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Hello people, I'm after a bit of advice.

A friend of mine has just bought a very large house in Solihull. He is looking at ways of cutting his fuel bills and we're installing a 4kWp system for him. However, he is also talking about other solution to help.

Garden is finished so ground source is off the table, wind turbine is also not suitable. Anything else you think he could do?

He is gas heated on a combi boiler.
 
Air source heat pump, insulation, low energy lights, voltage optimiser.
or wear more clothes, and sit in the dark, and eat salads...

If you need any help on the above, PM me.
 
Is it mains gas or bottled/LPG?

If mains, stick with the gas, replace with an ATAG or similarly very high efficiency quality boiler.

No renewable technology installed will be awarded the RHI payments where gas is already being used (with the exception of solar thermal) so the upfront costs will outweigh any saving.

Insulate as much as poss, if the house is very large a combi won't be any use, better off with a hot water cylinder and also the possibility of exporting P.V into it via an immersion switch, so install a correctly sized system or heat only boiler in it's place.

Could then also add solar thermal if desperate, but personally i'm not sure if I really see the benefit on gas at least until they announce the RHI rates.

If it's bottled/LPG gas that's a completely different story!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for the advice, fellas.

He is on mains gas so I figured that other renewable options may not be a good idea. We are already looking at changing for LEDs - We may even try for a voltage optimiser too.

Insulation and everything else is fine. It's a pretty new house.
 
How about considering a Baxi Ecogen mCHP?

Could work in a big house, you'd have to check the figures and estimated usage. 11p per kWh and Baxi suggest a figure of about 2000-2500kWh per year generation, which over 10 years may not pay for the increased installation cost.

Although i'm not sure where you would stand if you had a 3.68kWp P.V system in place and wanted to export a bit more through this? Any ideas?

Same for wind, I always thought the 3.68 cap was to ensure that the network wasn't going to struggle, so on that basis, do you need to apply for any particular approval if you install another technology on top?
 

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