Help with changes to current set up

Ectophile

Do check with your DNO (District Network Operator) before installing a larger solar inverter.  The existing system may have been capped at 3.6kW for a good reason.  3.6kW is the maximum that usually goes through without any surveys.  More than that would require prior approval.

Before spending thousands on batteries, work out if the cost savings - the difference between day rate and night rate - will ever pay back the cost of the battery.

Also make sure you aren't going to overload your supply.  Charging an EV, and running the heat pump, and charging the house batteries, and running the immersion heater all at the same time may require an excessive amount of power.

bintyandthebeast

Thanks Ectophile.

I hope to get some time this weekend to sit down and crunch some numbers to see whether additional panels and/or battery storage would work. As I’m not clued up on costs to do the work I’ll need to get a couple of quotes to help with that.

Not certain I can ask the DNO directly about the sizing of the inverter but will look into this too.

Agreed about overloading the supply. I’d asked my electrician about this and he said it would be fine with 2x ev chargers in total. We wouldn’t be using sauna overnight; hot tub is a 1.5kw heating element when it kicks in; immersion won’t be used as we’ll have the heat pump for higher efficiency; and cooker/induction hob are also not in use at cheap rate period.

Thanks for your input!