Gone West

OK thanks, so as large tank as possible running at 70C in winter.

I think Grant recommend a return temperature of not less than 50C to stop corrosion. I'll have to check that.

I currently have a Solar iBoost which feeds excess PV output to an immersion in the vented DHW tank. Is it possible to have a system where all PV generation goes to an immersion in a thermal store, first, and then excess generation goes to the rest of the house?

I'm hoping to do as you suggest but I was wondering about the oil boiler not being in condensing mode if the thermal store is heated to more than 70C. Does it matter?

For eight to nine months of the year we heat our hot water tank with PV plus diverter and solar thermal.

Possibly, I don't think there is any point in rushing into any change at the moment as the market is too volatile. Grant quote 90% efficiency but I know what you're saying.

It doesn't even make sense for me to change from oil to ASHP in order to save money. Oil is 10kWh/litre and £1 a litre roughly, so 1kWh costs 10p.

Has the slab got a lot of insulation under it?

You could try self amalgam repair tape.

This might be of interest to those in the St Albans area. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/festool-uk-tour-2022-elsons-tickets-318847329947

Our plasterer wanted noggins around the edge, we used 12mm board. He said it would crack without them. I can't see 15mm board, which is thick for a ceiling, being any different.

I'm pretty sure you'll get cracks even with 15mm plasterboard.

The minimum flow rate doesn't really matter unless you're into really saving water. If the maximum is sufficient then I can't see the reason for buying the Honesty, as I looked at the Atom and it seems fine to me.

Yes, well I did.

That's interesting because when we lived in Kent the farming was arable and fruit and our MVHR filters and our windows became quickly dusty. Around here it's grass with cattle and sheep and sometimes silage and there's virtually no dust on the windows. Maybe one day, if appropriate, we'll have a MVHR again.

Don't understand.

They are, but I would rather have one than hard water. The last one I bought, a few years ago, was a Harveys Crown and was £850. I'm lucky, now I've moved to Cornwall, I don't need one.

Never been there, they allow dogs on the beach all year round.

That seems a lot. Must be a long shower. I'm in and out in four to five minutes and we have an aerating shower head. Can get two showers out of a 140l hot tank no problem.

Our plasterer gave up plastering soon after doing our house. He was only in his thirties but said his shoulders were giving him grief and he couldn't compete with all the people doing single coat.

Which is what I do but I pay by direct debit because I get a price reduction if paying by direct debit as opposed to just paying the bill by cash.

When we lived in Kent we had very hard water and I fitted softeners in all the houses I lived in. They're straightforward to fit and all but one were twin cylinder type that don't required an electrical connection. They all seem to work in the same way and I have used Kinetico, MiniMax, TwinTec and Crown. Most seem to be made by Harveys.

That's great. We were very lucky with our plasterer and being able to find a good plasterer makes all the difference.

We have been in our current house only a year and had a couple of hundred pounds credit in our SSE account and they wanted to increase our monthly direct debit. They wouldn't back down so they have now given us back our credit and we are paying the quarterly bills by direct debit so they aren't able to hold any of our cash.

I have used Hunter in the past and it was strong, not flimsy. It also kept it's colour, black, which cheaper versions don't, going grey quickly.