IanR

And new players like Octopus that already have a training academy set up to train lots of new staff are going to come in and nick all his business. There's going to be lots of disruption, and opportunities for agile operators. Quote: "90000 out of 22 million home qualify " The pool of money is very small. I'd assume that's to get people to move early. More cash will be released, but no guarantee the terms will be the same.

Because "industry" requires policy statements and legislation, it tends not to act on press briefings and leaked disputes between Ministers. The Government has been slow to come out with concrete information on "the plan". Also because the developers are paying for that supply pipe in the connection charges, so there's no loss to the network provider.

There's no detail yet, the first official acknowledgement was last night with Kwasi Kwarteng talking to a the BBC. We'll have to see if new builds will get any incentives from 2022 - 2025. The Building Regs banning fossil Fuel boilers doesn't come in until the Future Homes standard is brought in in 2025, so while there is no need for new build incentives after 2025, maybe there will be something from 2022.

Yes, has to be MCS to be eligible for RHI

That's the easy bit and costs the government nothing since it will be legislated (Building Regs) and no incentives need to be offered. As much as the industry says it can't happen, it's going to happen. I feel your friend needs to get better at his energy calcs to better size the heat pumps to the properties he's installing them in.

Flow temp is the temp the ASHP heats the water to that is sent to the rads. And Return temp is the temp of the water returning to the ASHP from the rads. The lower the flow temp, the more efficiently the ASHP runs, but you need larger rads or UFH to get the flow temp down. Until you know otherwise, I'd leave the heat curve at default, and get the rads warming up. They won't be as hot as your previous gas/oil/LPG boiler could get them, but they shouldn't need to be if they've been enlarged. Have you found a setting for the space heating flow (or return) temp on the ASHP controller? This will be different to the flow/return temp for the hot water. P.S. unless your floor area is on the smaller size, I fear your ASHP is undersized, until your insulation is upgraded. The installer should have done heat loss calcs to determine the ASHP size.

I can't give specific Ecodan advice, hopefully someone will be along that can help with that. But a couple of general questions. How was a 6kW ASHP chosen? That's a relatively low output, so would typically be in a well insulated (above Building Regs) and air tight home. Does that describe your home? Have you increased the rad sizes as part of retro fitting the ASHP? Has any one done any calcs to suggest your flow temp to the rads? Heat curves are to finesse the performance of the ASHP as the temperature drops. We're not really in the heating season yet for a well insulated home, so if you are experiencing space heating issues, it's unlikely they will be fixed by changing the heat curves, it's more likely to be a general flow/return temp change that is required.

More detail was due today, as part of the Heat in Buildings Strategy statement, but normal Commons business has been postponed due to the death of the Leigh-on-Sea MP. The Statement may now go ahead tomorrow. £4k for ASHP was the initial claim, but the briefing is suggesting that has been talked up to £5K. But, the pool of money is very small, again briefing suggests around 80,000 installs. If that's the case it will be gone in under 2 years and there will likely be some filtering to who it is available to. The briefings also suggests the ASHP install will be reduced to the price of a gas replacement in around 2 years, which is rubbish, but may be used to justify the low budget. Edited to add: Incentives may well be dropped for new builds since Building Regs next year will be start to level the costs of Gas v. ASHP

Hi and Welcome. Have you identified your plot yet? Don't be daunted by PassivHaus energy loss targets, if that's your aim from the outset, and you let it guide/inform your build process choice, it's not difficult to achieve.

Welcome to the forum. Can Glosfords not provide a good steer on the heat loss calcs? wrt to heating system, whichever you choose (ASHP or Gas), just ensure the design is for a low temp system, ie. with a UVC and ideally wet UFH on the ground floor. It will save a big rework if you choose to go with a Gas combi now and have to change to ASHP when the gas boiler needs replacing. Personally, if you can get the heating system commissioned by March next year, I'd go with ASHP, as the RHI on offer now is more generous than what will be available after April 2022 and should easily cover any additional cost of ASHP over Gas. You may be disappointed with Bojo's announcement next week.

But, alas, our allowable particulate limits on Biomass heating are appalling in the UK, when compared to, say, transport. I was referring to Particulates and NOx in the main.

If you're not in an AONB you'll have PD for a 4kW system once you've moved in. Can you wait, or do you want an in-roof system? Otherwise stick in an amendment a see if they've really got the guts to refuse. As long as you are sensible I think they'll back down or risk loosing at Appeal.

I'm guessing you're reading that as a caveat to Rule 5. ie. a Septic Tank installed pre-2007, with a rainwater soakaway, gets away without meeting Rule 5. Maybe, but I'd prefer an affirmative statement to that fact to be comfortable relying on it. The link I provided was to the guidance, if you just read the General Binding Rules, Rule 5 seems more black and white. ie for existing Septic Tanks:

Yes, that's correct. Yes, also correct, accept units are 1m³/m².h (it is of course @50Pa, before someone corrects me)

@saveasteading, I didn't appreciate you were quoting from the document I linked to. It gives the answer a little further down, it definitely requires upgrading. If you use a non-standard system (such as a well, borehole and soakaway) You cannot meet the general binding rules if you are using: a well or borehole to discharge waste water into ground a soakaway (designed for draining rainwater) installed after December 2007 Instead you must either: upgrade to a drainage field that meets British Standards and check whether you meet the other general binding rules that apply to you connect to the public foul sewer when it’s reasonable to do so – you must apply for a permit if it’s not Do not create or use a new discharge to ground through non-standard systems such as boreholes, shafts, concrete rings or similar structures. These are not appropriate ways of disposing of sewage under the general binding rules because of their increased risk of pollution. If your sewage effluent discharges directly to groundwater (at any time of year) through any of these non-standard systems: the Environment Agency will not grant you a permit you must replace this with a correct treatment system So they're saying it's not even worth applying for a permit, you won't be granted one, you must replace with the correct treatment system. I've checked up on the Welsh rules, they're now even more strict than the English rules. If you are not on Mains Sewage, you are legally bound to Register your Sewage system with National Resources Wales, and declare how you discharge. If it doesn't fit the rules, your registration is refused and you then have to fix it.

I've not seen what you have posted in context, but I would believe "you can not meet the General Binding Rules" will mean that you need a permit from the EA.

I've got no problem with you "cracking on", but this is a public forum and the correct info may be useful to others. This is a recent change that is not well known, and the maximum penalties are extremely harsh.

No, this covers existing Septic Tanks. There was talk about it being unlawful to sell a property that didn't conform, but that got reduced to a contracted agreement that the new owner would fulfil the obligations as soon as reasonably possible. Edited to add: This is how it is specified in England. Existing systems are those installed prior to 2015, they get relaxed rules, but the drainage field requirement is still required. Existing discharges: what this means You have an existing discharge to ground if all of these points apply to you: the discharge was already happening before 1 January 2015 you have not changed the discharge from surface water to ground you have not moved the location of the discharge or, if you have, it is still within 10 metres of the previous location you have not changed the volume of the discharge or, if you have, it’s not more than 2 cubic metres (2,000 litres) to ground If so, check if you can meet the general binding rules for existing discharges. You will not need an environmental permit if you can Rule 5 of the General Binding Rules for existing discharges: Use the correct treatment system (rule 5) You must use a septic tank or a small sewage treatment plant to treat the sewage and then discharge the waste water to ground through a drainage field. A septic tank is an underground tank where the solids sink to the bottom, forming a sludge, and the waste water flows out to a drainage field. A small sewage treatment plant, also known as a package treatment plant, works in a similar way to a septic tank but uses mechanical parts to treat the waste water to a higher standard before it goes to a drainage field. A drainage field, also known as an infiltration system, is a series of pipes with holes placed in trenches and arranged so that the waste water can trickle through the ground for further treatment. The system you use must meet the relevant British Standard. Discharges through drainage mounds can meet the general binding rules as long they are not in floodplains and they are located, designed and constructed in line with the recommendations in British Standard BS 6297:2007. This is a link to the English General Binding Rules https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-binding-rules-small-sewage-discharge-to-the-ground#existing-and-new

England and Wales are the similar I believe - both now require a permit if you don't have a drainage field, Scotland may have different rules. Not sure where you are. The rule change is to encourage replacement of Septic Tanks with package sewage treatment plants. It's worth doing a bit of reading so you know your obligations and the penalties for not fulfilling them.

Are you aware of the rule changes in 2020, regarding Septic Tanks? If you release to ground without a suitably sized drainage field, or direct to a water course you now need a permit from the Environmental Agency. If you don't have a permit there are a bunch of rules you need to keep to called the General Binding Rules, otherwise you can be prosecuted.

If your ASHP was Installed by an Improved Installer then there may be an extended warranty available, which then requires a yearly Service to maintain the extended warranty. Nibe for instance offer a 7 year warranty if installed and maintained by an Approved Installer. Otherwise I believe it is 2 years. As above, a UVC needs a yearly inspection anyway. I pay £240 a year to get the whole lot done.

I meant to say "The 15 year period..." Saw it too late to Edit. Doh!

For the Planning Officer to have high-lighted this Appeal judgement, they must feel it carries some weight, which as a High Court judgement you assume it must. It makes the definition of "isolated" black and white in planning terms. A site is either within a settlement/village, or it is isolated. The actual Approved (at Appeal) application, that was then being further Appealed at the High Court was for a site the LPA felt was "isolated" and therefore required special circumstances for Approval, but the developer felt (and was agreed with by the Planning Inspector) was within a settlement as it was between two other houses and therefore required no special circumstances. If the Planning Officer is using this argument against your Para 80 application to say it is not "isolated" due to it being between two existing houses, then by this High Court judgement they are saying it is within a settlement, and so does not require special circumstances, ie. it can be treated as an infill. The Planning Officer will probably try to argue that it is not within a settlement, but the High Court judgement makes it clear, it is either one or the other. Out of the two options, having it considered within a settlement is likely the better option, as you have no need to prove special circumstances.

Anecdotally, that seems to be starting to happen now, at least buyers are reported to be seeking out EPC A & B homes, although probably not effecting price yet, just time to sale. EPC D and over homes being devalued will happen when Banks start to lower the loan to value on them, which could happen quite quickly once the legislation is on the statute books. The 15 year period from the introduction of legislation to ban fossil fuel boilers to the target date for achieving net zero "heat in buildings" seems right for the working life of a gas boilers, which would mean 1.5 million gas boilers decommissioned per year across the whole of the UK. If that was replaced solely by heat pumps, then that's a total of 1.75 million hp installs a year, incl. new builds. I guess a number will convert to a district heating setup, so that will bring the total number down a little.

Maybe it would take that long if it was heating the tank from cold, but it will only ever be "topping up" (unless you have underestimated your hot water usage). So 30 mins should see it raised from 40°C to 50°C.