ProDave

Wall values could be better. We have bedrooms with high vaulted ceilings and don't notice much of a temperature variation between floor and high ceiling. In a well insulated house it all pretty much attains the same temperature throughout.

Yes, if your quarterly generation figures are suddenly a lot higher they would notice.

Why do you try and force the ASHP to heat the cylinder so hot? We have ours set to 48 degrees which the ASHP does comfortably, and that still leaves plenty of capacity for surplus solar PV to heat it further. The ASHP is timed to only start heating the DHW at 11AM by which time there should be a reasonable chance of using a lot of solar PV power to contribute to it.

I will counter the above with my positive results with a modern well insulated house and an ASHP. The annual electricity used by the ASHP to heat the house is £400 at todays high electricity price, but it would not be a lot cheaper if we had mains gas available (we don't) Factor in the gas standing charge and they would be about the same. Fuel costs of all types is rising quickly, so the best thing you can do whatever heat source you choose is insulate the building to death and make it air tight with an MVHR ventilation system. And install wet under floor heating so if you do choose a gas boiler now, you can easily swap to an ASHP at a later date. AS much PV as your roof will take or as much as your DNO will allow. Then having an ASHP makes it easier to self use more of the PV you generate. If you do choose gas, choose a system boiler with an unvented hot water tank. That will allow you to dump surplus PV not being used to hot water. The very worst thing you could choose is a combi boiler.

The PHPP are annual heating requirements per square metre, so a good measure of overall performance but not something you can size the heating system on easily. What does the SAP say about maximum heating demand? And what is the overall SAP rating with the gas boiler and solar PV? Does it only pass SAP with the PV?

A previous rental property we had was like that. At some point one of the tenants, or their supplier, had swapped the day and night rates, and when we came to submit readings they came back on the bill the wrong way round. It took months, and at least 2 meter reader visits to untangle that mess and it meant the supplier sending corrected bills to the previous set of tenants. Total mess.

I thought meter readings had to go through some sort of algorithm check to validate them and make sure they are plausible readings? If so that gas reading should fail as completely absurd and not a correct reading. I would definitely speak to Octopus sooner rather than later.

My immediate thought was what a lousy kitchen layout if that space could not be accessed as a proper useful cupboard.

Yes you definitely want to improve the power connections. I would have fitted a Switched Fused Connection Unit to power that. Static caravans are notorious for tiny cheap and nasty consumer units so unlikely you would be able to add a new dedicated circuit so the best would probably be a spur from the ring final to the FCU. Does the outdoor unit also have a similar power feed? If so that wants improving as well.

I hope it is in a sheltered spot? I was asked to wire a plastic shed that looked very much like yours but I declined the job as i had never seen such a flimsy shed before. I honestly don't think the one I saw will survive the first Highland winter.

Yes. That is perfectly capable of killing you.

If the light fitting was made with a 2 core flex without an earth core then it will be double insulated and not require an earth connection. There will usually be the square within a square symbol to show it is double insulated.

Interesting https://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-5a-unfused-round-pin-plug-white/13322 Not what I would expect from a once well respected manufacturer. so does that mean the requirement for sleeved pins only applies to 13A plugs? To be clear, Screwfix also sell other makes of 5A plug that do have sleeved pins.

I wonder if the people talking of windows rotting and paint peeling are discussing the plain wooden windows rather than the aluminium clad version? Our aluminium clad windows have been in about 5 years, no rot, no leaks, no peeling paint, no failures.

From your link this is the only house picture I can see, are there more?

Have you even done a percolation test?

Presuming the private access road goes all the way to the back, would it not be better to make your parking space in the back garden?

I thought brown was No 2?

Standard bathroom layout in most caravans and boats.

There is this type often mentioned, but it usually assumes there is something solid behind to screw into, e.g. a noggin. You could try this with the rawl plugs just fixing into holes in the tiles. As long as they are not too close to a tile edge and you don't swing on the bar mixer like a gorilla it might work. But fitting a noggin behind is what is really needed. https://ukbathroomguru.com/fitting-a-bar-mixer-shower-with-a-simple-kit/

Why do they want it removed? You would be checking / upgrading the existing supply as necessary and installing a 16A commando socket to plug the caravan into. Why on earth would they insist you remove that afterwards? it could have other used for them in the future.

I believe any platform or stair less than 600mm above ground does not need a rail. So probably okay on your 3 steps. Surprisingly BC did not pick up any issues with 4 steps up to a patio door here without a handrail, I suspect they knew full well they were temporary for completion and we will be building decking later.

I only suggest it as most people probably don't understand what and how this grant is being paid, will do nothing, and then will be in credit by £400 at the end of the winter. That's fine if they are happy to do that, but I prefer not to have a big credit in my utility providers account, too many stories of suppliers going bust and the customers having a long hard fight to get the credit back. If your supplier pays interest (mine doesn't) and you trust them not to go bust, then carry on. I prefer to manage my monthly payment myself, sometimes these "algorithm's" make daft decisions.

This just puts me off an "off the shelf" battery storage system. There is too much "we know what it is doing" from the manufacturer and not enough control and information for the user. As a very minimum I would like 2 user inputs "Inhibit charging" and "inhibit discharging" so you could at least have some control over what it does and when.

Ofgen have already warned suppliers not to do this, but it appears they still are. If you cannot manage to communicate with your supplier over this issue, then Ofgen would be my next contact point.