Bramco

If you are going off grid - why worry about the DNO connection - simply limit export if you have an oversupply, set it to 3.68kW which is allowable without any permission. You'll miss out out on export in the summer though which might be lucrative with all that solar. Simon

Agree with the other responses but on this point - yes - we supplied the windows for our build and the supplier asked for the planning permission details and charged us zero VAT as it was a new build. But you really need to get them to sort this out before invoicing. We had several suppliers do this, even though there was a main contractor - they simply zero rated everything. We even had the drive done a year after completion and because it was on the planning application, that was also zero rated. Simon

Isn't there a trick there to get the plumber to bill for investigating the leak rather than fixing it - don't they have to pay for that with no impact on the insurance. Mind you, you'd better not show them the photos, otherwise they'll be wondering about the plumbers bill for a few hundred for the 'investigation'. Simon

Why don't you use the cheap rate directly for DHW heating using a timer on the DHW immersion supply and let the ASHP run for the full 6 hours on the cheap rate. This is the way we do it. We're on Go, so the cheap rate is 9p. The night after sunny days, the DHW doesn't take much to get back to temperature. We find the 4 hours of Go a night is enough to heat the house for the rest of the day unless it's below zero outside. We actually have our ASHP set to heating only, so rely on the PV and 9p Go rate for all hot water. Another thing we've done recently is to put a timer on the immersions in the UFH tank. That way on really cold nights when the ASHP is defrosting several times in the 4 hour Go period, the UFH is boosted by the immersion in the UFH tank. Simon

@Dillsue Thanks for the reply. Would be annoying to have to change inverter but I guess I could find a G100 hybrid inverter which would allow us to attach batteries - although that probably opens another can of worms.... Out of interest what did the witnessing amount to? Simon

Ours is a Solis S6 which will take the 6.5kW, so I assume comparable to the Solaredge. And I thought there wouldn't be any peeing around, so notified National Grid.... Simon

Thanks Mike - think I need to do some more digging before I call them. I thought I'd done everything needed when I submitted the G98 form. Simon

Hi, Wonder if anyone can help - we applied for a G98 connection through National Grid. The installed PV is 6.5kW but we have set the inverter to G98, so limiting export 3.68kW. We supplied all of the documentation we understood we would need to submit but National Grid are asking us to complete an Export Limitation Scheme form - does anyone have an example of one of these that have been submitted? This is a self install, so no MCS or sparky to help us... Thanks in advance. Simon

There is a +ve to that - you won't stub your toe against the bedframe while navigating to the loo in the middle of the night 😄 Simon

We have BG Evolve -> https://www.bgelectrical.uk/uk/wiring-devices/evolve In our case all black but they seem to have some bronze-ish ones. Doesn't leave a glow when turned off although we will probably have different led strips. They do have one rather annoying feature though - after a power cut, they come back in the 'on' state when power is re-applied!!! So annoying if there's a power cut at night but even worse if you're on a long holiday..... But apart from that, we're very happy with them - we hate those rotary dimmers and also small fiddly switches. Simon

Does your UFH buffer tank have immersions in it? (If not, why not?) If so, connect these up to heat the buffer tank - if you are on a cheap night rate, get timer(s) to do the buffer tank heating at night and set your thermostats to call for heat during those hours. Before out ASHP was installed we ran the whole house this way. And there's plenty of people using in line water heaters to do the same thing. Simon

The EDDI knows when each of the elements has taken enough energy without the need for thermostats. Basically it monitors the energy that the element is taking and when it's taking no energy it stops. There is an internal CT that is measuring what is being consumed by the elements in the tank. No need for additional sensors. So under normal circumstances, the EDDI just manages everything - no need for any additional sensors. However, we have installed a relay board with a sensor which is at about half way up the tank. The reason we did this is that, there are occasions when there's a lot of family around and the PV and overnight scheduled boost don't give us enough hot water. So the relay board is set to kick in when the temperature in the middle of the tank gets below 50 and stops when it is 60 (this is done with an external device). It's an expensive boost but saves the grief from the family if there's not enough hot water. Simon

We have both immersions connected to the EDDI. 300l tank. When we have solar, it is diverted to the tank and the EDDI controls whether it is heating the top element, or the bottom element, depending on how hot the top of the tank is. It's better to let the EDDI manage which element it uses because if you only connect it to the bottom element, you can end up with a tank full of luke warm water rather than a tank with hot water at the top. We're on Octopus Go, so get 4 hours at night at 9p/kWh. So we also have the EDDI scheduled to heat the tank on this cheap rate every night. So basically if there's not been enough solar PV during the day to heat the tank, then it gets topped up at night on the cheap rate. Personally, I wouldn't use the EDDI to control your towel rail - why don't you put that on a cheap timer, so if you are on Octopus Go or similar, you can use cheap rates to get some warmth? Simon

If you want a less patterned look, CTD have/had some plain grey ones. We have them inside and out - looks great. The only thing we'd do differently would be to use tile supports to keep them horizontal outside - our builder insisted on putting the regulation slope on the outside tiles which went straight onto a concrete base. It will bug me for the rest of my life .... Should have changed the build spec obviously but didn't 😬 Simon

We have some vaulted ceilings. At the top of the wall we've installed an led trough. They're about 10cm tall and at the top come out enough to take an led trough. This throws light upwards and is great for creating a wash of light up the sloping ceilings. In the large kitchen/dining/living room, each area has a separate dimming controller, so you can have scenes with different light levels. In other rooms we've used downlighters that you can hardly see. They have a whitish translucent disc across the actual light - think you can get these in Screwfix. There are more expensive ones that can be inset in the plasterboard giving a flush very minimalist finish. Simon

What app is that? - the national grid one doesn't look like that.

Agree - but except for really cold weather we only have to run the ASHP for up to 4 hours on the Octopus Go tariff which is a less than a third the price of the normal rate. Simon

We had a soakaway in our plans and it was going to be expensive - £20k or so for getting rid of the soil and for the crates etc. We have a non flowing dyke on the edge of the property. We had to go to the flood authority folks at the county council and to the local drainage board to get their agreement to discharge straight into the dyke - took a while but we got there in the end. I don't remember Building Control having any say in things - having said that, the soakaway was only shown on the civil engineering drawings, culvert, drainage etc. Simon

We also did ours in DC - about 50m to the top of the field. We have 12 panels in all - 6.5kWp. The cable was a 4 core cable, so there are 2 groups of 6 feeding the 2 DC inputs on the inverter. The ground mounts are key clamp system with 16 1m poles whacked in the ground as the support. We also set the panels at about 45degs because at the optimum angle (30deg ish) we'd get massive summer output and low winter output. 45degs gives us lower summer output and higher winter output. We're just about getting the maximum out of them about now. Simon

IKEA - we had the same problem, wanting all black. The IKEA ones are all black except for the control knob. Very pleased with them - they are actually Electrolux, so the parent company of Zanussi. I'm guessing that internally they are all the same and it's only the external appearance which is tailored to the different brands. Simon

So by 5.8, you can self certify. 5.8 Where you are unable to provide MCS or equivalent certification under clause 5.5, you confirm that you are satisfied that the generation asset has been installed by a competent professional and meets all required industry standards and guidelines. Octopus accepts no liability for any loss, damage or injury resulting from the installation.

We're about to have the driveway done and will be installing 30cm high bollard lights at intervals along one side. These are mains voltage, not low voltage. The lights we've bought can be screwed onto something, or we could buy stakes to go underneath. The guys doing the driveway, could set up pads for the lights while they are doing the haunching for the edgings. Obviously we'd need a bit of ducting through that for the cable. Is this the best way to mount this type of light? What are the pro's and con's of stakes vs a solid foundation? Any thoughts/experience much appreciated. Simon

Black taps and showers throughout - all Geberit. One tap has a tiny chip which I think the plumbers did - I'm not owning up to it! It's hardly visible. We're in a hardish water area and no signs of limescale, except on the Quooker which is only on the filtery bit at the end of the tap and is easily sorted by dropping it in a glass of vinegar once every 3 or 4 months. You can't see the limescale on the outside of the tap. If you buy Geberit or Grohe etc. check around for one of the parallel importers. Don't pay the stupid markups local bathroom centres add to their prcing. Or buy them abroad and have a short break - you'd pay for the short break on a reasonable order. There's plenty of merchants online in France, Belgium, Holland or Germany where you can order and arrange to collect. As per a previous pot, I think there's a £600 limit for goods that you bring back into the UK - and that doesn't include the booze afaik. Simon

Black basalt gravel for us - personally I think the imprinted concrete looks false - bit like real imitation leather aka plastic. A few of our previous neighbours had imprinted concrete and some wouldn't venture out in icy weather as it was so slippy - the posties hate it too. Noooooooooo - that'll make it like a doctors surgery or even worse a funeral parlour... Simon

Don't tell them. If you want to use your cheap rate for heating, have the DHW immersion on in parallel. It's up to you how you use the system once installed. Afaik, all HPs have priority for DHW over heating, so if you are running yours on E7, then if the DHW needs topping up, this will happen first and it could mean you get to the end of the E7 period with the HP not having serviced the heating demand (or not enough of the heating demand). And if you run the DHW outside the E7 window, even with the COP, it will cost more than using E7. In our case on Octopus Go, the cheap rate is 9.5p and the normal rate of just under 30p. So the HP needs to be at at least a COP of 3 which on a cold winter's night will be hard to acheive. Simon