Mattg4321

Just a standard 35mm 2 gang metal box will be fine

Being wet isn't a problem, if that's what you mean.

Thought as much. Thanks!

I’ve got sliding doors roughly 4m wide. Is it normal practice to fit the underfloor heating expansion strip against the door sill as well as around all walls in room? I was just considering a potential weak spot in the floor there if it is done, although I can see why it might well be needed. The skirting will cover it where it’s fitted to walls and will be low traffic anyway there. Thanks

They are wired in series, so the current will be constant. The voltage rises when you add panels. You need to check what the max input voltage/MPPT range of each MPPT is, as well as the current

I wouldn’t mix those on the same MPPT, but somebody more experienced than me with PV might come along and say that’s wrong. I’d imagine that the output of the newer panels would be compromised, and dragged down to the output of the old panels. You may even be nearing the max MPPT voltage rating anyway. On a separate MPPT or inverter, of course, crack on - subject to DNO approval if grid tied.

And drip grooves/channel on the bottom near the edge. It appears they have, as it’s only happening on the joint. Should some sort of drip groove have been formed in mortar? I don’t know to be honest, but seems sensible to me.

MCS is a scam. What are they contributing - because it certainly aint high standards. I just installed my own PV and battery storage, done a hell of a lot better than most MCS installs I see. Had to pay Octopus £250 to get export payments, but still a big saving compared to getting MCS registered. NICEIC is enough of a ball ache.

I wouldn’t bother with one for a normal domestic property. The consultant will likely massively overspec things, or just come up with something so basic that a decent contractor would do the same in their sleep anyway. What you really need to concentrate on is finding decent contractors.

It’s finished awaiting the roofers coming back to tile it in. It was a ball ache to be honest. The angle of the roof changing at the eaves meant nothing really sat quite as I wanted and it involved a lot of improvisation. I’m not sure how others have found it. I notice the poster earlier in this has some sort of slate? roof, so perhaps the kick at the bottom isn’t quite as pronounced as mine with concrete interlocking tiles. I don’t think I’d go to the gutter if I did it again if I could help it.

I was looking at those a couple of months back. There was some 10% off codes kicking around. Possibly now expired, but worth a google. Very cheap, but I decided to spend a little more and match my Sunsynk inverter with Sunsynk batteries as I wanted minimal chance of buck passing should there be any problems. Bit more expensive though, but slightly better spec too iirc.

I used Phase Electrical wholesalers, who I use regularly through my business for non solar related materials. They now have a renewables division in Hastings. This is their 'retail' website https://www.green2go.co.uk/ I paid a lot less than the prices shown there, but I'm spending 4 figure sums there most months so no idea if that made a difference. ITS and Midsummer were a bit more expensive for me, but may not be for you. Plenty of videos on Sunsynk on Youtube from the likes of eFixx. Time will tell how reliable it is, but it's definitely got a lot of plus points and can pretty much do everything.

Tesla is overpriced imo. I don’t see how you can make it pay back. I’ve gone with Sunsynk inverter and batteries. No complaints yet (3 months in) and a lot less money. Should pay back in around 5 years or less depending on electricity prices for me (although labour was free)

Thanks all, I'll try and remember to take some pictures and update this

https://www.screwfix.com/p/felt-support-tray-5-pack/36622?tc=OA5&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD8IdPzgEcfCF_SZZDp8-alGqZ-b8&gclid=Cj0KCQjwt4a2BhD6ARIsALgH7DpeOwsWCIBweiO47Ge4dCTasY_lGPJ6KSErzIq2sQxveSer3WhYQtUaAqBnEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#product_additional_details_container Like this? I’ve already got the drip flashing (ubiflex), so I could use this in conjunction with the eaves support tray.

Hi all I’m about to fit the PV panels to the roof and have been studying the detail where the GSE system meets the gutter (there won’t be any tiles below the solar array). The GSE drawings show the flashing at the bottom running straight into the gutter, however my roof and most roofs have the fascia set higher than the rafter tails to kick the bottom tile up. This will inevitably leave a ‘trough’ at the bottom - although perhaps this is how it always is with just the membrane? Doesn’t seem right to me. Do I fit a sloped batten to kick up the drip flashing (so it’s properly supported over its full length) - seems a ball ache. Or do I adjust the height of the fascia - though this could be problematic as there are tiles either side of the array. Anyone fitted all the way to the gutter before? Thanks

If you go electric, don’t get talked into an electric boiler. Some plumbers seem to like them, but really they’re the most totally pointless things ever made. Electric resistance heating should be kept simple - immersion heater and electric radiators, far less to go wrong

They’ll look the same as they do now, but be a couple of % more efficient!

I would seek guidance from Electrium on that one to be honest. I expect they may well say no, they are not designed to be used in that way.

I wouldn’t do it personally and I suspect most electricians will say the same. Especially when you have another option as detailed above that should be fine subject to not overloading existing unit. (MCB from current unit, via RCD in separate enclosure). There’s a good article here explaining things. https://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/years/2021/87-september-2021/myth-busters-7-out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new/ This is probably the important bit. Why would any good electrician want to take that risk? “In summary, can you mix devices in distribution boards (including consumer units)? Yes, you can. But you need to seek assurance from the manufacturer of the original assembly that the devices will be compatible, or conduct your own study to ensure the requirements are met. In the words of BEAMA, ‘The installer has responsibility to act “with due care”. If this is not done then there is a probability that, in the event of death, injury, fire or other damage, the installer would be accountable under Health and Safety legislation.’”

If you have a Crabtree starbreaker board you are very limited in options. You won’t be able to put a Type B or Type F RCD in there. Or it is at least very unlikely. If you need a din mounted meter that may not fit either. They don’t have a totally standard din rail due to the pin busbar system. Great units though, I’d fit them all the time except for the price.

‘If’ Vaillant say Type B RCD must be fitted, then that’s what you will have to do. If you can get away with Type F, then great, but that will be stipulated by them. Why not call their technical support on Monday? Either way, that type F RCD may not fit easily in your consumer unit, there are a few things to consider. Do you have a Hager consumer unit, because manufacturers equipment shouldn’t be mixed? Do you have enough space for the RCD and an MCB? How will you provide power to the RCD, will you need to buy flexible links to connect to the main switch - will they even fit in the terminal maintaining a suitable connection? If I was the installer I’d likely rather fit a new consumer unit too I think. It saves opening a potential can of worms. Not to say it definitely couldn’t be fitted in your existing though, but more information is needed.

No idea whether or not it’s required to fit Type B RCD, but if it is (call Vaillant and ask?) then they are not available to fit into a standard consumer unit in general. You will have to fit a separate board/enclosure. Type AC RCD mentioned above. I wouldn’t fit these anymore and they have anyway been almost phased out. Type A is pretty much minimum standard installed and cost no more really.

That’s only one group of scientists though. There are dissenters, some of whom are/were professors at Ivy League colleges/nobel prize winners etc, maybe they could be correct. The general consensus during the covid pandemic wasn’t exactly always correct, some of the dissenters have probably been proven correct, or at least closer to the mark than some of the ‘accepted consensus’ scientists

What did they write about that we’re currently facing? Why is the outlook bleak/why have we lost hope as a ‘race’ (species?). Not gotcha questions, just interested in your viewpoint, and looking for positives. Global population is probably as prosperous as it has ever been currently. Not something to be demoralised about it. A great achievement. The number of deaths due to extreme weather events has reduced over the past 100 years, despite rising temperatures - perhaps even because of them? Less people die from extreme heat, than cold. We can adapt to rising temperatures, as we did last time temperatures rose to the levels predicted by the IPCC. I won’t say it doesn’t worry me, but in comparison to air quality, water quality, geopolitical risk and cultural change brought about by many things, including social media, I have to say rising temperatures concerns me less. Maybe I’m being ignorant and don’t understand the risk of some tipping point event - but from what I can see the IPCC is not really committing to that sort of scenario, other than some sort of social/political unrest event, caused by water/food shortages etc. Seems to me that they’re doing a good job of risking that scenario without climate change, more due to their hare brained ideas being imposed on us.