Roz

Do any of you remember what your install costs were for these? Trying to get price indications at the moment but we haven't had a percolation test done yet so not 100% sure on the system we will have.

We had to agree to a couple of extensions of time. Mostly so they could consult other people on different parts of the project. It felt possible that if we didn't agree then they would reject the application in order to have it wrapped up in the right time frame, but I have no evidence that that's true, I could have just been being paranoid.

One of our windows is like this, so perhaps we could tackle that one to save some costs!

Thanks everyone - this is super helpful. I know of a local independent builders merchant so I will call them and ask about discounts for both trade and cash accounts - thanks for sharing all of your experience, so helpful!

Hi Lizzie. If we go with the non vat registered builder this seems like a really good idea. Im not sure what you mean about the cash flow and free credit (sorry). But allowing the builder to order on the account is a good idea and would smooth out that process, as long as I checked everything off. I think I am a bit worried I wouldn't get the same trade discount as they would know I am an individual, but would have to see!

Thanks newhome. We're having a tricky time getting in full quotes to watertight to be honest. We've had multiple people out to site who haven't bothered to quote despite chasing, and other who talk about coming to site and don't make it. We've had two quotes back that are similar prices in areas, until the VAT rated one adds loads of extra fees for 'professional services' and 'site setup' that he is yet to explain to me. I'll give him some time now we're all back from the festivities, but if I can't get a straight answer about things like this then I'm left feeling like I actually only have one builder so far who is giving me a transparent quote (which is stacks cheaper because of these added fees)! And that's the non VAT registered one. It took so long to get these quotes through that I've almost stopped chasing others to come to site or provide quotes, as it'll take another 3 weeks to get the quotes in I guess. But then we do have building regs to go through so perhaps we have time to follow some up.

That's a good idea Sue, I didn't think that they might do that.

Thanks @newhome . The fact that we can reclaim that 5% also is something I hadn't realised until reading your thread and other posts on this forum and elsewhere today. I thought we reclaimed from 20% down to 5% - so that makes a bit of difference! If we go with him I am just not sure whether it's worth us sourcing e.g. all the timber for the extension ourselves so that we're then able to reclaim the VAT... down to 5% or 0%... so confusing. Because if we already have a 20% discount for him buying them through a trade account, then it might be excess paperwork.

We're considering using a Non Vat registered builder to get us to watertight shell stage for our barn conversion. The quote he's provided therefore includes 20% Vat on materials and 0% on his labour. I mentioned to him that we're looking into VAT reclaim on materials and we may need to buy them ourselves, which he seemed OK with but mentioned that he gets approximately 20% trade discount from his builders merchants. Is it therefore not worth us buying these items ourselves? Or are we likely to be able to get a similar price if we look around? He suggested the items he can't get from his merchant, eg. septic tank, steel frame, etc, we could purchase ourselves in order to claim back the VAT. If he was VAT registered, I understand he would charge us 5% on labour so we wouldn't need to reclaim, would he charge us 5% on materials too?

Knocking through 500mm granite stone walls, but yes would need lintels and quoins etc. I think the price isn't bad, just wondering if we would be mad to consider trying to save money here. Trying to look at all opportunities to do so! ?

So part of one of the quotes we have had in for our barn is creating 3 new window openings, slightly narrowing another one and repairing 2 door lintels. Is this work we could look at tackling ourselves or would you stay well clear? The labour element is almost £4k.

Thanks both. So you get the COP of 2 by feeding it from the ASHP? How much do the UVCs cost? So the main problem for me is space. Currently the only place it could go is where we were planning to put the washing machine, in an upstairs landing cupboard. And then I don't know where the washing machine would go. Unless we can site the tank higher up the wall, and have the washing machine underneath?

Can you explain this to me for using a UVC (unvented cylinder?) ? It's not something I have come across yet. Does that include having an electric boiler?

Thanks Dreadnaught. I'm finding it difficult to find info directly on the suppliers websites but perhaps you have to call them to ask. Based on the Octopus Agile rate I'm now wondering if it would be better to just have ASHP plus Electric combi boiler an no sunamp. But perhaps SunAmp is more flexible if you just get it charged at night and then can use whenever rather than worrying about what time you want to take a shower.. but then less people know how to install it.

Good point NewHome. Anyone down in the south west had any decent install prices?

Thanks Dreadnaught, great to get opinions. Yes @Nickfromwales any further thoughts would be gratefully received.

Difficult to figure it out but this kind of tariff might work well with the simple set up I guess (couldn't find much obvious information on E10). https://octopus.energy/agile/#what-does-it-cost If the UFH had already come on to heat the slab pre 2pm, and SunAmp was charged at night for showers in the AM, and perhaps topped up in the AM for any baths at night... difficult to figure out how much energy everything else would use between 2pm and 7pm though at the very high peak agile rate. I think with this tariff it might be easier to switch back to a regular tariff though, as opposed to the difficulty of switching once you have an E7 or E10 metre installed (so i have read).

That does help, thanks a lot. So even with a PCM34 you're looking at a set up that includes ASHP, SunAmp, plus boiler or heated tank. The heated tank we might not have space for. I'm guessing it's not going to be easy for me to figure out the energy needed to heat the water from 34 up to 60 for DHW to figure out how much that would be per month, and if it's worth the set up of an ASHP, SunAmp plus electric (?) boiler. It's a bigger initial outlay compared to ASHP and SunAmp charged from mains electric, so would need to be a good amount less per month to make it worth it for us I guess.

Oh I didn't know about this! Will look it up. Sorry for missing. Can you enlighten me about the SunAmp suitability bit? I don't get it...

What makes it a non starter? I think I'm missing the point. In terms of what set up I'm referring to, I don't know that either. Why does ASHP charging up SunAmp not work? So on E7 this would be 2300kwh per year on about 8p per kwh. £184 per year? Plus day rate of 16p per kwh for powering ASHP, £352 per year ( i divided the annual kwh space heating estimation by 3 to get this). £44 per month, plus general electricity use for appliances etc. In terms of being on E7, I'd be worried about that, being at home during the day a lot. Not on E7 I guess it would be, at 13p per kWh, £299 for water, plus £286 for ASHP, £48.75 per month. So depends if we would spend an extra £4.75 per month on appliances (that cant be timed for night) on the E7 day rate. Kerosene at 10.3 kwh per litre, makes each kwh about 5p, so to power everything on oil we'd be at £448 per year, £37 per month... Does that math seem right??

That bits just the tank, burying it is the bit underneath, so an extra £1600 . High price for just tank as underground ones are different I believe...

HI Ed, Thanks. We need to discount it anyway due to the requirements about where you could place the tank, just wanted to show it had been considered .

After getting a quote for burying an oil tank, and finding out that a SunAmp can replace an immersion tank (I didn't understand it when it was first mentioned to me on this forum), I'm starting to wonder if an ASHP plus SunAmp might be a lower up front cost, but I can't get my head around how to figure out whether it would be manageable going forward with monthly electricity payments. The upfront cost is more important, but that doesn't mean the monthly cost isn't important. Can anyone help me figure it out? Reason for not wanting a hot water immersion tank with the ASHP is the space limitations for 60 square metre property. Oil Underground oil tank: £2000 Burying the tank: £1605 Oil condensing boiler: £1500 Total: £5105 plus fitting of boiler etc ASHP Air source heat pump (no tank): £1500? SunAmp: £2000? or would I need a bigger one Total: £3500??? plus fitting of both etc Space heating fuel estimation: 6600 kwh per year Water heating estimation: 2300 kwh per year This is from our draft SAP calculations. It's just 2 adults with one bathroom at the moment. It's a 1 double and 1 single bedroom place with underfloor heating across 60 square metres (including upstairs and downstairs). I work from home so am home a lot. Double glazing. We'd also have a wood burning stove as secondary heating. Oil is about 53p per litre down here. LPG I have been given a quote for less per litre, but the restrictions about where a tank can be placed on the property make it a problem. There is no mains gas. The property is small, so I don't really want a big oil tank above ground, hence planning to bury it. Non-negotiable: No above ground oil or gas storage Lowest upfront cost (we have a very small budget we need to stretch in every direction) Hot showers! Also how do the energy requirements change between having an ASHP with a sunamp compared to a ASHP with an immersion tank? Can you run your DHW on just the latter? I'm feeling a bit bamboozled. I have trawled these forums so as not to bother you all but feel more confused....

Super detail! Ours doesn't come close to that ?

Hi nod, yes we'll be sending the drawings from the structural engineer with all of the detail on it like joist size, beam size, ceiling height, foundation and slab spec etc. Just wondering if this sheet would be OK to get the actual quote broken down.