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Air source heat pumps do make a bit of noise. However, it’s the external unit that makes the noise, minimising disruption in your home. And while it’s a good idea to ensure your external unit isn’t located directly under your bedroom window or very close to a neighbour’s property, it won’t be louder than 40-60 decibels. In many cases, this is actually quieter than a fossil fuel-powered boiler.

If you’re thinking of adding a solar battery to your home, you might be wondering whether or not it’s going to work in a power cut. If yes, then you’re not alone as this is one of the most common questions asked when it comes to solar batteries. In this post, we aim to provide you with a detailed answer to solve this concern once and for all.

The answer to this question is, it depends. The main reason why your solar batteries will usually not work or provide your home with the much-needed back up power is as a result of the several threats it poses. You should be aware that both your solar panels and battery are connected to the main grid. When a power cut occurs, your engineers will have to operate on the grid. If the solar panels or batteries are in operation at the period there’s a high chance the engineers would be electrocuted by the electricity that’s being produced. As a result of this, solar inverters are usually designed to automatically switch off once a power cut occurs. However, it should also be noted that if your solar battery possesses backup functionality, you’ll be able to make use of your solar energy in the event of a power cut. In other words, what determines if your home battery would work in a power cut is the availability or otherwise of a backup functionality.

Furthermore, you might also wish to know if your solar panels will continue to charge the battery in a power cut. Well, this depends on the type of backup system you possess. There are some more affordable batteries that are designed to automatically release their stored energy upon the detection of a power cut. And this is mostly because the battery inverter is usually smaller than the solar inverter which allows the energy from the solar inverter to the transmitted to the battery - risking an overload. However, if otherwise, then energy can continue to be transmitted to the battery until its fully charged.

The importance of selecting the right size battery for your home simply cannot be overemphasized. A lot of home and property owners are facing this challenge and understandably so. Selecting the right battery size for your needs depend on a number of factors which includes your motive for adding a battery, your electricity usage, your budget as well as your panel array size, be it new or existing. In this post, we’re going to take you through some of these factors to help you determine the right battery size for your home or property. Let’s take a look!

• Your motive for getting a battery. While most people purchase a battery to wipe out their need to purchase electricity from the grid with the hope of making some savings, others add a battery so as to enjoy backup power. There are also some who just needs it to power their home with solar energy. It’ll not be economical to size a battery to effectively take you off the grid, but if your motive is to make savings, then you’ll should expect to purchase some electricity from the grid during the year.
• Electricity usage. The average household uses about 16kWh of electricity on a daily basis. During the daylight hours, most of these household will use a third of their electricity when the solar panels are still generating electricity, while the remaining two third are purchased from the grid. In other words, you’ll require a minimum of 10kWh battery capacity if you were to use a battery to power the electricity you purchase from the grid.

For a typical British household, you’ll most likely need a 5kWh solar power system which normally generates about 17 to 21 kWh on a daily basis depending on your location in the UK.

Biomass boilers do require some maintenance. Many manufacturers recommend servicing twice a year, although this is often included in the installation cost. Many systems have automatic fuel loading that removes the need to manually load fuel. You will need to remove the ash from the boiler, but this is as easy as emptying a vacuum cleaner.

If you’re looking to install some new solar panels in your home or property, then you’d probably want to know how it works. This is one of the most frequent questions asked by homeowners when it comes to solar panels and in this article we aim to give you a good insight on the operations of solar panels. Let’s have a look!

Generally, solar panels work by absorbing the energy of the sun and then converting it into electricity. It functions by allowing photons from the rays of the sun release the electrons free from atoms within the photovoltaic or solar cells in order to produce a flow of electricity. There are several solar cells that are connected together ( usually 60 or 72 ) in each panel. Individual cells comprises both a negative layer and a positive one which combines perfectly to create an electrical field in which the energy is generated.

The boron that’s within the bottom layer generates the positive charge, while the phosphorous found in the silicon layer produces the negative charge. In order to convert the sun’s rays into the energy that’s going to be transported from the panels to the inverter, the two field will interact with one another.

In other words, solar panels work by turning photons from the sunlight into direct current which is transmitted to the inverter. Once it gets to the inverter, it’s then translated to alternating current and send this current to to your electric box which powers the entire home. If you do not wish to reduce the high bills that’s associated with renting power from the grid, the solar energy system is an efficient and affordable way to achieve this aim.

In a similar way to other major home improvement projects, some specific requirements must be met to allow for the installation of solar panels. The main reason why these standards and regulations were established is to minimize the risk of the solar system becoming an issue or potential hazard in the unforeseeable future. So if you’re thinking about buying and fitting new solar panels, you’ll probably want to know whether or not you’ll require to submit a planning permission application for approval before you can proceed.

Generally, solar panels are covered under what’s called “Permitted Development” which gives you the freedom to install your solar panels without having to apply for a planning permission. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. These exceptions include if your house is a listed building or if your house is located within a conservation area. In these exceptional cases, it’s possible that you’ll need to apply for a planning permission, but this will largely depend on the discretion of your Local Planning Authority. What’s more? Solar panels are usually subjected to normal building regulations which includes examining the roof to make sure that it can support the additional weight. You can call in a MCS certified installer to carry out this check for you.

In order to install your solar PV on your roof, you must follow these guidelines:

✓ Your solar panels shouldn’t go beyond the highest point of the roof (excluding chimneys).

✓ The solar panels shouldn’t project beyond 200mm off the roof’s edge.

✓ The solar panels should be removed once they’re no longer used to produce electricity

✓ The solar panels should be installed such that the area and building’s appearance change is minimized.

Solar thermal panels work by capturing heat directly from the sun and using it to heat water. This hot water is then passed through a coil to heat the water for your central heating system. Solar thermal systems are compatible with many existing conventional boilers with hot water tanks, and can be set up to feed in to your existing heating system.

If you’re interested in getting a new air source heat pump, then you’d probably want to know if they’re really advantageous, cost effective and efficient. The fact is, there are a plethora of benefits that comes with using heat pumps which is a renewable alternative to warm up your home in the UK.

An air source heat pump can help you save money on energy bills while also minimizing your carbon footprint as compared to a gas or electric heating system. Another important benefit that comes with air source heat pump is the fact that they’re quire versatile and yet affordable. Generally, they can function either for heating or cooling purposes and they can also be incorporated for either heating of space or water. In fact, in order to achieve the target Net Zero by 2050, the UK government are looking to fit 19 million heat pumps in new builds. With significant rise in the deployment of heat pumps, the grants by the UK government enables this renewable energy source to become a lot more affordable to run while also helping to minimize the burden of the air source heat pump cost.

As perfect as it seems, this renewable source of energy also comes with a number of disadvantage which we’re going to list out. Let’s take a look!

• There must be sufficient space in your garden to accommodate the external condenser unit.
• The condenser unit can make a lot of noise and even blow colder air into their immediate area.
• Since they consume electricity to operate, this also means they’re not zero carbon unless the electricity is produced from a renewable source like solar panels etc.