Feed In Tariffs(FIT) Announced.

Ben84

Cardew wrote: »

It is worth pointing out that with the growing popularity of Combi boilers, there are less and less Hot water tanks these days.

Perhaps the EMMA could power a fountain spraying green coloured water!!

I thought instant water heaters were only intended for installations where a tank couldn't be fitted? My experience with them has been bad, the hot water wasn't that hot and the flow rate was dismal. 20 minutes or more to fill the bath.

Cardew

Ben84 wrote: »

I thought instant water heaters were only intended for installations where a tank couldn't be fitted? My experience with them has been bad, the hot water wasn't that hot and the flow rate was dismal. 20 minutes or more to fill the bath.

Many people are ripping out cold and hot water tanks to fit combis and the majority of new properties have combis I understand.

The merits of combi versus standard boiler(with HW tank) are discussed frequently - I have both here(the combi in an annex) and am firmly in the HW tank camp.

Large Combis can certainly cope with one shower but are not good at 'multi-tasking' - particularly in cold weather when the input water temp is low.

John_Pierpoint

For "eco" installations using "trickle" technologies the really big hot water tank with multiple coils is making a come back big time. It helps to smooth and balance the system.
The idea is that it acts as a sink for spare heat and the initial winter cold cold water can be warmed and only needs a small amount high quality heat (gas/immersion heater etc.) to get it up to shower temperature. The idea of having a small tank of extra-hot water and adding cold to dilute it back down to usable temperature is so last century:D

Anyone know the details of the changes soon to be made to the building regulations covering plumbing and water consumption?

noncom_2

Well, in my current house we removed the hot water tank (because the central heating system was broken anyway and we needed a new boiler) to save space in the loft conversion room, and fitted a combi. It's been OK - you get used to its foibles, and we've coped with its output even with two young kids in the house. The main problems are the low flow rate (although 20 mins to fill a bath? perhaps you should be looking at how much water you're consuming to fill the bath that full!) and the fact that on cold mornings you sometimes have to run the tap for many seconds (wasting water) to get it coming out hot. But the idea of being able to come back off holiday and run a bath straightaway is great.

In our new house, as I said, we have an unvented cylinder which promises mains pressure hot water, so I'm looking forward to getting to know that particular system.

Diverging a little - has anyone got any good ways of maximising the amount of electricity consumed in the house while the sun shines, and minimising it in the evening? Obvious examples - use a slow cooker during the day, set the washing machine and tumble dryer on a timer for daytime, charge the laptops during the day and use them on battery in the evening..... any others I should be thinking of?

frugalfran

Can anyone tell me if there is an audible noise from invertors - a) at full load and b) at no load (night)?

We have been advised to install the invertor in the loft because of power loss in DC cables if these are long - does anyone have any info about this?

Many thanks - and for all the informative posts.

Mcfi5dhc

frugalfran wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if there is an audible noise from invertors - a) at full load and b) at no load (night)?

We have been advised to install the invertor in the loft because of power loss in DC cables if these are long - does anyone have any info about this?

Many thanks - and for all the informative posts.

a) Silent
b) Silent

Mine is in the loft, my friends have theirs in their garage (but their PV is on their garage roof)

Bear in mind the size of the thing (about the size of a briefcase), the weight of it (could be 15kg+ plus for a decent one) and the support it would need (mine is screwed to a wooden backing panel, which in turn is screwed into the wall)

They are not an exciting bit of kit, purely functional, so IMO just get it hidden out of view where the installer recommends. They'll fit a meter where you want one though, so you can see your units being generated.

Brian99_2

Noncom: Ideally...do all hoovering/cooking/bathing/washing when the sun shines on your panels... and go to work in evening

noncom_2

:T

And for those of use who work in the day, and are therefore hardly ever there when the sun is shining?

I was (as I'm sure you knew) looking for suggestions for unattended uses of electricity during the day while we're out at work and the kids are at school.

Mankysteve

But if your not using the power its better to supply to the GRID for an extra 5pkh surely. than sending it to a storage tank.

John_Pierpoint

You can play games with time clocks - but if you already use electricity for these tasks, then it probably makes sense to continue using night time economy 7 nuclear electricity for such high drain loads:
Water Heating.
Shower.
Washer.
Drier.
Freezer?
Fridge?
The idea of smart metering is to eventually allow the grid load to be met by playing such games centrally, rather than turning on an off power stations to balance the load.
Further back in this thread someone has found an "EMMA" gizmo that seeks to divert the slightly higher voltage electricity you will be generating, so you can use it at a cost of 3p a unit rather than sell it to your supplier at that give away price.
If you use intelligent metering (OWL etc) you will soon see how much electricity is being used by the various bits of kit in your household.
You have to realise that we are all paying for this subsidy, in an attempt to encourage us to use less and de-carbon the grid and meet the rash promises or leaders made on our behalf.
It has nothing to do with short term economics; it will cost those, without south facing shadow free roofs, a small fortune over the years.