Someone that does solar panels.

cathy01

I have asked in Davis in Skerries, and am waiting for them to ring me back.Can anyone recommend ssomeone to do them?Thanks,Cathy

Eoineo

The Arrow have one in their carpark. Did you ask them where they got it from & if they have a recommended installer?

Rushwan

Hi there, we got solar panels done last year by The Energy Centre in Duleek. I found them brilliant. I can recommend you to them and claim a reward for myself, so pm me if you want to contact them. The amount of hot water we have in this fine weather is brilliant, even in dulll weather it still builds up heat. They did very neat tidy work with very little disruption. They reckon it will pay for itself in 5-6 years, so well worth it imo.

crookesa

cathy01 wrote: »

I have asked in Davis in Skerries, and am waiting for them to ring me back.Can anyone recommend ssomeone to do them?Thanks,Cathy

We're getting these guys in to install solar just for the hot water we're not getting the central heating connected just yet. It gives you hot water @ 55 degrees 24/7 365 unlike a lot of other systems. Also there is no tubes or panels on the roof, it's a anodized aluminium panel so would take a lot to break it.

There's a 4 week lead time at the moment as it's the "solar season"

LVP Renewables

cathy01

crookesa, I had a look, and I like the whole package.The size of the water tank.I dont know if that will fit in my tiny hot press, but sure I have a couple of names to try.Thanks for the help.I did want to go local but I never heard anything back from the other crowed, even though I was told they would ring me with a time/day in 20 mins.
Cathy

crookesa

cathy01 wrote: »

crookesa, I had a look, and I like the whole package.The size of the water tank.I dont know if that will fit in my tiny hot press, but sure I have a couple of names to try.Thanks for the help.I did want to go local but I never heard anything back from the other crowed, even though I was told they would ring me with a time/day in 20 mins.
Cathy

They came out and had a look and have a few different sizes of tanks so should be able to accomodate. Your man's name is Brain Glesson nice guy, you can tell him I sent you

LeoB

John Butterly of Butterly fuels in Rush 01 8438243 do solar panels. Not sure of the details but nice lads.

cathy01

crookesa wrote: »

They came out and had a look and have a few different sizes of tanks so should be able to accomodate. Your man's name is Brain Glesson nice guy, you can tell him I sent you

Rang them, had a rep out and its 4.5K:eek:
Will see what happens, I really want them.Hope the credit union like me.Cathy

Oh Leo B, I rang butterlys and one of the brothers is going to ring me back.Thanks a million,Cathy

Paulw

I was talking to activ8energies and they're coming to give me a quote this week.

cathy01

The LVP one gives 100% of your hot water needs, even in winter.I think thats why I liked them, but am waiting to see if Butterly Brothers have anything similer.Thanks for the advice,Cathy

crookesa

cathy01 wrote: »

The LVP one gives 100% of your hot water needs, even in winter.I think thats why I liked them, but am waiting to see if Butterly Brothers have anything similer.Thanks for the advice,Cathy

Ask them for a discount sure what you got to lose and you'll have your SEAI grant. Just think no need for heating the water ever. 24/7 365 hot water. We ordered and they're installing on 8th Aug which is a quick lead time .

Keep us posted.

Paulw

crookesa wrote: »

We're getting these guys in to install solar just for the hot water we're not getting the central heating connected just yet. It gives you hot water @ 55 degrees 24/7 365 unlike a lot of other systems.

Going to check these guys out myself.

Just wondering if your electricity increased much after you got it installed?

Power usage, of the pumps and such, would be my main concern about these solar installations.

cathy01

They said about €35 per person per year.Not bad.I havent heard anything back from the Butterly brothers or Davis in Skerries.Madness.I dont think they want my money...well the credit unions.:D

Paulw

Well, just had the Activ8 guy out. Plenty of info, a good look at the place, but to me, it seemed a little expensive. The system, fully installed, worked out just over 12k. That's a bit above our budget.

So, time to research the other companies, and compare systems and prices.

crookesa

Paulw wrote: »

Going to check these guys out myself.

Just wondering if your electricity increased much after you got it installed?

Power usage, of the pumps and such, would be my main concern about these solar installations.

We were told about the same, a house of 4 and informed about €150 pear year. We don't have a south facing roof so are getting it mounted on a westerly aspect. We're told the performance may reduce by about 5% but this is negligible as we don't ever expect to use the system to it's full capacity.

The only cost are the running of the compressor to move the coolant around the system. Worked out in the end for us about €3,600 with SEAI grant.

Getting it installed start of August.

Paulw

I had LVP out on Friday. The opposite from Activ8. LVP were delightful to talk to, easy to talk to, and a great price.

We did discover some issue which may cause a problem, but they're going to come back to me with options. If they can make it fit, then we're going to buy the solution from LVP.

Even if you're just pricing a system, talk to LVP.

NIMAN

Have also thought about Solar myself for my hot water needs, but to be honest doing a lot of research and can't see it paying for itself in anything under 15-20yrs. Think 5-6yrs was just marketing speak.

Quotes on here of €4.5l - €12k, just to have hot water.

That sort of money would buy you some amount of home heating oil for many many years.

Can't see myself taking the plunge until the cost is half of what it is now. Not sure if it'll ever go that low though.

Paulw

I do get your point.

For us, it is slightly different. Just ordered a new whirlpool bath. Our current bath is small-ish, standard new install bath, so holds roughly 140l of water. The new whirlpool bath holds 245l. A big difference.

Also, having hot water on tap means we don't need to use our gas heating in the summer and will use it less in the winter. It also means we won't need to use the electric immersion.

Having the solar panel will also help out BER rating, and somewhat increase any resale value on the property.

So, by cutting the gas and electricity use, combined with our likely increase in use, we do think we'll make savings in the long run (5-10 years). My mother got her solar panels about 5 years ago, and she swears by them.

cathy01

The only cost are the running of the compressor to move the coolant around the system. Worked out in the end for us about €3,600 with SEAI grant.


Mine worked out at 5500, for the Eco 280I , with the back up coil.The grant is 800 euro.Im thinking Im going to go back and ask why he is giving a cheaper quote to others.Its 1000 in the differance.Thanks,Cathy

crookesa

cathy01 wrote: »

The only cost are the running of the compressor to move the coolant around the system. Worked out in the end for us about €3,600 with SEAI grant.


Mine worked out at 5500, for the Eco 280I , with the back up coil.The grant is 800 euro.Im thinking Im going to go back and ask why he is giving a cheaper quote to others.Its 1000 in the differance.Thanks,Cathy

We are going for the 250 Litre tank with no back up coil. There will be an electric immersion in it in case we need that as back up.
There might be different costs regarding installation or different setup that you have that I may not.

Sallynoggin

So who would you rate as the top 3 for getting quotes off? I have two young children so solar panels make good sense to me. Rising energ costs will also hasten the payback.

vibe666

Paulw wrote: »

Well, just had the Activ8 guy out. Plenty of info, a good look at the place, but to me, it seemed a little expensive. The system, fully installed, worked out just over 12k. That's a bit above our budget.

So, time to research the other companies, and compare systems and prices.

we had activ8 out and they really didn't impress us with the price or that they just assumed we'd be able to pull the cash out of thin air in one go.

it's also big and ugly compared to the LVP one and doesn't give you 100% of your hot water either for almost 3 times the price.

honestly, i felt like they were doing the hard sell and looking at this thread with the LVP info and quotes, i get the feeling activ8 have invested in a technology that the LVP system has made obsolete, inadequite and vastly over expensive by comparison and they're just trying really hard to make money out of it whilst it's all relatively new to the market and people don't know much about them to know any better.

crookesa

Sallynoggin wrote: »

So who would you rate as the top 3 for getting quotes off? I have two young children so solar panels make good sense to me. Rising energ costs will also hasten the payback.

I think there's only one option on the current market and it's affordable.
Give LVP a shout and see what you think

Check out page 11 of this Self Build magazine

cathy01

Sallynoggin wrote: »

So who would you rate as the top 3 for getting quotes off? I have two young children so solar panels make good sense to me. Rising energ costs will also hasten the payback.

It came down to this, If I want hot water 365 days a year I will have to pay about€35 per year per person and €3600.

Otherwise its the normal /old type panel which is €16 a year to run but you only get ot water every day thats sunny.So no good to me.I have an 9 year old, that would move into and llive in the bath if she could and a new baby on the way(PG) , So it makes sence to me as you cant really shower a baby.

LVP are coming to fit on Aug 15.I got the cheaper on system at €3600 with the grant as the water thank will fit into my hotpress, and we choose not to get the back up coil as the tank is big enough.

Ill keep you all posted every step of the way .
Cathy:D

cathy01

crookesa wrote: »

I think there's only one option on the current market and it's affordable.
Give LVP a shout and see what you think

Check out page 11 of this Self Build magazine

CANT GET LINK TO WORK??

Paulw

Have to agree.

We had Activ8 out and they are not the best. Way over-priced and pushing for a sale on the spot.

LVP - brilliant to deal with and great price. Cost for us is €4,700 (excluding grant). We have a few issues, with the tank and that, but they're going to solve all that for us (with a little extra cost). Absolutely great to deal with.

I'd highly recommend LVP and also mention that you saw that on here. They like referrals.

crookesa

Paulw wrote: »

Have to agree.

We had Activ8 out and they are not the best. Way over-priced and pushing for a sale on the spot.

LVP - brilliant to deal with and great price. Cost for us is €4,700 (excluding grant). We have a few issues, with the tank and that, but they're going to solve all that for us (with a little extra cost). Absolutely great to deal with.

I'd highly recommend LVP and also mention that you saw that on here. They like referrals.

Great stuff Paul, must mention to them I'm pushing them here. Get a few referrals out of it .
Get the grant sorted first as this could delay the install.

crookesa

cathy01 wrote: »

CANT GET LINK TO WORK??

Still working for me, I'm using Chrome...

Paulw

crookesa wrote: »

Get the grant sorted first as this could delay the install.

I applied for the grant already, so just waiting. Hopefully it will be approved within the next 2 weeks.

How long does it usually take?

crookesa

Paulw wrote: »

I applied for the grant already, so just waiting. Hopefully it will be approved within the next 2 weeks.

How long does it usually take?

It 3 working days from submission online to getting the forms in the post. LVP require you have the form in your possession as they have to fill stuff out on it.
Did you find them because of the post here?

Paulw

Thanks.

Yeah, found them thanks to this thread.

JohnnieK

vibe666 wrote: »

we had activ8 out and they really didn't impress us with the price or that they just assumed we'd be able to pull the cash out of thin air in one go.

it's also big and ugly compared to the LVP one and doesn't give you 100% of your hot water either for almost 3 times the price.

honestly, i felt like they were doing the hard sell and looking at this thread with the LVP info and quotes, i get the feeling activ8 have invested in a technology that the LVP system has made obsolete, inadequite and vastly over expensive by comparison and they're just trying really hard to make money out of it whilst it's all relatively new to the market and people don't know much about them to know any better.

I heard bad stories about Active8, being very pushy and aggressive in there manor. My brother had a run in with them. Called to his house, the usual story we are in the area and we can give you a discount if you sign up now. I'm qualified to install solar myself but I have not branched out into it yet, a lot of start up costs involved. I told him to tell him I would do it for him for free, see if he can match that.

You have to be mindful of the LVP system though. In the colder months you wont get much from the panel it self but the heat pump that's in it will be working over time so you should monitor the electricity bills. The system works very well in the hotter countries because it's hot at night too and when it's dull so the evaporator is making the most out of the environment.

Also not to have a back up coil is madness. It will break down at some stage and I wouldn't like heating a tank with my immersion.

JohnnieK

crookesa wrote: »

We are going for the 250 Litre tank with no back up coil. There will be an electric immersion in it in case we need that as back up.
There might be different costs regarding installation or different setup that you have that I may not.

Now all you need to do is change your boiler and fit a weather compensator to it and you will be saving a fortune on energy bills.

Paulw

JohnnieK wrote: »

You have to be mindful of the LVP system though. In the colder months you wont get much from the panel it self but the heat pump that's in it will be working over time so you should monitor the electricity bills.

That was a concern I had. But, from looking at the tech specs of the system, I thought it wouldn't be too bad, until the weather hits about -10c (which doesn't happen that much). Obviously, the colder it gets (below freezing) then the harder the system has to work to generate heat.

The power usage is definitely something I will keep an eye on, but of course, there is still the trade off between using an immersion all year round (summer and winter) to heat water, and then having to pay a bit extra in the very cold months to have hot water all the time with the LVP system.

Would you have any guides as to the temps it starts to work harder at, and what sort of extra power it may use?

crookesa

JohnnieK wrote: »

Now all you need to do is change your boiler and fit a weather compensator to it and you will be saving a fortune on energy bills.

LVP were quoting around €11k more approx to also connect up our heating system to theirs. They told us that the coil cannot be connected to the tank and would need to be removed, is that incorrect?

cathy01

Also not to have a back up coil is madness. It will break down at some stage and I wouldn't like heating a tank with my immersion.

We have power showers in case of emergancy, so hopefully we should be ok with them.We havent had an immersion for year.
Do you think Im mad and I should get one?Thanks for the advice?

JohnnieK

Paulw wrote: »

The power usage is definitely something I will keep an eye on, but of course, there is still the trade off between using an immersion all year round (summer and winter) to heat water, and then having to pay a bit extra in the very cold months to have hot water all the time with the LVP system.

Would you have any guides as to the temps it starts to work harder at, and what sort of extra power it may use?

Hi Paulw

I would hazard a guess that it would start working hard well before -10oC. I dont have figures unfortunatly but in essence it is a heat pump and the lower the temperature from the collector the harder the heat pump works in turn the more energy used to achive the temp you are looking for. Also the recommended storage temperature for domestic hot water is between 55-60oC and nearly all heat pumps become inefficient above an output temp of 45oC. Regarding how much energy used there should be a COP figure in the tech specs. this is the coefficient of performance ratio some thing like 3.5 to 1. It means for every 1 kW of electricity used you will get 3.5kW out of it. The higher the ratio the better the unit but unfortunatly the more expensive.
There is a poster called Heinbloed on here and he seems to know alot about figures about this, it might be usefull to make contact with him if you have any concerns.

In my opinion the evacuated tube system is probably the best for this country, they have a larger surface area because of the sape of them. With flat plates the orientation is critical but with tubes this is not the case also becauce of the shape, but thats not to say they can be put on a north facing roof which I have seen.

JohnnieK

crookesa wrote: »

LVP were quoting around €11k more approx to also connect up our heating system to theirs. They told us that the coil cannot be connected to the tank and would need to be removed, is that incorrect?

I dont see how it could cost an extra 11k to reconect the heating pipes which are already there back on to a seperate coil. It would only involve minor labour a few fittings and pipe and a thermal cut off device i.e. a zone valve and cylinder stat.

You might want to question them further on this.

JohnnieK

cathy01 wrote: »

Also not to have a back up coil is madness. It will break down at some stage and I wouldn't like heating a tank with my immersion.

We have power showers in case of emergancy, so hopefully we should be ok with them.We havent had an immersion for year.
Do you think Im mad and I should get one?Thanks for the advice?

Hi Cathy

Do you have a hot and cold fed shower also? This is a major question for anyone considering solar. If you only have electric showers whats the point in spending all that money on a large cylinder full of hot water if you are not using it. If you have a lot of baths well then yes by all means or fit a power shower like a triton AS200 I think it is to utilize the hot water.

I have an eldery customer who I do work for and they hardly use any hot water at all (dishwasher, electric shower) and they are alone in the house. Some chancer tried to sell them a solar system one day when I was there servicing there boiler, the owner came out to me and asked my opinion so I went in and ran the rep from the door.

Anyway i'm going off on a tangent here, regarding the coil, the system will break down and need repair at some stage and if you are not using your electric shower for quite some time, 1 it might not work when you turn it on and 2 you will be suprized of your ESB bills if you had to use it for a week or so before they came toi fix it.

It's realy up to you but I wouldn't be with out one.

cathy01

My hubbie and son would use the shower and sometimes my teenage daughter.,Im a bath person , as is the current ungest, and witht he baby on the way we figure we will be bathing the baby till its about 4/5 and than move onto a shower.We currently have to boil the kettle for water for, a shave, wash out the bins, large pots etc.We use the dishwasher and have showers so we hope to save on the showers and I can finally move back into the bath.
I dont think we will need the back up coil as we have the showers and can just keep boiling the kettle but I honestly appricate all your advice.Thanks,cathy

cathy01

Ok, I got it in yesterday.Anyone that wants to come and have a look PM me,Im in Balbriggan.

Now , 1 negitive, the fecking noise of it.I had to get up and turn the whole unit off last ngiht.The vibration travel into the bedrooms.Im hoping that it stops.We had it on for about 6 hours last night and not even warm water.ill see how it goes today with the daylight.

Lads that put it in where lovely, no mess, arrived on time and where very helpful.

Any questions fire away.Cathy

Paulw

I would have expected that hot water would take a day or so to get up to temp, especially with the weather we've been having. I'm sure the system has to work fairly hard initially to bring the water up to temp, but then works a lot less to keep it hot.

Hopefully the noise will reduce for you, once it settles in.

I'm getting mine installed next week, so I'll let you know how mine goes. We've solid concrete floors so that should help reduce noise.

cathy01

yep, it settled down a bit .Good hot water.I have wooden floors which deffo doesnt help.Cathy

crookesa

cathy01 wrote: »

Now , 1 negitive, the fecking noise of it.I had to get up and turn the whole unit off last ngiht.The vibration travel into the bedrooms.Im hoping that it stops.We had it on for about 6 hours last night and not even warm water.ill see how it goes today with the daylight.

Lads that put it in where lovely, no mess, arrived on time and where very helpful.

That's great to hear we got ours in too last Tuesday and it's been going great plenty of hot water. Took about 7 hours to heat up we were told but the lads left around half 3 and we had a shower at 9 and it was fine.
It seems that the sound which is exactly like a fridge is on when it's topping up the system. I found that if you have a shower before bed or use a good bit of hot water it comes on and the same in the morning. We have it in the hot press upstairs so unless we're stopping and listening you get used to the background noise.
I rewired the electrics in the hot press today also and put in a Power Meter to see what it ends up on average costing up per day.
And as you said the lads were very good, friendly and tidy.

cathy01

Just to follow up , the noise , is gone, it was just starting to heat up, we should have left it till daylight instead of being soooo impatient.

We have lots of hot water , and I think my daughter is starting to grow fins, shes never out of the bath.:D

Any questions fire away.

vibe666

sorry if this is too cheeky and feel free to tell me to mind my own business, but do you mind me asking how much in total it cost to get it done? were you able to get a grant and if so how much that shaved off the overall cost?

i think my main priority is going to be minimising the heat wastage in our house first (improving insulation and minimising drafts etc.), then i was going to add solar for the water and hopefully the heating too if it's not too expensive and go from there.

crookesa

cathy01 wrote: »

Just to follow up , the noise , is gone, it was just starting to heat up, we should have left it till daylight instead of being soooo impatient.

We have lots of hot water , and I think my daughter is starting to grow fins, shes never out of the bath.:D

Any questions fire away.

Yeah we had a rattling noise when it was on but it happened to be the cover for the motor vibrating off the tank. I pushed some foam between them and it seems to have quietened it down.

I installed a energy meter for the tank to work out the cost and it seems to be costing us more per year than the told us at the start. We've contacted them and they're looking into it for us. I'll keep you posted but it's great having hot water on tap (pardon the pun!), they set ours at 55 degrees which seems to be hot enough for all of our needs.

Paulw

crookesa wrote: »

I installed a energy meter for the tank to work out the cost and it seems to be costing us more per year than the told us at the start. We've contacted them and they're looking into it for us. I'll keep you posted.

That's the part I'm curious about. I'm waiting on my first ESB bill to really judge how much it's currently costing. I was always a bit concerned about the electricity usage and cost for this system.

How much of a cost are you working it out at?

cathy01

same question.Im waiting for the guy to come back to put a normal plug on it so I can attatch a meter.

crookesa

Paulw wrote: »

That's the part I'm curious about. I'm waiting on my first ESB bill to really judge how much it's currently costing. I was always a bit concerned about the electricity usage and cost for this system.

How much of a cost are you working it out at?

It's working out at 62c a day which equates to €224 but we were told it would cost us €150 a year based on a household of 4 people. I know it's not much but I think it's the principle of it and recouping the investment of a shorter period.
Here's the energy meter I got. Bought 2 of them on ebay for €15 each and we have a night meter so you can put in the 2 rates and it calculates the total cost.

fullerand

Hi all of you who have installed the LVP system - are you still pretty happy with the output and savings?

Am thinking about getting it installed in the next month or so - still debating LVP vs evacuated tube, though...