ProDave

Is that really a good use of the batteries in an EV? Not long back in one of the discussions on EV's I raised battery life as a concern. A well reasoned argument suggested with a typical range of 200 miles and batteries being good for 1000 charge / discharge cycles, a battery life of 200K miles was a reasonable expectation. But that is blown out of the water if your car is going to sit there charging and discharging while going nowhere. I would want to be paid handsomely for that to compensate for the lower battery life I would get as a result of that.

But what is your solar thermal feeding into? Presumably a hot water tank of some sort? So if you have a hot water tank, don't rule out solar PV. It's a more versatile source of energy as it can help to power your house and reduce your electricty bills as well as heat some water. Just because you might have chosen not to have a Sun Amp is no reason to rule out solar PV

This post reminds me of where I was in 1986 living in Oxfordshire. I had the chance to buy a building plot for £20K with a derelict wooden bungalow on it. But nobody would lend me the money to buy the land. Plenty said they would lend the money to build a house if I could buy the land, but I could not afford it. So I ended up buying the cheapest 1 bedroom starter home in the county for £36K Another chance passed me by a few years later when a lovely plot on a hill came up for £40K, again with a burnt out remains of a wooden bungalow, but still not enough equity to buy it. Then plot prices (for the very few that ever came on the market) went silly. It was not until 20 years later when we moved to the Highlands that I was finally able to buy a plot and build a house, this time with no mortgage at all. I am now well on in the process of building the next, and almost certainly the last one. Best of luck finding a plot, that is the crux of the issue.

I am glad we bought our building plot in 2014 before all this nonsense started. Otherwise we would have already gone past the date for re claiming any second property tax. As it happens we paid nothing at all as it was under the threshold of any property tax.

Just to add to this, perhaps more for the benefit of others. If you think it is likely this condition is going to be added, then make sure you include all the sheds and outbuildings you think you are ever likely to need to your planning application. If this condition is attached to an outline planning permission then you have the chance to do that when you submit your full application.

Why is there a gap? I would have sorted that as you laid the board. Probably too much work to change it now so I would just put several screws in each board either side of the gap to ensure they can't move. TIP In some cases when boarding at a change of joist direction, you can make boards interlock properly at the join by turning one set of boards upside down.

@newhome Can you confirm that the bands in Scotland are "Tiered" ? i.e it is my understanding of a property sells for say £300K then £250K is charged at 2% and £50K is charged at 5% Or have they changed that as well and now if you sold for £251K the whole lot would be charged at 5%?

I have just ordered one of these cheap chinese inverters, this one, the 500W version for £55.81 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1000W-Grid-Tie-Inverter-230V-MPPT-Pure-Sine-Wave-Inverter-50Hz-60Hz-Send-From-F1/323722204850?hash=item4b5f58d6b2:m:mEuwP94Oxr8A8OuF2xH98AA There are many version of this inverter and you have to be careful to choose the one where the input voltage range matches the Vmppt of your panel(s) In my case the Vmppt of 1 panel is 30.4V, well within the 22-60V range, but some of them are set up for 24V panels so would have been no good. Also worth noting that some of the sellers of these inverters offer them at a buy it now price or "make an offer" Don't waste your time making an offer, I tried with 2 sellers making an offer £5 under the BIN price and they just came back with a counter offer 10p less than the BIN price. If they are not prepared to accept an offer, why advertise it? It will typically be about 3 weeks now before It arrives. I will get the panels mounted on the shed ready in that time.

Unless the rules have changed, I thought you had 3 years to sell the other property and you could claim the extra stamp duty back (yes I know it's no longer called stamp duty but I can't keep up with the new names, especially as England and Scotland have different names for much the same thing) Since she will get the extra tax refunded, could she take out a 0% credit card and pay it on that, and then repay it in full when the other property is sold. There is an up front charge usually but it is still a cheap way of short term borrowing.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Many on here are (or have) built what we regard as low energy houses and using various forms or renewable energy. Best to start some discussions about what people have done in separate topics not just this one.

I think PV, as in a paid for installed system, is dead just now except for someone who wants it for eco reasons. I am hoping my DIY system will be paid for in energy saving in about 5 years, but it was hard work getting the kit cheap enough to achieve that even with DIY install.

So it has about 6 degrees hysteresis between turning on and off, and you can adjust it between a (mean) temperature of -27 and -20

How practical are you? Will you be installing yourself or paying someone to install it. The very cheapest way is just buy the manifolds, pipe etc and just fit it yourself. Do can run the layout program LoopCad for something like 30 days on a free trial to plan your layout, you only need to do that once. But you will first need to know the actual heating requirement of the house so you can choose the pipe spacing Get all your information gathered before activating the trial period. What type of floor make up is it going in?

That will probably perform badly. You can get cheap "proper" socket sets e.g this is probably the bottom end of the market https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Socket-Set-40pce-Metric-Imperial-AF-Sockets-Ratchet-Reducers-3-8-1-4-Drive/182463732218?epid=2254731687&hash=item2a7baf99fa:g:6PwAAOSw2gxYrXj9 I have 2 such cheap socket sets (not identical but similar in scope) and as long as you don't try and shift a completely seized nut, they have done good service for a DIY mechanic.

Re supples and meters. As soon as the DNO gives you a connection date they should then issue you with an MPAN (Meter Point Administration Number) When you have that you can book your supplier to come and fit a meter. I found it was a whole lot simpler to sign up with your DNO as the supplier (SSE in our case) and then switch supplier afterwards if you want to. It is unlikely your meter will be fitted on the day the supply is installed, we had a week wait.

I think I would be building that up with wood. Choose your wood then level the top of the exiting with cement so you get it the right thickness for the wood to sit level with the joist, then bolt it down into the concrete.

To be honest, get an electrician to come and test it. You won't have the test equipment needed.

Sorry I should have checked. My search was for "freezer thermostat" not "Fridge thernostat" so arguably it is listed wrong?

This seems to be the universal freezer thermosstat on the bay, Do you think you could make that fit? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FRIDGE-FREEZER-THERMOSTAT-VT9-KIT-Temperature-Control-Danfoss-Ranco-k59-VL9/283414587825?hash=item41fcd369b1:g:ho4AAOSwxPNb1gQS

I assume with fast freeze on and the compressor running, the freezer gets cold? If so buy a new stat.

Well I know what I would do. Fit the indicator and swear blind on a public forum that I had not.......

Yes that is all https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SURFACE-MOUNTED-ELECTRIC-METER-BOX/202596025500?hash=item2f2baa049c:g:HzMAAOSwbrZcZDsY

I smell BS in that statement. It sounds like yours is just like ours. Obviously as they start up some bits will warm up and some bits will cool down and I believe it is just expanding and contracting parts moving against each other causing the creaks cracks and groans. Just strikes me as poor or at least can't be bothered, design.

Should be okay as long as it is sound. SSE up here are not very fussy if they know it is a temporary supply, I have seen a kitchen cabinet on a post with a bit or roofing felt tacked over it and they put the supply head and meter in that

Either option is possible, If you keep the meter there, you have to install a switch fuse and your own steel wire armoured cable into the house to connect to your consumer unit. Or later you can choose to have the supply relocated into the house. for that you will have to pay the DNO to supply the extra cable, do an underground joint and move the supply into the house. You can save money by digging the trench ready for the DNO. Sounds like a good plan to get it in now while the road is open.