pulhamdown

Sounds like a plan. Thanks

We built a near passiv house in 2012. At the time, we received a SAP report giving us A100. May have been slightly optimistic, but that's what we got. Fast forward 12 years, and we applied for a grant to fit an air source heat pump, to replace an old oil fired boiler, in Scotland. Heat pump installed, although a bit complicated as I wanted to retain our thermal store with thermal PV and a log back boiler, and working extremely well. We needed a new EPC for the grant requirements. The EPC was done, and we received a rating of C74. I knew when the guy arrived that things were not going well. He was not interested in the house specification documents I offered him for inspection. After showing him the current, albeit out of date EPC, he said he'd never given a rating higher than 80, and this house wouldn't be that high. He also asked if he could access the underfloor, in a house built on a 12 inch insulated concrete slab with underfloor heating! So after a bit of research, I realised why. When a house is newly built, the house is assessed by a SAP report. Once the house has been built, a RdSAP is used. Reduced data SAP report! So the date of the build is entered, and minimum building standards from that year are assumed! So my near passiv house has the same rating as the Barrett jerry built houses down the road! Also, mains gas is still the preferred fuel, as the data is at least 10 years out of date, so electricity is still provided by coal! I believe that heat pumps are still not on the system, so are considered direct electricity! Thus proving comprehensively that the current RdSAP is totally worthless, even in a standard housing estate house. So my £180.00 for the survey was a complete and utter waste of money. I will now find an assessor who can carry out a SAP survey, based on the specification of the house as built. No wonder the government is struggling to persuade people to build better housing! Who knew there was a two tier SAP system? Not me! Post Script. When I asked him how to improve our score, he said convert to mains gas, and install a wind turbine! You couldn't make it up!!

This meter was installed in 1969 when my parents built a Colt Cedarwood house. It rotted, so we built a new house on the site in 2012. Scottish Hydro took out the meter when we demolished the house, then put it in as a temporary supply, then put it into our new house in 2012! So they are aware of the situation.

The inverter and solar panels are both in the shed. It's a Sunny Boy string inverter, and connected to the house via AC cable. We are lucky enough to still have the old disc electricity meter in the house which runs backwards when we are generating, but not using the electricity.

Thanks for your replies. There are indeed other installers who I can approach, but I just wanted a second opinion on whether it was feasible or not. I suspect the original quote was from a company just wanting the easy jobs, rather than someone who fully understands the issues involved.

I am currently in the process of having a heat pump installed, and asked the installer for a quote for Givenergy battery storage. The house is 10 years old, and near passive. They came back saying they couldn't provide a quote, since my solar panels are on an agricultural shed some 50 metres from the house, although connected to the house. So my question is - can a battery storage system be devised to operate with the solar panels and inverter being situated away from the house? I assume the battery has to be located next to the solar panels. The electrical system in the house is up to date, and I have a Zappi car charger in the integral garage. Any help appreciated.

I'm not surprised your house was warm yesterday. Lots of sun all day, and no doubt you've got triple glazed windows. You can probably just about see our house in your photo. We're just next Larghan park, in a house we built around 10 years ago. Still nice and toasty this morning without heating on!

So, are you saying that Grant heat pumps use Carrier units?

I used Burton roofing supplies in Brechin. They have a depot in Livingston, but that's still a long way from Kintyre. Mind you, everywhere is a long way from Kintyre! They were very reliable, and good price for Cupa 3 heavy.

There's a lot of competition out there.

That's exactly what I plan to do when our oil boiler expires. We built a well insulated low energy house six years ago, but retained the one year old oil boiler from our old house. We have a thermal store, supplied by the oil boiler, solar thermal, a log burner burning our own wood, and three immersion rods. We also have a 3.7kw PV system. Apart from the expense, I can't see too many problems, except perhaps finding someone enlightened enough to fit the new kit!

How long would that distance need to be, to be considered too long for a monobloc ASHP?

Surely there's no "smart meter" bright enough to detect the difference between a car charging, and a dishwasher on a midnight mission.?

Apologies if this is in the wrong section. I couldn't access the one I wanted. Anyway, I see SSE has introduced a "1 year fix and drive tariff", allowing up to 2000 kW hours of free charging between 12.00 midnight, and 7.00am. A "smart meter" is compulsory. This looks like a no brainer when we get an EV, as we already have a fully paid off solar PV system. It looks like an off peak set up, but without a separate meter. Has their "smart meter" actually become smart? What's the catch?

Common misconception. A 32 tonne gross truck will not carry 32 tonnes, but will carry around 17 tonnes.