Bramco

PS to the last post - you need to scour the area for newish self builds - go and ask them who did their build - they'll soon tell you if they are happy or not and what went well or badly. It's best to knock on their door but if you can't, send them a letter. Simon

We had something similar, an MBC frame but with their foundations. Windows were outside the remit of the builder and there were a lot of items which we supplied, e.g. sanitary ware, rooflights etc. This was during the pandemic but we did manage to find a builder to do the groundworks. MBC did their thing and Express Windows fitted the windows and sliding doors. When it came to the tender for finishing the build, the only quote we had was from the original builder, everyone else was too busy with projects on the books (larger companies) or too busy building to quote (smaller companies). We managed through some compromises and the efforts of our architect to get the price to something workable and we're very pleased with the result. The drawings were important as the build progressed to check that things had been done according to the specs. Should add, the architect is our son, so there was no sacking him off.... Simon

There's a bit of gash in there as well £650 for a couple of miscellaneous electrical items - that's a LOT of wire and connectors.... Maybe worth pushing a bit on those line items? Try a cheeky £6500 for parts for you to be able to go ahead? Simon

Our types of construction are atypical, so they just apply their rule of thumb which includes a big margin of error - they know lots of clients are disappointed with heat pumps, so the answer is much bigger than you think Mr. Client..... 3 bed semi X kW, 4 bed detached Y kW. And you wouldn't believe the admin for an MCS install which bumps up the labour to £7k for 2 days work.... Sadly there are enough punters out there who for whatever reason, environmentally feel good factor, one-upmanship etc. will sign on the dotted line. Hope this works out - sounds like an ideal offering for self builders - they could get busy. It would be interesting to know what the quote is like - without going into details of course. It does make you wonder whether more suppliers will head down this route - there aren't enough skilled tradespeople out there, so this type of approach could well work. Simon

Mike, you might be asking the wrong people the wrong question. Most heating system suppliers do run of the mill jobs and work to their 'rules of thumb', so if they always quote for a buffer tank for example, then you're going to get a buffer tak in your proposal - it's easier for them. They work to a formula - it's not worth their time doing some fancy (in their terms) special for a clued up client. On the wrong question front, we had our plumber install the UVC, UFH buffer tank both with double immersions. They installed the manifold and connected it to the buffer tank. So something any plumber could quote for. And nothing covered by MCS. We then got a quote for an ASHP, all MCS certified and with the grant application. So maybe you need to split the job into it's constituent parts and ask for 2 quotes. Although you will have to be quite persuasive to overcome the ASHP suppliers 'knowledge' which will have them telling you, you need a new UVC, a buffer tank and that your heating demand can't possibly be right.... A good example of this was someone on here, or maybe another forum bemoaning the fact that they had had great use out of a 2 immersion PV diverter for many years, but now Octopus were installing their ASHP, they were ripping the old UVC out and replacing it with a new tank with only one immersion, cos that's the way they do it. So only PV diversion to the top of the tank. We gave our ASHP supplier a full room by room heat loss analysis done by our M+E engineer, they simply duplicated this in the MCS pack. After some persuasion, they accepted that their real role was supply and fit of the ASHP and controller and connecting said ASHP to the buffer tank and UVC with a 3 port valve - so it is possible. Finally on point 4 above, you'll be lucky!! You might have to take what you're given and then replace it if necessary - it almost certainly won't be open. Simon

If the GivEnergy inverter is a hybrid inverter and your PV inverter is near to the panels, then this may be the reason - although I thought GivEnergy had both hybrid (PV and battery) as well as normal single source inverters. Assuming your PV inverter is close to the panels and the system is ac connected to the main house, then you'd need battery with single source inverter system - there are plenty around and many cheaper than the GivEnergy systems. The downside of having 2 inverters, is the interplay between them - you really need to be able to manage when the battery is charging and discharging in relation to the solar PV output. Inverters from the same supplier generally have ways to manage this. One thing to bear in mind, is that hybrid inverters use the DC side to charge the batteries from solar, so there is little loss. If you have separate inverters, then the PV has to pass through both inverters to charge the batteries with the associated losses. DC to AC and then back again to DC. There must be other installers you can ask for a quote. Simon

They are meticulous but the fabric can be good while windows, rooflights and doors can still let things down. Would be interesting to check the difference between 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 on the heat loss spreadsheet - is there a big difference? Simon

Have a read of the Victron forum post I linked to above - there's some advice about how to deal with a 'computer says no' from Octopus. Simon

NG And I didn't phone them, just waited until I had the PV installed and then filled in the forms. As I said we needed the electrical sign off. So if your sparky is OK with that then you should be OK. I don't think building control care about MCS but I may be wrong, they didn't in our case but we put the PV in after completion. AFAIK, as far as the DNO is concerned it has to be electrically signed off to be acceptable. I think where MCS comes in is that some suppliers won't accept you on an export tariff unless you have an MCS certificate. Although legally again AFAIK, there is no reason why they shouldn't accept you. Octopus will accept a self install. If you have some time to spare read this post on the Victron forum - https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/131033/uk-ess-self-install-mcs-certification.html it explains a lot. Simon

We did a self install 6.5kWp ground mounted PV array - DNO were' fine with it - they did want the electrical certificate but were happy with everything else. Octopus were also happy after the DNO OK'd things and put us on export on Octopus Go - that's at the 8p export rate. At the weekend we moved onto intelligent Octopus Go, so 7p at night for 6 hours and 15p export. So it is possible to get on the more advantageous rates with a self install.

Surge protection. Again, not sure this was necessary but... Simon

Interesting - I did wonder about putting one onto our system - especially as the inverter has a DC switch on the side - so a separate isolator was in my thinking overkill - but I went ahead and put one on as the installation manual had that as one of the steps. Simon

When NG put our connection in, they told me all new connections were 3 phase as there was marginal cost to them in terms of cable. The meter isn't anything to do with them, that is supplied by the Leccy Co and AFAIK, 3 phase meters (maybe it was 3 phase smart meters) were few and far between, i.e. a long wait. Our connection was set up as 100A due to the solar PV, car chargers and ASHP etc. Simon

That's 3 phase to the house, not necessarily a 3 phase meter

Also, if you get them wrong way round, the new switch may not work as it won't have a live going in. But maybe you'll test that hypothesis for us ;-D Simon

One brown wire should go into a hole marked com or something like that on the old switch and the other into a hole marked 1. The one in com is the live. Often there is one hole on it's own on a switch and 2 others side by side. The one on it's own which should be marked com or L is the live one. But be careful. Simon

Yes - stop worrying.... Depends what you put down them. Some users tend to gunk any plughole up with all their creams etc. We had this on a sink with the tap over the plughole, so not sure that makes a difference.

These are fine - drain easily. We have 2. They don't stain - not sure why you think they might. If they did, IKEA would have withdrawn them years ago. You can't use taps with a handle to lift the plug and if you want a pop up plug, then you'll have to buy a low profile one but there's plenty around. Simon

I see Solis inverters with multiple MPPT trackers on the ITS site -> https://www.itstechnologies.shop/search?q=solis but maybe they aren't series 6? Simon

@MoDo That seems lower than the uplifts I seemed to be getting on quotes, although it's hard to work out from a quote. Maybe a way forward. Wonder if there's someone that would do the MCS for a battery install - a lot simpler as there's no heat loss calcs. Can you share the name of the folks that would do it for an ASHP? Simon

@MoDo Cool Energy's installers did the install, the MCS paperwork and the grant application - the couple of hundred quid was what the bill came to less the £5k grant. Obviously now that's £7.5k. Cool Energy have now taken over their installers business and are running things themselves - think a couple of the guys moved to Octopus to start their ASHP installation business. I think but I'm not sure that you can apply for the grant yourself but then you'd need to get the MCS paperwork done - that's if that is important to you, lot's of folks just install their heatpumps themselves without the MCS paperwork and associated uplift. Simon

Per-empting a new Boffin's topic Terry, a lot of non sysadmin folks have to rely on off the shelf solutions and often won't realise what the impact of an internet outage or a router failure would be until it happens. There's a lot to be said for making sure that you aren't relying on cloud based services for critical functions like the CH and DHW. Having said that, most suppliers aren't stupid and have built their systems so that they will continue to function if there is an issue with the internet/cloud. So apps are there to report on what's happening with the system and to alter settings etc. not to do the real time control. Our CH system which is managed by the ASHP controller and by thermostats would continue to run even if the internet was down. Similarly, the Battery/PV inverter and the PV diverter would also continue to run. OK, I wouldn't be able to use their apps to see the system status or to change any settings but I could get off my backside and go to each of the controllers to make the changes on the device in question. Where we might have a problem is that we use Google Assistant to switch on some lights at dusk and with a spoken command to turn them off at night. I don't think this would work without the internet connection, so we use Sonoff wifi and zigbee switches in the back boxes behind the switches, so we can always walk round and turn things on and off even if Google Assistant can't do the switching. So I guess generic advice would be to check everything that is automated with standard parts to make sure it will work even if the internet isn't available and for anything that won't, make sure that you have a backup in place, like properly wired light switches. Simon PS Look forward to further discussion in Boffins corner when you make a start.

We don't hear any rattling - but we're triple glazed and the blinds are all under overhangs, although that shouldn't really make any difference I guess. Simon

You must be looking at different Hallmark blinds to the ones we installed - think I put a link to the company that did ours above. Ours is a high spec airtight house - with motorised blinds, the only penetration is the cable from the wall panel through to the top of the blind. The motor sits above the blind (in the cassette if you have these installed). So it's easy to ensure that airtightness is maintained and there's no cold bridge. We had simple up/down wall switches fitted that are also wired to a central master where the anemometer comes into. There are more complex controllers which are wireless. See the Somfy controller range - Somfy were the standard controllers for our Hallmark blinds - think they're probably the market leader judging by a bit of googling. As @Thorfun said, if there's a power cut head for the pub... but seriously, unless you're in a really rural location, will a power cut last long? Or from another angle, isn't this a great opportunity to convince the boss that a battery system is essential, so the blinds can be controlled in the event of a power cut. Simon

We've been in debt to Octopus for about a grand since last winter and they've never asked us to increase our £50 monthly charge. We've paid it off now but I wonder how long they would have let us keep building up the debt. Simon