Bramco

@bob the builder 2 As a PS to the my reply about insurance, what's yours look like? Is the metal roof corrugated or standing seam? Pictures? You can see ours on our architects website -> https://lhc.net/projects/ashcroft-creating-a-low-energy-family-home/ Simon

@bob the builder 2 We were with Direct Line for both contents and building insurance, so when we moved into the new build which is timber frame with metal roof and metal cladding with some render, we tried them but they wouldn't touch the buildings part. They put us in contact with Gallaghers, who gave us a great quote for buildings insurance but a stupidly high one for contents.... So we're now with Direct Line for contents and Gallaghers for building insurance. It worked out to be only a bit more expensive than having them both with Direct Line. So try Gallaghers. Simon

Issues like this are actually sorted out through people taking things to the next step, i.e. judicial review (think that's the term) Judges, through case law, actually set the interpretation of what was meant by the people who drafted the legislation. We used a case in our appeal on what the Green Belt legislation actually means - and won. So, it begs the question a) are you willing to go to the next stage and b) is there anyone interested in taking up the case? Simon

You don't need MCS with Octopus for Solar PV and they got the MPAN for us. You may do if it's a PV + battery install. Simon

@flanagaj Just PM'ed you. I should have added that they work closely with a planning consultant who does work in the south. Simon

Take a look at one of the user guides on the Husqvarna website. They explain in detail how to set up the mowing areas where there are separate parts, as well as where there are corridors. I'm sure othe suppliers have similar guides. Simon

Try the ITS website - obvs only the ones they sell but a reasonable start... https://www.itstechnologies.shop/pages/solar-panel-comparison Simon

We have a large area and a Husqvarna Nero - absolutely brilliant! can't wait to finish the side area so it can get to work on the front. We came back from 4 days away today - the back looks like a lawn, the front where Matilda hasn't been working is 4 to 5cm long! So an hour or so mowing tomorrow!! Must get the side seeded so she can work on the front! There are lots of new mowers on the market but Husqvarna have been the Rolls Royce of Robot mowers for years - last year they saved us a) a big outlay on a ride on, b) many hours of mowing with a ride on and c) a headache with what to do with the clippings. Brother in law next door saw ours and bought 2, one for the back and one for the front. And he's got a couple of ride-ons. His pov was that I was happily having a cold beer while he was chugging up and down on his ride on. So basically - get one!!

Who would be interested if there isn't a user manual to take a look at and it's only available through official installers...... Simon

We didn't even put the duct in... and we're only a 100m from the end of the Virgin network and 50m from an BT pole. Virgin have said they won't extend and I can't see Openreach getting fibre in any time soon. A 4G/5G SIM in a 4G router seems to be OK for us, I guess we could switch to Starlink if prices come down but it will probably be a 5G router first, when they come down in price. Simon

Don't worry, it will still leak whether it's upside down or not... Simon

420x26 is 10.9kW - so his mental maths when he's talking to you is not as good as his calculator which he used on the quote. Simon

V useful. Here's another one -> https://batteryhacker.com/can-lifepo4-batteries-catch-fire/. Both say, for LiFePO4, which most packaged systems are, charge properly and have a BMS - which all packaged systems have afaik. And they don't catch fire themselves, so if there is a fire they won't add to it. Simon

Apologies, I've just checked back and NG (our DNO) didn't ask for the electrical cert - but Octopus did! Senility setting in...... Apologies again, I'll try to edit the original post. Simon

I put my name in the installer section and marked it self install - we did have an elec cert that had solar PV on - don't think we'd have been OK without that. There was no charge with NG. Make sure your inverter is G100 compliant - you can check this on the ENA database. I seem to remember NG wanting this for any application. I'm pretty sure the 15p export is only available on the Intelligent version of Octopus GO. So standard Octopus Go is 7.5p cheap rate for 4 hours and I think 8p for export. If you move onto Octopus Go Intelligent, then you are on 7.5p cheap rate for 6 hours and 15p export. As you say, there is a £250 admin charge for getting onto the 'intelligent' version of GO. You also have to have a supported EV charge point installed and you have to connect an EV to do a test charge - the tariff is meant for EV owners. You can do this in stages with Octopus. Once we'd done our G99 application with NG, we then switched to Go with Octopus and then later on switched to Intelligent Go. The extra 2 hours on cheap rate and the 15p make a big difference. Simon

One good thing about technology is that things get better over time, so devices on standby use less and less. Is there a Moore's law that says that every 2 years new devices on standby will use 50% less? Some of them certainly get smaller, e.g. the Sonoff or Shelley wifi or zigbee switches. In the new house, we've got a lot more of that kind of device but we're still using about the same as in the old house which had a lot fewer... But fundamentally yes, if you want to use less, don't use things that are on all the time. Simon

Yes you can, it's not rocket science - there are plenty of web sites around with packages of PV with inverter, some with roof fastenings. Try ITS technologies - we've found them to pretty competitive - but there's also Trade Sparky and many more. On the electrician front, I'd make sure that your electrician is happy with you doing the work and them signing it off. A lot of electricians won't sign off someone else's work and then you'll be forced down the MCS surcharge route (the solar installation companies). There's a break point in terms of whether you need to inform the DNO about the installation. Below about 3.6kW you don't need to but above that you need to go through their process - all of the DNOs have information on their websites about what forms you need to fill in etc. You don't need an MCS certificate to complete this step. Also you need to check whether there are any planning restrictions, like for example you being in a conservation area. There's loads of info on-line about how to do this and a lot on this forum on how people have gone about things. I'm sure you should be able to manage to do it yourself. Simon

Yes - we did. Get an electrical cert which includes the PV. Ours was in the garage, so on the garage elec cert, then go through the application process with the DNO. Ours was with NG. You obvs have to fill in the forms and your inverter needs to be G100 compliant. You can find the certificates on the inverter database. On the forms you can put down that it is a self install, there's no requirement for MCS. Then just apply for Octopus Go - I think they still have the admin charge but essentially they contact the DNO to make sure you are registered with them and then it should go through with no problem. I think I put a link to a Victron forum about this on another post a month or so ago- from that, I think that suppliers are not allowed to insist that the PV is an MCS install. If you need the link, I'll try to find it again and repost it. Simon

Same here 😞 Unless you go down the @SteamyTea route of unplugging everything, then the key to lower costs, now there is no FiT, is to make sure you use as little normal rate lekky as possible. The PV for 2/3 of the year for DHW is a good start. If you add a diverter that can schedule a nightly cheap rate boost of the DHW then there's a saving there. Doing the DHW at night with an ASHP reduces that again. Installing say about 15kW of batteries also allows you to shift your daytime use to the night time tariff. All of this can be done on Octopus Go which is cheap rate for 4 hours at night. Moving to Octopus Go Intelligent (you need the right kind of EV point for this) get's you onto 7.5p for 6 hours at night as well as 15p for export. So there's longer for battery charging etc. at night and from about now, for 6 months, you should be exporting enough to cover what you've imported and on good days, also the daily standing charge. There are ways to self install the PV and get onto Octopus Go to avoid the MCS surcharge. And you don't really need to own an EV to get onto the Intelligent version of Octopus Go. All you need to do is to connect an EV to get the charger recognised. So if you haven't got one, borrow a friends for 30 minutes. You can do all of the above in stages, we did. Last week, we didn't cover the standing charge but we did earn enough on the export to cover all of our usage. We're all electric, so that's all the house energy needs, heating (yes, it's still on a bit), cooking, washing, dishwashing, hot water etc. Moving onto Octopus Agile should better what you can do on OG Intelligent but it's another level of complexity in terms of controlling when things should charge etc. Simon

No - call one of the suppliers, I'll bet they'll tell you monoblocs are what they sell most of. Worrying about the size of the holes in the wall is also daft. There are ducts to handle either system. Probably the main question is - do you want the compressor running at night in the house? If you're hard of hearing it may be OK but for everyone else, it's a non starter. There's a long thread on here somewhere about the noise from a split system which drove the OP mad. And you need a refrigerant engineer to install a split system - whereas with a monbloc it's just normal plumbing. Our monbloc is against the outside wall under the stairs - you can't hear it in the bedrooms but if I have a wander at night, you can hear it at the bottom of the stairs - that would be 10x as bad with a monobloc. I'm sure the experts will be along before long but from a user perspective monbloc is the way to go. Simon PS - and if you believe plumbers, then ..... ours insisted that all he had to do with ASHPs was ripping them out and installing gas boilers - and that was 3 years ago when there weren't many ASHPs installed. He's probably now working for Octopus installing ASHPs....

Ours is similar. We laid a 4 core armoured cable for DC in a trench, as @SteamyTea says at least half a metre deep. Use 4 core, so you can have your array in 2 halves, into separate MPPT connections on the inverter. If you aren't going to install it immediately, get the sparky to install a spur to where you expect the inverter to installed and get that on the electrical certificate labelled 'solar PV'. This allowed us to do a self install and produce the electrical cert to national grid which they were happy enough with to give us the all clear on the installation. Once National Grid were happy, Octopus were also happy to put us on one of their smart tariffs. That way you avoid the dreaded MCS tax... Simon

Thanks for the replies guys. Anyone tried the foam? Simon

Hi, We're putting some panels in the garden and came across the expanding foam post fixing stuff. Obviously a lot lighter for karting around and maybe makes the posts less prone to rot? But I read some reviews saying that the foam shrank back from the posts making them loose which obviously wouldn't happen with postcrete. Anyone used the foam? Would you recommend it? Simon

What make of diverter is it? If it's a Myenergi Eddi, you can check the app to see if it's been running. But i guess if it is, then you'll already have done that. Another way to check would be to get a power monitor with a current clamp. Install it on the live to the diverter and monitor the usage. Simon

In fact you could invert those figures and use them for the cooling you might require.. Simon