NSS

Not necessarily Dave, as the time he'd have spent installing it is time that he could have spent getting paid to do other jobs that he was maybe more comfortable doing.

Surely, the point is that not everyone has the time, inclination or knowledge to do the install themselves, and if you're going to get someone else to install it then the extra cost for that to be done by an MCS approved installer is, in most cases, more than covered by the RHI payment. In your case Jeremy, that may not have been so, but we don't all have room for 6.25Kw of solar panels and the impact that has on the EPC score and hence the RHI payments.

We'll receive circa £3.2k over 7 years. 165m2 and EPC of 96. As @Roundtuit says, we also view it as a bonus but the MCS install certainly didn't cost as much as we'll receive, and with no gas we also saved the cost of having that installed (plus the ongoing standing charges of course).

Ours has the MVHR unit, PV inverter, SageGlass control panel, consumer unit and meters, and the UFH manifold and associated pipework coming in from the ASHP. Gets quite warm in there but not excessively. Our DHW cylinder is in an airing cupboard the other side of the wall from the plant room.

Our plant room is within the footprint of the house but only accessible from the garage. This meant the walls between it and the living accommodation could be well insulated acoustically but also form an additional vapour seal as almost all penetrations to/from the outside world come in/out of the plant room.

Yep, we resorted to roller blinds on the bedroom windows for this reason, but the glass is the mutt's nuts ?

Perhaps they' be better filling them with snake oil ? Sorry, I'll get my coat!

We have 14 x 280 panels split over 3 roof areas (east, south and west) and also suffer some slight shading. We have SolarEdge inverter and it is noticeable how some panels on the part-shaded sections perform far better than others. If we had not gone for SE then I estimate energy generation could be down by as much as 10% on some days.

We've only used 98 m3 in our new house in the past year. By comparison, they've 'used' 111 m3 in the last 6 months!

Don't know, but plan is to replace the stopcock altogether as it's so difficult to get at we don't want to risk it starting to leak again.

Thanks Peter, definitely worth a try ?

Actually, it's more like £ Actually, it's more like £400 (roughly 96 cubic metres more that I'd have expected against historical usage).

Bugger! Had a plumber round today and it turns out to be the stopcock itself is leaking. Only the handle is visible through the back of the sink cupboard and the leak has been running down into the 4" sleeve coming up from beneath the floor (yes, turns out it is routed under the floor) so no evidence of the leak internally. I estimate the leak has cost over £600 in additional water usage in the last 12 months. Expensive lesson leaned! ?

There is, but it's on the outside wall of the kitchen and not leaking. I only hope that SW are half as understanding if it turns out to be a meter fault!

Probably have room to install a meter after the stopcock so may have to try that. Circa £25 for a meter is small beer compared to the £436 they've just been billed for the last 6 months!

Have any of our plumbing experts come across such a situation before?

Thing is the issue seems to be getting progressively worse, suggesting (if it is the meter) that it's not merely calibration but increasing inaccuracy.

Here's the issue. My daughter and her fella currently live in the house we lived in while we built the new one. It's 3-bed townhouse with concrete floors on all levels. Over the last 18 months (three water bills) average daily usage has increased from circa 330 litres per day (bill this time last year) to 460 litres per day (last August) and now 640 litres per day. The rise last August was unexpected so I investigated and replaced the flush valves in the toilets and the seals between the cisterns and bowls as they were leaking. I also checked all taps, etc and there was no sign of any other leakage. The latest rise was therefore completely unexpected so I've taken another look. With the stopcock turned off the meter stops, so it's apparently not a leak between the meter (at the front of the house) and the stopcock (under the sink at the rear of the property. However, due to the concrete floors, all pipework appears to run up into the ceiling void between ground and first floor (and on upwards from there). We reckon actual usage is probably circa 300 litres per day less than the meter shows, and 300 litres per day would have flooded the house never mind shown a damp patch somewhere (there is none). So, I spoke to Southern Water and suggested I'm suspicious that the meter is faulty. However, they say (because the meter stops when the stopcock is closed) that it can only be a leak in the property and, unless I can prove otherwise they will not check the operation of the meter. Any suggestions as to how I can check it myself would be much appreciated, cheers!

Thanks for that. Looks interesting but, as you say, may be a little OTT for my purpose. I'll bear it mind though ?

Bit of an update, I've been in touch with Efergy and they tell me they hope to have just such a product in the near future (possibly within a few weeks). I understand it will be similar to their E2 model but able to report on PV export. Will post again when/if I hear more.

We used Sadolin Superdec Satin. Extensive range of colours but can also be ordered in any RAL colour. Painted our fascia/soffits in 7016 ordered from Buypaintsonline.co.uk and found them to be very reasonable on price and quick delivery. We painted ours close to 3 years ago now and still looks perfect.

What sort of colour are you wanting Russell?

As I've said before, our build spec was driven by the need to create the most appropriate environment (air quality primarily) for my wife's conditions, and most importantly to be able to maintain that environment year round (or at least to avoid large swings). We seem to have got it about right. Relatively low energy input needed to maintain a comfortable temperature inside when the outside temperature is low, yet little need for active cooling on all but the most sultry of summer evenings, without having to sacrifice the views out to combat solar gain.

Yep, have seen those but reviews are very mixed with many complaining about poor accuracy and annual or biannual fee to access data.

As the title suggests, I'd like to be able to monitor/record energy usage (including PV export) but without having an energy company supplied smart meter. Can anyone suggest/recommend a suitable device, please?