joth

You maybe able to do this with G100 export limitation instead, so the batter inverter is commissioned to ensure no more than 3.68kW is ever exported net. (in practice as you say you'd set it to never export from battery to grid) I've no experience but I understand G100 is easier/cheaper than doing G99 application.

Yah downside of ordering from AliExpress is imperfect datasheets. Leakage current is presumably the amount let by when off, rather than minimum load needed to turn on. https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32859607153.html

TIL that SSRs don't work if you put too light a load on them. Specifically, wiring up all the Salus manifold actuators to be controlled from Loxone via 24V -> AC SSRs, they won't active. Putting another dummy load on the channel (e.g. a spare LED driver) and now they work. Fortunately I had a couple mechanical relays so swapped most zones out for those and working okay. More relays on order. But funny, I'd always thought of mechanical relays being necessary for really heavy loads, had never considered they'd be necessary for very light loads. It does make sense though when I think about how a transistor works for example.

Just tell them the L in LVT is for luxury. Can't argue with that. We got argued off LVT because our architect has a fear of VOC gassing, but I honestly think from a practical point of view I'd have liked it more than porcelain and bamboo mix we have. (The bamboo is gorgeous though, just wasn't practical to extend it through the open plan kitchen). My least favourite is the engineered ash upstairs but that's just because it was installed "floating" which means it shifts under foot and squeaks like hell, amtico would have felt much less "cheap" on balance. One other consideration is if you have any thresholds from amtico to carpet (bedroom?) you'll need to think about relative floor heights. Ply under the LVT maybe necessary to avoid a step.

Not exact match but i bet it'd work. PM me your address and I'll send you one .

The contractor seems to be talking BS. 1/ A barn conversion is not a new build. [unless per VAT rules, you demolish it to the foundations, which arguably is what majority of barn conversions should really do] 2/ Self-builds ARE eligible for the BUS grant, it is only "developer" built houses that are not eligible. https://www.gov.uk/apply-boiler-upgrade-scheme/check-if-youre-eligible But this is irrelevant to you due to #1. Do you have an EPC for the existing property? As it's a barn it might not yet have one, which could introduce some confusion as it's not a clear "boiler upgrade" case, nor a complete new build. Although as an aside, there's no requirement the HMRC VAT relief definition of new-build and the ofgem BUS grant defition actually agree, so there's certainly a possibility a build might not qualify for either

""" Initially FLUX looks much worse than GO, but the twist is that FLUX offers much higher rates for exporting electricity: 9.4 p/kWh, 22 p/kWh, 36.5 p/kWh for the cheap medium and high rates respectively. These figures should be compared with the miserly 4.1 p/kWh on the GO tariff. """ Ah there's the rub. I've somehow* gamed Octopus into putting me on Go import tariff and their Outgoing Fixed (15p/kWh) export rate. So yeah, no, FLUX is not any interest to me while the status quo continues. [*] I think this was because I signed up for export only, prior to switching to octopus for import, and the tariff I joined was grandfathered into the new Outgoing Fixed tariff when that came online. The downside is they don't have automatic billing for export payments, I have to email them every 6 months and ask to be manually credited based on meter readings 😕

This is a useful diagram (page 5 or part R) For RA1, put a spare CAT6A (and fiber if feeling flush) plus mains power from the house to an external covered "access point" and a duct from that out to a cabinet near the street and specify that as the gigabit ready strategy. For RA2 you probably need to show no operator will install gagibit in the area at a reasonable cost

@sean1933 no I am still trying to plumb in the second hand unbranded one I got. Managed to get someone to quote me for it last week. I should learn to solder pipes it seems. 22mm pipe sounds good. My guy only ran 15mm to the loft, which it'd been a bit more as there's a risk the short cycling is all due to that skinny pipe size. If future proofing, think about how you'll install large air vents to the rooms now at least. Retrofitting them around wires and joists is a pita. Or plan to use wall mounted FCU in each room, which needs some allowance for pipework inc. condensate drain.

benefit of central dimmer is a single pack can do 48channels, you loose that if distributing them. Also I personally find DMX a dream to work with if kept in the cabinet, but a PITA to debug if strung all around the house. Ymmv. At least if you use T&E to feed them you do have options. But I doubt you'll notice the 2% loss.

Voltage drop over the line is a function of (proportional to) current and distance. How many watts are the furthest strips? I really think you'll be fine if 15m is the furthest run. But if they're really high wattage per meter and lots of meters of led strip you can alway split it to multiple strips or feed them at both ends, which mitigates the voltage drop along the tape itself too. https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/voltage-drop-calculator.html is pretty good (expect silly domain name). With 24V strip you lose 1% off the voltage for every 10m at 1 amp.

Yeah I'm using something like that in my house. Actually the 2x the 24 channel versions https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32821457070.html They do a 36 channel version now too. On my current build I'm using the whitewing equivalent CV driver http://www.whitewing.co.uk/rgbdim48.html (there's a 96 channel version too). You need a beefy PSU to make the most of this. I'm using the Loxone Backup + PSU now. Tip: You can feed +24 V directly from the PSU to the various LED strips, and then just route the negative return via the dimmer, which reduces the overall current passing through the dimmer. I use 1.5mm2 cable for all LED strips, and the voltage drop is negligable, less than 1V over 30m, which for a 24V fitting is fine.

I'm planning to install a small 3 port manifold pair (flow and return) for the fan-coil units I have in the loft. The only thing is as I use these for cooling more than heating, it'd be very beneficial to get custom insulation block for the manifold, that I can wrap all joints on, to avoid condensation. The FCU can run right down to 5 deg. Any recommendations for manufacturers? I found this for HKV manifold, but never heard of them before. Worse case I can lag it with sheep wool and sticky foam and whatnot, but it'd be nice if there was a pre-made solution for this. (Or, I could build a condensate tray for it, but then I need to ensure nothing flows down the brackets onto the wall etc which maybe a long haul task.)

We settled on Phos eyeconic in the "nice" areas which generally work great, and Philips GU10 elsewhere. The Philips don't dim to such low levels and the phos flicker when the house is running off the battery (but fine when importing from grid). So yeah, I'd use less mains dimming if I could do it all again. Sorry think I came across more snarky than intended, I meant if you're actively looking for suggestions on what to buy I'll find the exact links. I'm a big fan of DIN mounted DMX controlled constant current drivers, these seem the sweatspot on price, efficiency and quality of dimming, but some manufacturers get pissy if supplying your own drivers. (not something that bothered me on my own build, but now I'm spec'ing this for others I have more culpability to think of)

Which is crazy as in 10+ years time the system might have been completely replaced, upgraded, anything, all with bootleg and DIY work, but the white mark still sits there in the MCS database for perpetuity indicating this is a blessed address that may receive export payments I'm sure there's some clause saying you should notify them if making non-certified alterations, but if you bought the house since the changes you'd have no idea at all of the actual provenance of the install. Also: I'll laugh my socks off when MCS get held up to randomware and lose their DB. Yes agree just showing the certificate of the equipment installed should be sufficient (although logically you should show that to the DNO when notifying them of connection, regardless of export payment)

Octopus are offering 15p. You don't mention system kWp or how long installed, which is pretty necessary to make sense of this factoid

Google Sheets is my current go-to for this 😐 It's worked well, parts arrived for my second build this week and the trim plates all fit just as expected 🙂 The top two blank rows hide terminal blocks and whitewing dimmers respectively. Terminal blocks make onsite installation much quicker, if you lace the cabinet before install, and slightly more flexible over time. and also solves things like what to do with all the dangling neutrals and earths. Top tip is to layout terminals in an order logical for the cables coming in from the building rather than grouping by function within the cabinet (while keeping low voltage and mains segregated). Everything works out much neater and easier to trace this way.

For mains dimmed LEDs in use http://www.whitewing.co.uk/acdim.html Specifically designed for LED mains dimming. For constant voltage or constant current fittings (i.e. skipping the mains driver) I use whitewing or D4C from AliExpress. I can dig out more links if you're genuinely interested DMX is just a protocol. I also use it to control relays, SSRs, and even a PWM variable speed extraction fan.

Yeah you're not going to be eligible for paid export either way today, as it's a DIY rather than MCS install. But it is an interesting question: in 10 years time there will be a lot of installed solar where people have lost the paperwork (over house sale purchases etc) and will pressure mount to introduce payments for non-certified installs.

If you're using Future Automation cabinets you can get a matching single rail LXN-RE to use for CU and place under the LXN4 (or 5 or 6) cabinet with the HA gear in, which means they all match aesthetically (for significant £ Vs using a contractor CU). Only snag is this pulls you back into the 1.5m height from FFL which is tricky if the CU is below rather than beside the HA cabinet . I've heard people successfully argue putting the CU lower down and putting a padlock on it (that's never actually used) is more accessibility friendly and just as child safe. Or claim it's all one big unit, which is excempt per @Carrerahill As others mention the downside of putting everything in the same cab is the whole lot then gets pulled into BS7671 for e.g. ensuring every single cable entry is via a sealed grommet which is a PIA if you have 60+ dimmed lines going into trunking, believe me. On my latest install I'm putting all the RCBOs in the main CU, and just having single MCB in the HA cabinet, for maintenance needs not earth leak protection. This makes it clear the HA is not providing any circuit protection and not blurring the line of where the CU is.

Yup this was my thought too - position them at equal spacings washing the walls, or put very narrow beam angle directly over the door entrances themselves. We have a similar landing bulkhead over part of the hallway, it's what you see as you enter the hall from main entrance door, and it works well. Uunderstand with wood panelling it might not wash quite so well as a white wall, perhaps increasing the LUX or number a bit will offset that. Either way IMO it's the view from the main entrance you want to optimize for, and you'll never read the difference between your blue and orange lines from that prime viewing angle - it'll only be evident when walking along the length of the corridor. And putting them clearly off centre avoids either possibility of being 'wrong' 🙂 Some scrappy photos from mid-build to illustrate 🙂 View from main entrance door: View walking along corridor

Just to check, this topic was previously about floor build up, but you're asking about internal walls now? Not that I have any thing to add, but /interested

I'd make the studio part of the house CU circuits and dimmers then, for minimal penetration. and put a 3phase SWA to the garage ready for EV chargers, and a couple of CAT6A for whatever you might need in future.

"The only 3 phase battery available at this moment is solax.." You can always install 3 single phase hybrid inverters with batteries, one per phase. Probably works out a lot more expensive though. Alternatively you can do a single phase AC coupled battery independent of the PV, but then you'll need to navigate G99 or G100 rules on export limits.

What airtightness goal are you going for? How many times would the cables need to cross the boundary? How long are the cables? As I mentioned, I did the sub-main option, and am advising that for another build I'm helping with. But that's largely driven by airtightness strategy in both cases. (and actually in both cases the meter head is in the outbuilding making it a no brainer)