and we completed a couple of weeks later. We had the luxury of not planning to move in on that day anyway as we still had our other property, but others with a chain had no choice and had to move into far from finished houses. Of course that didn't stop issues with poor workmanship from surfacing later but we did at least get a number of issues sorted before we handed over the cash.

No pressure on your MVHR installer then ?

That’s what I was going to suggest, ie spend 100 quid or so for 3 plug in heaters and decide whether you want to do anything better in the warm (hopefully) light of day.

Heck I would take the money and run. I have a warranty (Buildstore) but I don't really value it TBH. In hindsight I may not have bothered with it. My neighbours bought their house (similar to this but built by a local builder). They have a mortgage, no warranty and the house didn't even have a completion certificate or even temp habitation up until 6 months ago. That only came to light once my house was signed off as it was a joint building warrant and the council started chasing them for the renewal fee since I had been paying for the renewals before that. I would set the cash value aside to put towards any additional costs incurred later as a result and worry about it then.