Ferdinand

The polishing is a mechanical process. I guess they will also pick up lichen and bird deposit. An interesting little vid from a rockseller how he polished stones, including beach pebbles.

Some suppliers store short term.. I once bought 200 pieces of CLS from Wickes and collected it 20 at a time over 6 weeks. They put it aside for me.

"Rate of 3.66kWh" FFS !

What's PW, and aren't you in the SW not the SE? Explication required. The only PW acronym I am aware of is the one that Brenda at the Samaritans used to use - some years ago.

Mine were also installed in December 2015, so the rules may have changed. It is East / West, with plans in my head to move some of it to a South facing veranda roof. It was not that early as an install, but still some time ago.

Wishing you the best. Persevering works. Usually.

They didn't when I put mine in 🤔. Or someone didn't. 9.98 kWp of panels and 2 x 5.3 kW max inverters. Ironically I blagged 2 spare panels and 2 spare Solaredge panel-optimisation-wotsits from the supplier as spares, so I could take it up to 10.48 kWp out of stock.

Gorgeous site. For a renovation your budget sounds realistic-generous to me at approx £1150 per sqm. Though groundworks etc and site improvements are missing. Is there anything you can do to sort out that drive? One of the first questions we ask - have you considered a newbuild? There are many. many advantages. Update: I'm late. I'm late. It's the end of July. Ferdinand

(Another of my favourite use cases is "where will the drum kit for your teenage child go?" or "where will trombone practice happen"?) For light penetration - it can be helpful just to *see* sunlight coming in in a corner rather than needing it everywhere. Here is a great interview with one of my favourite architects that touches on it: I use a tool where I draw a plan in the context of the garden, and mark up sun angles through the year, views etc - then use that to think about how light comes in, shadows etc. I'm a great fan of exposing yourself to many houses via estate agents or weekend stays. eg Modern houses owned by the Landmark Trust. Ferdinand

I predict 3 dogs, and a snake or parrot. This will not be in your gift. I think you are being insufficiently ambitious there. If you take with windows, glass above doorways, carefully chosen through views of the house, and perhaps stairwells you should be able to have sun of some kind visible from everywhere throughout the day. Others have done some detail sweating, so I will add 2 points. Try some "use cases" eg 2 people working from home, 2 friends come round for an impromptu meal, we want to eat outside at brunch time and suppertime, child stays at home to start a business, we need to care for a pair of grandmas, after an accident you end up in a wheelchair, someone in the family becomes a nudist etc. Think about indoor / outdoor living. This is Scotland, so shelter and supper outside may matter. Storage for lawnmover, garden stuff and bikes? Potting shed? F

Octopussy has at least one tariff that gives you around 8p. And there may be one that gives you more. If you have things like e-cars and house batteries.

Should say that that payment is set by me, not by them. For obvious reasons. F

Due in 6 instalments from Oct...

It's a bad mismatch with poor data, as my current value used is £40 not £67, and I aim to reduce my gas usage (quantity) by around 60% this winter compared to last. And my current payment is £65 not £137. In Jan this year I had to recover a whole year's worth of electricity charges, as the estimates had been double for a year :-). I think they are misestimating the solar generation. Since the Smart Meter went in, they know that I am only using about 90p a day of electric. The display still has to connect to the gas meter, and I may need to move it to the hall. I just stuck it outside for half an hour next to the meter to see if it will catch.

Interestingly Octopus have now started including Rishi's £400 in my payment balance estimates. Apparently I will owe £900 more having received another £400. This does feel like future taxation policy. A difference of £1300. (The Beta uses the extra 65% on prices from October by the look of it.) Looks like I need to reduce my gas usage by 60-70% this winter. Before: After:

Sorry - I must have been commenting on what you actually wrote. 🙃😁 By the time I have Rishi's Dishy £550 plus the FIT, I may make a profit his year.

Coming back to this, does it include the standing charge? Or is the English as bad as the Maths? 🤠😛😁

Thanks for the reply. The important thing is that you have thought sufficiently and will be satisifed with your decision, without surprises in the future.

Just come across his, but delighted that you have a good result.

Excellent post. Very thanks. My only note would be that for light stuff (pictures etc) surface mounted hooks on paint such as command.com exist. I use those for nearly everything such as pictures.

Um. I'm biased but I''ll try to give good practical advice. I admit that my attitude to painting pebbledash is roughly the same as having a leg off with a rusty nail file and sulphuric acid. I have a T who has been campaigning for it since about 2011, and I have so far held firm; I like making tenants happy and this has not been easy. The issue as I see it is the difficulty of doing it, and the need to repaint it periodically. IMO it is the unnecessary creation of unnecessary work. However, given that you are committed to painting it white, the basics are that you need to make sure that you are utterly tight against water ingress at the top, and probably need paint that will let any moisture that does get in get out again, and use paint that is going to last the longest possible, and consider maintenance, and that you are both sarisfied. On colour for the brickwork and your direct question , if you do it all white it you need to be sure it will work well as a "face" for the house and you will be happy. I would look around at other local houses to see what you both think works. I think in these circs I would leave the brick as brick, and consider painting the eaves triangle at the top in a brick colour or something smart - or perhaps cladding it with something 'plastic wood' in a suitable colour. One way to check this is to print out a photo processed to look like a line drawing, and colour it in on paper or on screen. You get something suitable to do that by taking a photo and running through an "edge detect" and "monochrome" pair of filters, plus perhaps a "sharpen" filter. Stuff up at the top wants to be maintenance free, as you cannot maintain paint from a ladder without risk. So you will be into professionals or at least a scaffolding tower once every decade roughly. I would do it differently, but so would we all and that was not your question. I hope that helps a little practically. Aside: do you need planning permission ? Sometimes it does apply to colour. Or are there covenants? Checking around the area may give an impression on this. Ferdinand

It will be nothing like that difficult. 🙂

If you are using expanded foam, make sure there is room for it to expand 🙂. I think it is normal recommendation to mist the cavity with water first.

I've been doing some checking, and the problem seems to be the connections from the inverters. I have indeed changed internet provider. Reconnecting, however, seems complex, and I think I will need to raise a ticket. Reading around, there is an app called SetApp from SolarEdge, which seems only available to maintainers. In theory I can reconnect it as a customer using WPS, but that is not being very helpful. The inverters are SolarEdge 5000s, installed Dec 2015. F

By assumption, and keeping a rough watch on the FIT feedback, the electricity meters, and the meters on the Inverters in the garage. Shameful, I know. But life has been busy etc. Now I have the time to take more of an interest, and the higher prices etc.