Stones

+1 - nice even temperature and you would have the ability to cool the house if fitting as ASHP We had a low temp radiator based system in our last house (fed off a heat pump) - worked perfectly well, but pipework and radiators need to be sized for low flow temps (3 to 4 times bigger than an oil/gas radiator system)

We built our house with ICF. I was very fortunate that there were two contractors well practised in using ICF so was confident in moving away from timber frame (both open and closed panel) which I had previously built with. I certainly don't regret switching to ICF, and wouldn't hesitate to build with it again in preference to timber frame. Our vaulted ceiling is insulated with a combination of earthwool between and Kingspan across the rafters. Had I known that a local contractor was obtaining the relevant equipment, I think I would have been very tempted to use on site spray foam insulation. Unfortunately for us, we were too far along when it became available locally and any benefit would have been far outweighed by the cost and hassle of unpicking work that had already been done. Anecdotal I know, but our neighbours house is built used a closed panel TF system. Similar sized houses, insulation levels the same (or actually higher for the TF), similar amounts of orientated glazing for solar gain but out heating costs our lower, and we seem to have a more stable internal temperature (appreciate there are many more variables which could effect this). We've always built using a main contractor, and I wouldn't change that route as for us, it has represented the best balance between cost / time/ quality. In terms of the house itself, I will in due course be posting a full blog entry on the topic of what went well, changes we would make etc. In summary, and in the absence of a whack more cash, there is very little we would change - some minor tweaks to the layout of the bedroom section, perhaps not improvements, better described as alternatives. One thing I do regret is keeping glazing to the north side of the house to a minimum - the decision being based on both heat loss concerns and more importantly, that we anticipated the view wasn't going to that good. As it turns out our landscaping really opened up the view such that I think we probably should have had double rather than single windows to bedrooms two and three, and indeed probably put windows in our bedroom on the north side (albeit this would have increased glazing costs overall). Lots of positives I could point to, but the stand out for me is the preplumb ASHP heating / DHW system we went for (Mitsubushi Ecodan) - auto adapts to what is required and works flawlessly with zero input from me. I am however less impressed with our MVHR unit (Vent Axia) and would probably go for something else if doing it again.

Our last house had a low temperature radiator / heat pump system, flow temp of 33C at 0C ambient. Worked perfectly well. The radiators were sized between 3 and 4 times larger than they would have been in a conventional CH system. Dividing the stated output by that multiple would therefore give you a rough idea of what you will get output wise at UFH flow temps.

We emptied ours after 18 months. Tanker driver suggested two years, if not three.

This is what a friend of mine did to get round the issue. Worked well, if a little time consuming, as a solution.

When I looked at GSHP vs ASHP, I found that with a heating demand below 5000 kWh/yr it would actually cost MORE to run a GSHP vs an ASHP once you had taken into account the energy cost for the additional pumps required in a GSHP system, and that was before factoring in the cost of replacement antifreeze, or the higher capital costs. I recall pointing this out to the salesmen and they all, to a man, responded by saying 'but look at the RHI payments you would get'. Enough said.

Just a quick update to this, installation notified to the DNO under G83/2. Easy to do - a notification form (detailing installation address, MPAN, technology and installer - electrician in my case), Schematic of installation (kindly provided by @ProDave) Type Test Certificate (of the Inverter - obtained from list on Energy Network Association website). For completeness, I also sent them a site plan. System working well, and array generation peaked at 1503W today, 3W more than the notional maximum of the 6 (250W) panels combined.

The old new customer / existing customer conundrum, although last time I tried with BT, they refused to budge on price, only offering an improved package once the order for another provider had gone through the system (I could have stayed as the offer was in the cooling off period). Switched to EE (same group, better deal and £50 preloaded credit card). £25.50 a month line rental, broadband and anytime calls.

As Jeremy says, no requirement for MCS, but has to be a competent person, i.e. electrician. Details here from an earlier thread.

Yes: 17/18 - DHW 2394 kWh (input)/ 5424 kWh (output) Heating 1874 kWh (input)/6513 kWh (output) 18/19 - DHW 2346 kWh (input)/ 5271 kWh (ouput) Heating 2133 kWh (input)/7635 kWh (output) Household use 4150 kWh give or take both years

Notwithstanding the above, @ProDave notified SSE about his system on a G98 form rather than G83 form. Not quite sure why SSE advised him to do so given the taking effect date. As I have a system to notify I'll be asking the question.

Reading through the actual blurb, G98 doesn't take effect until April: 'Requirements for the connection of Fully Type Tested Micro-generators (up to and including 16 A per phase) in parallel with public Low Voltage Distribution Networks on or after 27 April 2019'

A brief update to this as I now have two years worth of data. Over the 12 months March 2018 – March 2019, heating COP ranged between a February low of 3.3 to an October high of 4.6 over the course of the heating season, with an overall SPF of 3.8 (slightly better than year 1) DHW COP ranged between a February low of 2 to a summer high of 2.5, with an overall SPF of 2.3 Energy use overall remains roughly the same (a difference of 250 kWh between 17/18 and 18/19). Household use was within 12 kWh (yes, that's just 12 kWh difference over the year). 18/19 saw slightly lower DHW use, but slightly higher heating requirement. Costs have therefore remained static as it costs less to heat than to provide DHW.

A sort of sister thread to the one here: This blog entry details the installation of my wall mounted Solar PV system:

Having originally planned then dropped the idea of Solar PV (a combination of budget constraints and drop in FiT rates) I recently acquired a number of Solar PV panels (a pallet bought in conjunction with @ProDave from Bimble Solar via Ebay). Having recently collected the panels, lengths of mounting rail and various other bits and bobs @ProDave had kindly sourced, I fitted the system over the last two Saturdays. First off was mounting the rails on my rear, SW facing garage wall. I decided to mount the panels vertically simply for ease - a ready made structure to fix the rails to, and easy access to a consumer unit for the grid connection. There is a penalty in terms of a reduction in annual generation compared to a sloped array, however simplicity won out. The following picture shows the garage wall with rails fixed; To start I nailed packers to the cladding to ensure I had a drainage gap behind the rails. I then fixed the rails (Unistrut - a tip from @Onoff) through the cladding, cladding battens into the timber frame of the garage using timber drive bolts I happened to have. As the lengths of Unistrut I had were offcuts (only way I could transport them) I used joiners secured to the channel with bolts/channel nuts. Finally, I added hanging brackets for each panels to help carry the weight of each panel / so I wasn't reliant purely on bolts clamping the panels in position. I fitted the panels, sitting them on the hanging bracket and bolting them around 300mm from top and bottom as pictured; The ends were secured using Z brackets I cut down using a grinder (thanks @JSHarris) so that they clamped only the frame and did not overhang the panel itself; Long M6 bolts with large washers were used to secure the panels into the rails where they met with each other; The channel nuts (also known as Zebedees) into which the long M6 bolts were secured; I used M8 bolts and channel nuts for the joiners, end and hanging brackets. My electrician connected the system up, wiring the panels to a DC isolator, into the Inverter which in turn is wired into the garage CU via a meter and AC isolator. 2 hours work for him. Switched on, the Inverter ran through all its self tests and everything okay. Sadly at that point it clouded over and the heavens opened so only a few watts being generated. Fortunately, today has been a bright and sunny day (albeit a bit hazy) and my 1.5 kWp system is as we speak, generating 1.2kW. The following shot was taken yesterday just before the rain came on, but all in all, I'm pleased with the way it looks (panels mounted so they read visually with house windows). Cost wise the system (1.5kWp plus a spare panel), mounting rails, nuts, bolts, brackets, isolators, meter and electrician (@Prodave was kind enough to give me the DC cable he had left over which was just enough for the job) total £550. I already had the inverter. Final job within the next 28 days is to notify the DNO of the installation.

I think that's what the G98 protocol covers (supersedes G83 as of April)

We had SE and SW orientated PV arrays at our last house, the SE array added about 12 months after the SW array (which took us from G83 to G59). I had anticipate a much better spread of useable generation, but the reality was only really marginal in terms of extending the generation window. Winter generation was still pitiful, and in summer, there was far too much to use (especially peak of the day).

+1 THTC is really nothing more than a legacy tariff that SSE want to phase out, so prices are high. As Dave says, let them pay for the CU work, then switch.

Anyone?

If still considering using flooring, 2200 mm lengths available Random search : https://www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/engineered-wood-flooring-galleria-professional-multiply-oak-220mm-brushed-oiled

IIRC around 20% of our treated supply (about 3 billion litres a day) is lost through leaking pipes. https://www.discoverwater.co.uk/leaking-pipes Yet the only answer (from the Water co perspective) seems to be punishing consumers - metering, restrictions, high prices etc.

I have (finally) bought some bathroom fittings - towel rails etc, and want to get them fitted, but I'd rather not drill into our porcelain tiles. I've previously read about Tesa powerbond tape and wondered how others have fared with it? My fallback would be Soudall Fix All.

My PV array will be mounted vertically. PVGIS suggests an approx 20% reduction in annual output for my location / array orientation compared to optimal mounting angle.

I looked at them briefly and the issue was operating air temperature range, most of the (cheaper) pool units wouldn't operate below 5C ambient according to the spec sheets.

We use a small ozone generator to neutralise cooking odours. It certainly helps, especially if running whilst creating the odours. This is in addition to a recirc hood, and MVHR on boost. If more is required (e.g. when griddling steak) we'll open windows on opposite sides of the house and use the pressure differential to do quick air change.