MikeGrahamT21

the latest round of green subsidies include this as part of it, and available to anyone not just those on low income. If you are on low income you may even get it for free https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/what-the-warm-homes-plan-means-for-you/

I’ve heard people using flexible tile adhesive in place of sand and cement, seems a good strong option which will flex with heat cycles and loading

Currently the unit is set to stop delivering power when it hits 10% SoC, and when the unit drops to 7% SoC (which happens quite often as my current model of inverter is powered by the battery ONLY) it does a force charge at 300W until it hits 10% again and so on. It does slow the charge as it nears 100% SoC as part of the battery firmware. Otherwise the ToU settings allow an Amp Charge and Discharge to be specified (which allows a low and slow charge which reduces wastage), but nothing more other than the time slot. I suspect the fact it charges to 100% probably doesn't help (i'd have to take a wild guess at the Amps and timespan to stop it going all the way), but again this particular model of inverter doesn't have the setting to stop it going above, say 90%. The Generation 6 Solis AC Coupled has all of the relevant features needed, but this would require spending yet more money, so for now its staying and when/if it dies, i'll see whats about at that point

With Octopus yes, but not with Eon, you have to use the bundled gas tariff so its not as flexible. Cosy/Go type tariffs would require ASHP or an EV, both of which I don't have, so that limits me just to flux, which was OK, but became rather expensive.

The degredation from grid charging was quite extreme, i'm down at 94% SoH now, which hasn't dropped a single percent since stopping charging from the grid. There is only 3-4 months of the year where the battery isn't useful, although that would likely be shortened if it were sunny, the gloomy weather hasn't helped. I'm locked in with Eon until this deceber, so can't do anything until then without paying fees, and i'll re-assess when the time comes. The trouble with the ToU tariffs is that you are instantly paying more standing charge for both electric and gas, and they stick you on gas rates which are quite high (they used to be much better), so that along with battery degredation it becomes less and less economically sensible. There is also the losses to content with too from conversion from AC to DC and back again, they are materially significant.

Yeah probably worth checking, can't see it being any different to it being sat on a shelf in a warehouse however? Have just done a quick google, and it seems they can, but actually need greater than 90% charge Pylontech US3000C batteries can remain disconnected for up to 6 months without needing a charge, provided they are stored at a high State of Charge (>90%). They have low self-discharge rates, but should be checked and topped up every 6 months to prevent the voltage from dropping too low.

Always a useful page i tend to use: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/best-solar-rates-seg-tariffs/

Yes i noticed that the other day whilst searching, you can't be using one of their smart tariffs which is a bit naff, though I'm on fixed currently, was seeing how much difference there was between charging and not charging the battery over winter (taking into consideration battery wear which for some reason was quite high whilst grid charging, yet haven't lost a percent since just charging up from solar, almost a year, put me off a little from grid charging), and I think if I go down this route again which I may well have to, it might be wise to charge the battery to 50% in november and then switch the system off until mid Feb, as its consumed around 1.5kWh a day just topping itself up to the minimum charge, not ideal!

E.on's tariffs have also dropped, I moved to them from Octopus last August, for 16.5p/kWh, but their new tariff which I'll move to this August is now 13p/kWh 😭

You absolutely could, the ply would need to be screwed down in a tight grid format, through the insulation and into the floorboards. Ensure you aren't going all the way through in case of pipes/cables etc. Alternatively you could use something like a Marmox board along with their fixings. Any reason for not taking the floorboards up and insulating between the joists?

So you are saying the bulk of the price is for the initial install and those bits will remain viable for another HP? I guess if thats the case then a replacement HP would maybe only be slightly more expensive than a gas boiler, but would save money in long run (as long as electric prices come down). I wonder how much a company would charge to do all of the work for a replacement unit?

Does anyone worry about the thoughts of replacing the heat pump should it fail? Have just had a look at Vaillants which seem to have 7 year warranty, vs their gas boilers which have a 10 year warranty. Obviously the first install with conversion from gas/oil/lpg gives you the £7.5k grant, but if it should fail out of warranty then essentially its full price for another, the thought of that scares the hell outta me having one. Appreciate in 7 years time they maybe a lot cheaper, but only maybe.

I'm still curious if wet plastering the tape in would save all this parging and excessive taping? Or would these areas be lined with plasterboard? Living in a 60s bungalow, the 'cavity closers' on my place are L shaped blocks, so the whole reveal is solid and therefore wet plastered

And the benefit of air filtering too

It’s a good job the date is on both of those photos 🤣 Congrats, enjoy the fruits of your labour!