Carrerahill

Assume that is for contestable and non-contestable. Who owns the footpath? Scope to save anywhere?

There are not really that many extra wires when you break it down, just wired differently, they are behind the light switches.

Yes. I have 2 way switching, however, I just use input terminals on a Shelly 1 on one side. Switches behave as they should but I can also override and set schedules via the app.

Yes they do. However, there are some brands which are plaster in, but still have a retaining ring which permits removal of the LED engine & driver from beneath. I'll find out who they were as I spec'ed them on a hotel project last year.

First I would be asking, is the roof structure going to take the dead and live loads you presumably intend on imposing on it?

They are talking nonsense. I have a wire that passed over the corner of my property, neighbour cut it down by accident (I think). OR came out to repair it, nice chap, asked for access, I said fine no problem, I then said, by the way, hypothetically, what would happen if I denied you access and said I didn't want the cable over my property anymore, he said, we would just need to arrange to put in a pole in their garden and bring it over the back. Saying they do not need your permission is utterly untrue and they know that. I think I would go into the field and push the pole over, if I was being kind I would ensure the cable could detach from it as it fell as to maintain a service to your neighbour. Once the pole was over, and the line was dangling across your land, then call OR. Explain the pole was hit (leave pole for inspection to prove not OR asset. When they start to discuss replacement just say no - you have future plans. Option 2 is to inform them you will not be levying a charge on rental of the pole of £1000 a month. Option 3 is to inform them they have 21 days to remove the cable from your pole, as it is being relocated as part of works on your site (give no further details of any replacement poles or positions) - inform them that any delays to works will result in charges being levied on a monthly basis at £10,000. You could have a lot of fun here too. If you played them at their own sort of game. I would be tempted to type up a really official looking letter, Ref: Asset upgrade and replacement - that sort of thing, inform them you, the asset owner must undertake unplanned maintenance to other systems and this pole is being decommissioned on H&S grounds after a structural survey.

I can confirm this works!

We framed ours out, faced that in 11mm OSB, then 12.5mm plasterboard, that silenced it very well. I appreciate you will then have a ceiling below all of that, so it will further deaden the sound.

They have got wider but the difference for me was 30mm, but about 290mm taller, so same rail requirement. I agree it all depends, but I would really question these panels until I was satisfied they were the best choice.

I would question the use of those panels. 22 x 365W panels - that is a pretty low energy density these days. When I first looking at PV 350W or thereabouts was about the norm, then when I came to buy it was about 400W now I am looking at some 500W panels. If it was me I would want fewer panels, a slightly higher buying price but reduced installation time, less brackets & rails, and less panels on my roof.

No. You could use DC coupled PV/batteries with DC charge controller, which also feed an inverter with mains AC backup - AC backup only kicks into run loads or replenish batteries (if you so desire) if PV output has been poor, no way to export the generated PV in this setup (although methods do exist). This is the initial system I will use to take my first floor of my house totally "off grid" with the security of a grid backup. The plan being to ditch DNO connection entirely once I am self sustaining with a suitable backup supply (probably a natural gas generator - maybe diesel initially).

Without seeing and knowing the whole picture/story I cannot be certain, but usually you would attach a ledger board/plate to the existing building. This is usually fixed with resin anchors - your SE drawings will give fixing details I would have thought? You usually remove the render, if any, back to brick so you can get a good fixing into the centres of bricks. I used M16 resin fixings on 600mm centres.

I wrapped my sistered 2x8's with spare breathable building wrap and foil tape. I had experience with a whistle/drone noise when a draught was passing through the gap in a structure before so wanted to address it early on.

Oh I missed the bit about them being OK. Yes, sounds like something popped. I'd be tempted to get one of those cheap mini-cams or USB cams and shove it down the vent on something to do an inspection.

What size are the ducts - how long the troublesome ones? Could just be a pressure drop due to too long/insufficient sized ducts.

Based on 6A on a 48V system, the volt drop would be about 2.2V at 10m of 1mm² (0.0185 Ohms)- at 25m it would be 5.55V. You would want to use about 3.0mm² (0.00615 Ohms) wire for anything up to 26m run, 4.0mm² (0.00471 Ohms) for up to 34m and so on. If it was 24V it would be even worse - around a 8.5mm² cable for 6A at 34m. I think (know) the whole thing could be done by an individual with a lot of time on their hands and a real passion for DIY systems but it's not going mainstream. 240V supplies are becoming safer and safer and I just don't see an issue with using 240V throughout and using SELV power supplies at source. We are now doing warehouses with HV (11kV) distribution within them to cut down on cable sizes and site transformers around the warehouse as needed - so things are sort of going to opposite way. You talk about making your own lights, assume you will make an LED luminaire? Then its SELV anyway and you are running it from a driver/transformer anyway.

Yes, we wanted to increase the overhang of our roof and we just nailed pieces of 2x5's onto the side at the end of all the rafters, stung a line along them and recut the tail. Job done.

I spray MDF with satin 2k paint. Did the under stair drawer units, alcove units, skirtings and window sills like this. Tough as nails (its what they put on vehicles) - you need to be setup to spray this though or find a paint shop who will do it for you. Water based is never as tough. You really need to paint prior to fixing then just touch-up though as you cant be spraying 2k in the house.

He mentions flats roofs, different pitches, on separate inverters. I accept that of the existing overall it’s still a 40% increase, however, in practise this is only a 750W increase in generation.

Agreed - my mistake, I do forget I have an unorthodox setup (I am not using it for payments of any sort, just global export monitoring).

Use the sunshine solar system builder. I would allow about £500-1000 for the inverter (depending on functions you want), £50 for cabling, £50 for the 2 isolators. Not sure how many panels you are talking but say £300 for rails and mounting - that is about you. Break the system into easy components. Roof rails, PV panels, DC cables, DC isolator, invertor, AC isolator, generation meter if you want then consumer unit connection. Plenty of companies sell the rails, rails, splice kit, mounting brackets and roof mounting brackets. To work out the rail requirement you just need to know the panel size (usually width) for mounting requirements. For the inverter its fairly simple, size it to your array, a few technical details to consider but its pretty easy. If you are going for a 4.92kW system then I would size the inverter about 4.5kW - you may struggle to get one bang on so I would see if I could go up in power density to a panels that gave me about 5.5kW then use a 5kW inverter. If you can get the roof bit done, get a friendly, imaginative spark in to do the rest - they do exist, I know of about 5.

You get very excited about PV matters! Maybe on paper - in real life? Lets be realistic. Even if there was a noticeable 20% (750W) hike in generation, it could quite easily be attributed to the removal of a immersion heater or other electricity hungry appliance - if you think someone is going to notice a theoretical 40% increase where the overall numbers are less than 10kW then you are giving the system far far more credit than it is due. 3 ways he can do it: Firstly - adds it to his system and everyone stops getting so very excited, or second, he just adds the system to his house for self consumption and any that gets exported is his loss, thirdly he calls them up and asks them what will happen if he renews his panels with more efficient ones, if they accept, he declares his new peak generation capacity (I would go this route rather than trying to tell them I am adding a new system as it's more clear-cut). The OP's annual export figures would be worth reviewing first.

Focal point is the fire, don't ruin it with a TV.

Why don't you just add them, the meter will register more generation you get higher payments. 4 panels won't raise in eyebrows. I had the roofer fit the rails and panels, he connected them up as per my instruction and left me two DC tails which I dealt with from there. I also have an array on the garage and shed. I fully DIYed them. My advice: Just get on with it.

I think it was this sort of order they are trying to stop to be fair. They started this a year or two ago. It is a bummer if you only want a £5 of stuff but I can see it from their side too. I always felt guilty buying £3-4 of stuff and would usually find some other things to buy, but the fact you could buy a 60p strip of resistors and it would come Parcelforce the following day was a bit mad, if not brilliant at the same time.