ProDave

That raises more questions than it answers. Why does consumption rise? Is it because the insulation is failing? Or because customer use is changing and it would have risen even if no insulation had been fitted? Is the "increase" measured in cost or units of gas consumed? It just seems to be clickbait to push the "you must get a heat pump" message.

I would put 10mm 3 core steel wire armoured. That will feed a sub main, to the outbuilding and your solar PV would feed into that. But we don't know what is going into the outbuilding so that is a bit of a guess. As you talk of batteries there will probably be some data cable or a cable for a current clamp that has to go on the main incoming cable by the meter. I would be thinking of Cat 6 network cable for that? anyone else care to advise? Is that available in a SWA form or would it have to be outside Cat 6 in conduit?

Possibly similar seals? I think the difference are 2 fold quality windows fitted with care by builders that understood. I know while getting the frames square, there was a lot of opening and closing of the casements to ensure they closed evenly without distortion or rubbing. The Rationel windows come complete, glazing fitted and casements fitted into the frames. A lot of UPVC windows come as the bare frame and assembled on site, more chance to get things wrong. That's not to say you can't get good UPVC windows, there are plenty on here who have good well fitted UPVC windows. I definitely would not get the local "double glazing" firm to do my windows.

Answered in first reply. Fitted by builders I trust who took the time to fit them square, straight and secure so they won't move. And air tight sealing to building membrane detailed by me.

Are these run of the mill UPVC?

What make and type are your windows? No draughts noticed with my Rationel wooden, aluminium clad 3G windows or the velux roof windows. The cheap roof window in the workshop has a pretty poor trickle vent that does not seal well even when shut.

I am surprised you go there, it's polluting everyone outside. Looks more like a pub than a cafe?

Already been done https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a41869336/sand-battery/ Heat the sand with cheap electricity, extract the energy as heat for heating. Conversion back to electricity would have big losses.

Usually just a switch.

Yes you do not want to fill the cavity between the timber frame and the masonry skin. In a TF all the insulation is within the frame, or more recently a layer of insulation over the inside of the frame (you won't have that in a 90's house) There is usually but not always a vapour membrane over the frame before the plasterboard goes on. What does the EPC say? i.e.what assumptions has the assessor made?

Timber frame has been common in Scotland for a very long time so I would have been surprised if it was not timber frame. You can be pretty certain it was built with a 100mm timber frame. the unknown for that era is what, if any insulation was fitted in the frame. Earlier than 90's it would have been none, just a hollow frame. It would be a simple matter of unscrewing a light switch or a socket and having a look to see, but not something a surveyor would do and you would need to ask the vendor if you can do that to look and see. If there is no insulation then it is not a trivial job to upgrade it, pretty much all the plasterboard would have to come off to retro fit it, unless anyone knows if it is possible to install a blown in product, but even that would mean 2 holes in each section of wall so still not trivial. If it were me, I would ask the vendor if I could take a look.

The point is those of us who have trees, you need to do something with the wood. Windfall, normal pruning, and shortly I will be dropping a dead tree. I suppose I could stack it all up to become a mess in my garden for woodlice to live in as it slowly rots and slowly releases it's carbon, or I could give it to someone else to burn. So instead I burn it myself.

A lot of modern stoves, mine included, restrict how much you can restrict the air flow so it is impossible to throttle them down too much. They do this to meet the current emissions limits. While I love our stove, it's key advantage is free fuel. If you live in a city, and have no trees of your own, I would not have one.

Build a really well insulated house. My annual ASHP heating usage is 1220kWh for the last 12 months. It is still hovering around 0 here, slightly above in the day, often a lot below at night, was still snowing today. Normal winter weather up here.

Definitely do this, backdated to the date you took the roof off. It would be poetic justice if the greedy council that is trying to fleece you then got nothing, rather than the 100% council tax you were happy to pay up to the point they got greedy.

Minimum is 0 but I doubt anyone has achieved that yet. 0.5 is very good, anything under 3 means it must have MVHR (and also does not need trickle ventilators on windows etc) What are you hoping to achieve? A really well built house that is comfortable to live in and costs little to heat? Or the cheapest build you can get away with that scrapes through building regs?

Why did you do that? deemed export assumes you export 50% of generation. With a PV diverter you probably export less than 50%, so you will loose out.

Yes my plan is just to do small jobs for customers I know. I already turned down even looking at the wiring for a new build on the West Coast scheduled to happen later this year. I could do with just one more year of NIC contributions after the end of the 2022/3 tax year. What I have not been able to find is what is the minimum I can earn as self employed to qualify for that? and then set that as my target, and when I reach that target, stop completely.

I hope it won't be too long before 2 move out, but I want SWMBO to stay.

I don't have my own weather station, I just look at the data from this one, about a mile away, same valley. https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/IALNES1

It shows how much the House uses, vs the Person. We are using about 7MWh per year for 4 of us. But if the other 3 moved out, usage would NOT drop to under 2MWh

Yes happy new year everyone. This should be the year I retire and get more time for leisure. It will be interesting just how easy it is to retire from self employment, I suspect I will still do some work for a while, but nowhere near as much. Nobody is going to present me with a carriage clock and thank me for my dedicated service to the business. So here is to more time on the water, sailing, and rowing.

Your last paragraph sums it up. You spend more on motoring fuel than house fuel. I am at about 8K miles per year, and that is expected to go down this year as I am retiring. Though it remains to be seen if I do more leisure driving instead of previous work driving. Retiring is probably the best thing we could all do to help the environment.

To claim an export payment the install has to be MCS, so that rules out DIY. If your existing system is already getting export payments you could (cough) just install the extra and see if anyone notices the amount of export has gone up? But my view is you already have (I assume) 4kW of existing PV so it will be hard to self use any extra above that, and funding it on export payments I don't think makes sense. So I would be looking at the additional system being connected to battery storage entirely for self use outwith the times the main system is generating.

I have never seen a built in fridge door coming that close the the ceiling?