Marvin

Hi @Itrium Our ASHP external pipework is insulated within an inch of its life. Climaflex wrapped in Supasoft loft insulation, wrapped in EDPM. And taped up. Total about 200mm thick. Yes all our electric heaters disabled but available. Our 205ltr hot water tank registers about 20°C at the bottom, about 44°C ⅔ up and about 55°C near the top, all at the same time. Low and slow is the way to heat your home. We drop 2 degrees at night to sleep comfortably. With our Weather Compensation (WC), we adjusted at what points, what the set temperature, is. Having about 5kW PV we have lowered the maximum ASHP kW input demand by adjusting the compressor speed to take advantage of the PV, by trying to make our ASHP work lower for longer, also helping the cycling (starting heating length of time and turning off length of time) and also adjusted the ASHP stop differential temperature setting, which as @dpmiller says allows the inverter to wind down more progressively, lessening the chance of / ignoring an overshoot (lack of buffer capacity eg) and reduces short-cycling. Which is what is now happening. In the last 24 hours here we have had an average of about 3°C and my meter for the ASHP shows we have used 8.99kWh for 104m2 floor area. That's about 3.6 Watts an hour per m2. (Although we do have AIM and APE. That is Airtightness, Insulation, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery, and Air Source Heat Pump, Photovoltaics and Electric Vehicle. Good luck with improvements M

Hi @Conor The system may be trying to push water past trapped air down a pipe. Good thing to try with the pump off. Another one I've tried is to open only the one loop fully and run for a while and that forced the air along the pipe. Make a note of where all valve set points are before shutting them off and don't end up testing/setting everything for hours to get it to work properly Like I did.

I now know that the Temp. diff. is only the difference before restart So I assume that the Stop temp diff. is how much the Temperature differential before stop? Related to heating: Why not just set the temperature a little higher instead of extending the stop temp???

HI I noticed that our ASHP cycling is a bit too short on our Coolenergy inverTech Monoblock. To extend the cycling period I have been looking at the Differential Temperature Settings. Can anyone please explain what these two mean: Hotwater setpoint. Temp. diff. = (Default 5c) (Temperature differential before restart) Stop temp diff. = (Default 0c) (Buffer range to optimise compressor frequency) I guess that Temp diff means the distance between the set point and where the ASHP reacts: (Set at 5 degrees on heating means 5 degrees below turn on and 5 degrees above turn off?) But I'm not sure I understand this one at all: Stop temp diff. Thanks

Hi @JAG Also, roughly where in the county are you? IF, you have cavity insulation and driving rain this can cause this sort of problem. We have a 1970's timber framed bungalow but with no cavity insulation, however we decided to paint the outside becaue of the driving rain. My mum's bungalow with cavity wall (brick and block) has cavity wall insulation and had problems from driving rain.... Good luck M

My comment: May be an ASHP needs a bit more room than a room!

Yes it's not only bringing the air in but avoiding the mix of temperatures of before and after air.

I think most ASHP have some level of standby/frost protection power consumption of about the scale commented on. Also, of course, if your running, the heating / hot water it won't be on standby!

I think there are mixed results for different trades in different areas of the country... Its honest of them to let you know and not keep you hanging. They may be a big company that is involved in large contract works, although I don't think HS2 is going that far!!! Try some others. I would try the Asphalt batching plants for company names. They will know who is working in your area. Good luck M

Hi @Nickfromwales We have a small tank in the loft with a potable mains supply via a double check valve feeding ball valve 1, and a float switch operating a pump on the rainwater side feeding ball valve 2. The loos are then gravilty fed. The ball valve on the rainwater side is an over filling precaution along with the overflow pipe. M

This should help: The male end of the stove pipe for wood burning should always point down and/or pointing at the stove. Also, the wood stove pipe should always be inserted into the collar of the wood stove outlet. From: https://www.rockfordchimneysupply.com/blog/correct-direction-to-install-wood-stove-pipe/

It's really sad, but rainwater harvesting is a real tricky thing to justify. The time that you want to use it most, is the summer when it's dry, and the time you need it least, well er, now. We have rainwater storage only which is used for watering plants and filling the loos. 4000ltr approx. Dries out in summer. Full all winter. We have to have 2 seperate supplies for the loos. 1 mains back up one rainwater. If I had any option again I would increase the tanks to 10000ltrs but still only supply plants and loos and spend any budget I was going to use on rainwater harvesting on additional insulation and additional PV. GOOD LUCK! M

Hi @umer My DNO's response June 2021: Good Afternoon Thank you for getting in touch. The below is the criteria required to apply. If you would like a formal connection offer and are applying for a generation connection of 50kW or less then this will be dealt with through our Microgeneration Team. You would be required to submit a Completed G99 A1-1 form, which I have attached for you. You will also need to provide the following supporting documents; Site Plan – Please show the site boundary and proposed new supply location. Schematic – Please show the name & size of inverters being used, a clear demarcation between the DNO and customer equipment and the generation itself. G99 Type Test Certificate LOA – Please provide a signed letter of authority dated within the last 12 months (if the landowner is applying please state this in the application/email). Some of this information you will be best to get from your appointed installer. Once you have everything you need, you can email north.Microgen@sse.com or south.microgen@sse.com where your application will be reviewed and registered. If you have everything required to make your application competent then it will be passed onto our Network Designer for quotation. You will receive this within 65 working days . Please be aware that Connection Offer Expenses, where applicable, will be due to be paid for the provision of this Connection Offer. Where applicable this will be payable even if you do not wish to accept your Connection Offer. If you cancel your applications within 14 days you will not be liable for any Connection Offer Expenses. However where applicable, if you cancel after this point you will be required to pay the full amount. For further information on Connection Offer Expenses, including where charges are applicable, you can find our Connection Offer Expenses user guide here. (https://www.ssen.co.uk/connections/usefuldocuments/) If you are applying on behalf of an ICP or IDNO please let us know. Please do not hesitate to contact us at mcc@sse.com or on the telephone number below if you have any problems or queries. Many Thanks

From discussions here, I think different DNO's want different things so I would double check.

Hi @umer They want to know where you are and what your connecting is limited to what your asking for. My rough plan showed the outside of the house and boundaries, where the panels were to be on the roof, where my consumer unit was and where the inverter was going to be. With brief description eg: panels here on front roof. Mains supply to here in the garage Inverter here in loft. With arrows.

1 Street plan showing location of property and full postal address. 2 plan of your property. 3 technical specification of the inverter you are proposing to install.

Hi @joth That's good info and thoughts! We know our inverter will allow just under 8kW of panels and we are going to increase them at some stage. M

Hi @umer This can take a few months to get a reply from your DNO. It took about 2 1/2 months for us and a £360 fee.

Hi @GaryW Yes low and slow is the order of the day. Low temperature water and slowly warming. The smaller the difference between the outside air temperature and the flow temperature from the ASHP the greater the fuel saving. We use adjusted weather compensation. When the day gets warmer the heating water temperature goes down. Our buffer tank is at 35°C and it is 10.8°C outside and over 22°C inside so allowing losses, say a difference of 28 degrees so for every 1kWh used, 4kWh of heat produced. Good luck M

Hi @Dillsue Sorry for the confusion. Perhaps this clarifies: When speaking to SSE (our DNO) they said it was about the maximum that could be exported and it has nothing to do with the panels or the battery storage capacity but the unlimited total output of any inverters connected to the mains.

another consideration? https://www.thelimecentre.co.uk/products/insulating-plaster-render-limecrete-floors/internal-insulation-in-old-solid-wall-buildings/

When speaking to SSE (our DNO) they said it was about the maximum that could be exported and it has nothing to do with the panels or the battery storage capacity but the unlimited output of the inverter. ( So a 12kW inverter adjusted to 3kW would need permission). I also understood that the battery storage has to go through the inverter, making the inverter limit the maximum export. If however there is a direct link from the batteries to the mains, not going through the inverter, the storage has to be added to the inverter limit? Or am I just confused again.

and some like us have a low wattage kettle....

Hi @jayc89 I know very little about lime plaster apart for the thought that I understand it needs to breath? Is this right? Can lime plaster suck in water for the outside and deliver it to the inside? Does this mean the walls need to breath? I'm sure someone will clarify...

but the floor as well