The Great 'Get Paid To Generate Energy' Hunt

Ken68

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=19990

video of a professional fit.

poohbear59

Cardew wrote: »

Heat pumps are to be covered by the Renewable Heat Incentive(RHI) which is due to come into force next year.

Although proposals were published, with the change of Government, an announcement on the future of the scheme should be made this Autumn.

However any scheme is unlikely to be as generous as the subsidies for Solar PV - but anyone contemplating a heat pump would be advised to await the announcement of details.

We will probably not be having it installed until the Autumn. I have applied for a grant and am awaiting the outcome. Do you know if they can be fitted in with a solar water panel or is that a bit of overkill on the energy saving?

Cardew

poohbear59 wrote: »

We will probably not be having it installed until the Autumn. I have applied for a grant and am awaiting the outcome. Do you know if they can be fitted in with a solar water panel or is that a bit of overkill on the energy saving?

There is no point in getting it done this Autumn as the RHI will not come in until next year(if indeed it is still goung to happen!!!).

You need to see exactly what subsidies are to be handed out - including for solar water heating. Without a subsidy solar hot water is a joke in money saving terms.

poohbear59

Cardew wrote: »

There is no point in getting it done this Autumn as the RHI will not come in until next year(if indeed it is still goung to happen!!!).

You need to see exactly what subsidies are to be handed out - including for solar water heating. Without a subsidy solar hot water is a joke in money saving terms.

Hi, I should have said it is a barn conversion which (hopefully) should be let by next Spring.
It just seemed a bit short sighted to install oil central heating when renewables are becoming more easily available and oil and lpg are so expensive now.

WE do need to make a decision and in the next few months install a heating system.

noncom_2

Nonetheless, from a financial point of view, Cardew is right.

For example, Solar Hot Water systems can cost anything around £3k - £5k to install, and (without RHI-type subsidies) will give savings on water heating for a typical household of less than £100 per year.

Now, your barn may well be huge and therefore use more water than normal. It may also cost more (as you talk about oil and lpg) than usual to heat water. However, Solar Heating is highly unlikely to provide all the hot water required, and almost certainly not at the right times! So another heating system will be required as well.

Similar arguments may apply to your Air- or Ground-Source Heat Pump.

If you require a heating system to be fitted by this autumn, you will be taking a huge gamble installing renewables, financially at least. It may very well be the "right" thing to do environmentally, and my guess is that the Government will not abandon plans for the RHI, so it is still worth considering, but I would strongly advise holding off as long as possible until the facts are in. The loss of a few months' rent would be dwarfed by the amount you could potentially gain or lose according to what happens with the RHI.

Andy

John_Pierpoint

poohbear59 wrote: »

Hi, I should have said it is a barn conversion which (hopefully) should be let by next Spring.
It just seemed a bit short sighted to install oil central heating when renewables are becoming more easily available and oil and lpg are so expensive now.

WE do need to make a decision and in the next few months install a heating system.

Beware of blandishments about heat pumps - the air source boys seem to use different standards from the ground source ones and both are over sold by salesmen not engineers.
I have never has a satisfactory explanation of what happens to the latent heat in the middle of winter when the air source machines turn into ice makers.

Ground source (or pond source:D) give a better efficiency when supplying heat via under floor heating (running at 35 degrees centigrade or less). It sounds like you may have left it a bit late for that option.
Both require supplementary heat in mid winter. (Log burner:cool: or socking big immersion heater :eek:)
Both put extra strain on the electricity supply, so it might be a good idea to beat you neighbour to the installation.
Both are trickle technology and require a building with high insulation and preferably thermal mass.

It makes much more sense to spend an extra 300 GBP on insulation and checking air changes than 3,000 GBP on a bigger heat pump.

John_Pierpoint

Ken68 wrote: »

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=19990

video of a professional fit.

Interesting video.

My instant thoughts are:

* Shadows of the trees moving across the panels.

* Why do our American cousins use roofing felt - hopefully those panels will be down and back up again when the property needs a new roof.

* Anyone know what the British "working at height" regulations are - I was particularly impressed by the Hispanic (?) guy shinning up the ladder with a panel on his shoulder. (Polish installer anyone).

John.

PS Any one got an installation in conjunction with a high starting current (big motor) on the same circuit.

Cardew

If it is a barn conversion it will presumably have high ceilings?

I don't know how much you have read up on heat pumps(air or ground source) but the principle is that they work best(most efficiently) when they are only heating water to 35C or 40C(as opposed to up to 80C with oil/gas boilers) which is why underfloor heating is favoured. Either that or you want huge radiators.

It might even be an option to have warm air ducted to all rooms.

As indicated above, there is massive enthusiasm for 'all things heat pump' by some of the pioneers who have taken the plunge, but they have a tendency to gloss over the disadvantages.

That said, with RHI they are pretty certain to be a better option than oil or LPG.

The one thing I would insist on is that the MCS installer gives you some 'cast iron' guarantees e.g. with ambient temperature @ -5C, the system will be capable of heating living rooms to 21C and bedrooms to 18C. There is evidence that the specifications on some new installations in UK simply do not cope with a normal winter.

Cardew

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Interesting video.

My instant thoughts are:

* Shadows of the trees moving across the panels.

* Why do our American cousins use roofing felt - hopefully those panels will be down and back up again when the property needs a new roof.

* Anyone know what the British "working at height" regulations are - I was particularly impressed by the Hispanic (?) guy shinning up the ladder with a panel on his shoulder. (Polish installer anyone).

John.

Not really 'roofing felt' but shingles.

Somewhat surprised at the high cost of $32,000(£21,000) before subsidy, for a 4.2kWp system.

The latitude of Virginia is roughly that of Southern Spain so I suspect he will get over 5,000kWh pa.

The good thing about being so far south is that during summer, and during the day, the Aircon can 'use up' the PV generated power.

John_Pierpoint

They were horrible "felt" shingles.
Even the wooden ones only last about 20 years - my mother's next door neighbour had them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiRi0DIUcnY
An interlocking concrete tile should be good for 100 years, if made and fitted properly.

The householder was only getting 2.x kW when the fitters left - if I remember correctly.

Good point about the air conditioning.