New build property with heat pump and solar panels …

silverwhistle

Don't forget, not dishwasher and washing machine at the same time! It's the water heating that really draws so as long as they don't overlap: you'll work it out with a bit of trial and error, like most of us!

akwexavante

If you are with Octopus for import and export you should be getting 15p Kwh for export.

However, i have had an email from Octopus saying for reasons blah blah blah they are reducing export to 12p Kwh in April.

If i were you i'd use MSE Cheap Energy Club and select the option whereby you only get deals offered by your current provider and switch to a different octopus tariff and or phone Octopus and say that you're with them for import so you should be getting 15p Kwh for export… please put this right.

However…………… BG have a better import tariff and are offering 15.1p Kwh for export. I've emailed BG and asked them if they have any plans to drop there export tariff too and i just get a STD reply saying "For More info please have a look on our website etc etc".

As the gap between export and import tariffs widen, the more of the generated energy you use yourself the better.

If you can, save your dirty clothing / pots n pans etc for a day when the sun comes out. BUT don't put the washing machine on and the dishwasher on together at the same time. Put one on, wait until it's finished then put the other on.

I'm guessing here but with just 3 panels you'll be generating somewhere between 1 and 1.25 Kwh on a good day so try and keep consumption below that during the peak generating hours which could be between 10am'ish and 3pm'ish. Work out for yourself between what times of the day your panels are generating the greatest amount of energy and how much energy is being generated, keep usage within this timeframe and below how much energy is being generated.

After having worked out what time of day you get the most energy from your solar panels i would then reconfigure your heat pump so that it does its weekly disinfection cycle at a time when your panels are generating the most energy. If you choose to start a disinfection cycle at 10am on a Monday then don't do your washing, use the dishwasher on Mondays from 10am for a couple of hours.

Pattielabelle

We are now with British Gas. They do a half price electricity on Sunday afternoon for about four hours. We could change to another tariff which does half price electricity from midnight for a few hours and again in the afternoons, but to get this it means the tariff goes up! Not sure which is going to be best for us to be honest …

Alnat1

Another few weeks and the heating will be off until the autumn. Many heat pump owners use different tariffs for summer and winter, so have a good think what will suit your use for the warmer months, then you can decide about a winter tariff at the end of September.

Don't tie yourself into a fix until you get a feel for what you will need over the different seasons.