Claire B

yes, sorry, forgot that bit... however I sold that one as an empty shell for completion so she did things differently, I don't know the details but she had the feedback tariff for her GSHP which my builders didn't bother with! The third nissen hut I sold completed has similar electric usage to me, a bit less as they have an upstairs so I think that extra layer internally helps with heating.

Thanks for your reply. I had the nissen huts converted, they were finished approx 3.5 years ago. Insulation would have been to building regs (though probably nothing more than absolutely necessary knowing my builders), I'll dig out the specification and have a look. I'd imagine it's too late to go back in to the fabric of the building and change this now though. I'm having at least one partition wall in the long hallway that runs the length of the property, perhaps another one too will help stop the draughts. Floorpans attached, you'll have to join the two images together ('hobby room' to the northern end and open plan living area to the south). Aga is electric and has always been on but Ive been turning it off more the past month and need to investigate whether its worth turning off and on or just leaving it on. I can't see me swapping it, Ive had one for 20 years, I'm prepared to pay the cost of this. I'm going to track usage this next week before its time to turn the heating on again.

Thanks for your reply. Yes its a 20kw heat pump. I don't run it with doors open! Heating is switched off in the summer, it will only be heating water. I am aware of possible issues with the design and configuration of the UFH system and have had 2 people round to look at it as it doesn't get the house up to temperature in the winter "the system appears to be consuming approx 3 times the amount of energy it should whilst failing to deliver the required space heating". Maybe I'll do a separate thread about this issue as time is running out if I'm going to sue, which I have been advised to do but I've had enough after years of battling to get to the end product. I don't have an immersion heater. I have been turning AGA off and then on daily to see if that helps but I'm not sure its more cost effective as it has to heat back up to temperature rather than just maintaining one constant temp. In the winter it will stay on all the time anyway and it helps heat the room (once the room is up to temperature the thermostat will stop calling for heat). Yoga studio is all part of the same property, only a couple of classes a day so really doesn't add much to electric cost and by renting the space out to teachers I'm getting a bit of income to help towards the bills. I'll start tracking daily usage again and see where we're at.

Of the two other houses I converted and then sold I finished one to completion and their electric is only slightly lower than mine (they have an upstairs which helps). The other I sold as an empty shell for completion so they have done things differently inside and got the feedback tariff for their ground source heat pump (which my builders didn't think to do!). I really doubt I'll be feeding them electric but will double check. They only moved in a year ago so I'd already had my first 2 years electric bills by then.

No smart meter. I turn the heating off in the summer but the house does get very hot. I've just this year installed air con in the yoga studio which has only been used for a couple of hours (students preferring to be outside when the weather is nice). I figured I could set the floor temperature in there to be a bit cooler in the winter then just use the air con system when a class is on to bring the room up to temperature. I might be wrong but I though that might be more cost effective given how slow the underfloor heating is to respond.

Trace heating wires run along the hot water pipes in the house to keep the water in the pipes hot so when I turn a tap on the water comes out hot instead of having to run it cold for 5 mins first. The house is 60m long so I do need these and they cost a bit to run (though I'm sure there could have been a better way of designing the system at design stage). I'll check that possibility this eve. (feeding neighbours house), I built three properties and sold 2. Coincidentally one neighbour was telling the other how low her electric bills were! I would consider myself a low electric user, I hang washing out to dry, and don't have a TV! The AGA is my only vice.

I did this a few weeks back to see how low I could get it once my son was away on holiday. The day before he went (a couple of washing machine loads) it used 64kw that day, next day 48kw then when I turned off the trace heating and AGA got it down to 32kw. Bear in mind this was summer so no heating on!

I pay more than that (Good Energy... I know, I need to switch)! Builders / architects certainly didn't do something right! The house is very long so there's trace heating pipe along the hot water pipes so you don't have to run the hot water for ages on cold. i think this uses a lot of electric. I turned them off but its takes about 5 minutes of running cold water before any hot comes through so they have to stay on. Not very well designed. It's a converted nissen hut (steel frame, zinc clad) in a very windy exposed area so it cools down quickly. You can see it at www.saintsgreenplace.com

I've been in my new build home 3 yrs now and the amount of electric used is pretty high... 30,000kw p/a. It's just me and my son. Most of this I guess will be down to the space heating, ceilings are 6m high throughout and possibly the AGA doesn't help. The house is 5,000sq ft single storey and electric is our only power source. I had a ground source heat pump system installed in the build and underfloor heating throughout. I thought this would mean low electric bills! Now the world is falling to pieces I'd like some protection in the event of power outages and food shortages (want to know my fridges & freezers will be powered). I've had a quote for solar panels & Tesla storage battery. The solar installer recommended I have 20 Longi 370watt panels (they'll be ground mounted) giving me a 7.4kWp system for £7,700 plus Tesla battery storage at £8,500 incl vat. In the event of a power cut the battery will power one of the three fuse boards in the house, powering my 'kitchen end' of the house, fridge / freezer, lighting & plug sockets. I would likely have to turn off the AGA as this would use all the power so would have no cooking facilities (I'll buy a plug in electric hob). It would also leave me without heating and hot water. I would have thought it a good idea to power the heat pump as you get back 3-4 times the power it needs to run (thats my very basic understanding, I might be wrong)? A local electrician told me he has a basic solar system that heats his hot water, again something to heat the hot water tank would be good, though if I power the heat pump I think that heats the hot water as well as the underfloor heating. Is there a better way of going about this? It would be pretty miserable without heat or hot water. I do have a wood burner but the room it's in is so big you have to sit next to it to feel any heat. Thank you.

Just by way of update, different councils have different rules on this and my local council (Chelmsford) say in their rules they don't accept appeals at all, on any grounds. I have therefore decided to delay completion on the sale of the property until the three year period is up. Fortunately this is only a delay of 8 weeks from the completion date my buyer wanted and they are in a rented flat where they can't get out of the contract before my new completion date anyway so it has worked out okay in this instance.

Thanks, As you say these talk about payment being due from the estate where the deceased was liable for CIL which is understandable and fair. In this case the deceased was given exemption and died just a few months before completion. I'll post the result of this case on the thread once it has been decided.

I can't find any evidence of this in my search so far. I've looked at pervious appeal cases and decisions and they all seem to be based around the paperwork ... council not issuing notices at the right time. In fact it appears you can't use the appeal process to override a decision made that you are liable for CIL so I guess you have to get solicitor, possibly court involved. Its a lot of hassle. I'll just delay completion on the sale if the council don't agree to waiver the charge.

When you sell your buyer will have a solicitor conduct a 'search' which I assume includes asking the council questions like this. The council will then contact the seller to let you know they've heard you want to sell and that you'll have a large bill coming if you proceed.

Thank you, I was planning to write to them but wanted to do it armed with advice! No, I asked. If you sell it one day before the 3 years you pay the whole lot.

My husband and I decided to sell the matrimonial home and build 2 separate houses as part of the separation agreement. We qualified for the CIL self build exemption as we each planned to make our build our home. My husband died before his property was completed and I have been trying to sell it to pay off his debts since. I now have a buyer but their search alerted the council to the fact that the property was being sold before the three year period and they have said that if we complete before that date the CIL will be due. I had no idea what CIL was until this came up, I'm not a builder, we employed architects & a building company to do the whole job. The build came in at a loss (it was for ourselves not profit) and I can't afford to pay this (though they haven't stated an amount yet but house is 400m2) This seems harsh and grounds for appeal. Anyone have experience of this?