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liquidity_2

Elainemary wrote: »

Hi there ALBO1960. I've already asked this question regarding SW London and have yet to find a reply. Hope you have better luck than me

Try Sun Renewables (http://www.sunrenewables.com) - I haven't bought anything from them nor do I have any affiliation but they gave a competitive no-nonsense quote for a fully installed and MCS accredited system.

Perry525

Elainemary wrote: »

Hi there ALBO1960. I've already asked this question regarding SW London and have yet to find a reply. Hope you have better luck than me

Until this scheme came along, this was a very small industry, with companies charging a fortune for something they knew didn't work......only people with more money than sense would have it done, to show they were green and had the money.

Now the game has changed, there is money to be made and every builder, electrician is jumping on the gravy train.

Naturally, they are basing their work on existing prices.

It will be some time before, there are so many cowboy firms fitting solar panels, that the work will dry up and prices come down.

By that time, hopefully, we will have some facts, and will be able to make a firm judgement as to whether it is the bargain the newspapers are saying it is.

Have you read British Gas' terms and conditions?
One is expected to give away so much, in return for so little.

Pincher

Elainemary wrote: »

Hi there ALBO1960. I've already asked this question regarding SW London and have yet to find a reply. Hope you have better luck than me

The problem is, even on this forum, there could be moles who recommend cowboys. All you can do is do enough research to know what you are talking about and pick up any faults as soon as possible.

I had two roofers doing some work recently, and some builders up there, and I renewed the satellite dish/aerial mounting myself. I did a final check this afternon, before calling the scaffolders. I had to change NINE tiles, this afternoon! We had already changed three stacks of tiles due to breakages! This is despite my providing scaffolding, and hooked ladder long enough ridge to gutter. There is at least one crushed by the scaffold support that can only be changed when they take it down, so I HAVE to be present when they dismantle it.

I wonder whether Isis demands that your roof is in a good state of repair. What's the point, you have to have it repaired afterwards anyway.

Just remembered, I could get the same style of tiles, but the colours don't match.

clc5

Cardew wrote: »

If you look at the threads on Heat pumps in the 'Green' forum on MSE there are quite a lot who do advocate fitting ASHPs instead of Gas CH - and that is before any possible RHI incentive. Indeed some have done just that - removed gas and use an ASHP.

Certainly I agree with your view re gas, albeit if you can tolerate a ducted warm air ASHP I suspect the running costs are much the same, and of course you do get the advantage of air-conditioning during these sweltering August days that we get in UK!

I'm one of those who plan to replace my gas boiler with ASHP, but only if RHI goes ahead. Hopefully my grant offer wont expire before the Govt confirms it. As for air con, I live in Scotland, need I say more?

Gizmosmum_2

clc5 wrote: »

I'm one of those who plan to replace my gas boiler with ASHP, but only if RHI goes ahead. Hopefully my grant offer wont expire before the Govt confirms it. As for air con, I live in Scotland, need I say more?

If you must install ashp (and I wouldn't recommend it) make sure you have your heat pump sized properly and don't assume that the quote you get for co-efficiency of performance is completely accurate ask for figures to back it up.

I was involved in the first installations of ashp in Scotland and Northern England. We were promised CoP of 3.5 to 4. Our research came back with cop of 2.2 to 2.5 at it's best. With the cost of economy 7 being so much cheaper than standard rate there weren't any financial savings. Gas is cheaper than economy seven and has traditionally increased at a slower rate than electricity making gas the best option. I haven't done the calculations for the RHI for gas yet but be warned that all of our systems stopped working between Christmas and New Year when the temp dropped to -1 and the whole system froze up.

The latest info I've heard is that Mitsubishi has had to recall 5,000 units because one has exploded and there doesn't seem to be an explanation for it.

Ashp are brill in small, well insulated properties that are off the gas grid, they provide loads more flexibility in relation to heating rooms etc but they're not perfect for everywhere. Incidentally, the CoP is calculated at 15 degrees which always seem strange to me because you don't need much heat when it's 15 degrees outside!

You might want to wait and see what happens with micro chp and tap into Fit through that once it's more readily available.

liquidity_2

Pincher wrote: »

The problem is, even on this forum, there could be moles who recommend cowboys.

Hope you're not referring to me.

Pincher

liquidity wrote: »

Hope you're not referring to me.

Peace. If you sound suspicious, other posters would have pounced already.

Referrals are pretty meaningless in my experience.
I get five useless referrals to one good one, typically.
In the end, if I'm not around to keep an eye on things,
all kinds of shenanigans go on.

John_Pierpoint

Gizmosmum wrote: »

We were promised CoP of 3.5 to 4. Our research came back with cop of 2.2 to 2.5 at it's best. With the cost of economy 7 being so much cheaper than standard rate there weren't any financial savings.
The latest info I've heard is that Mitsubishi has had to recall 5,000 units because one has exploded and there doesn't seem to be an explanation for it.

Ashp are brill in small, well insulated properties that are off the gas grid, they provide loads more flexibility in relation to heating rooms etc but they're not perfect for everywhere. Incidentally, the CoP is calculated at 15 degrees which always seem strange to me because you don't need much heat when it's 15 degrees outside!

The "Eco Dan" bumph from Mitsubishi gives its standardised figures based on an outside temperature of +7 Celsius, it also includes some graphs from the B R E (Building Research) showing the input of a more realistic 0 and the output at 35 with a CoP cop of 3.
An input of 0 and an output of 55 (for say hot water) reduces the CoP from 3 to 2 - that is one unit of electricity produces two units of heat.

Thanks for the warning.

liquidity_2

Pincher wrote: »

Peace. If you sound suspicious, other posters would have pounced already.

No offence take at all - hence the smiley in my post. Your original point is quite valid - people need to gather information and opinions from various sources and "calibrate" them against one another to make an informed decision. That should help filter out information sources that are biased or self-serving.

Solargain

Mcfi5dhc wrote: »

........Tesco sell PV - I wouldn't use them personally.......

Just out of curiosity, why not? I did, and I couldn't fault them. Excellent, neatly installed system at a reasonable price.