The villain known as "the solar panel man" is fitting panels this week for which I truly appreciate all your subsidy contributions... ;)
I'm now trying to get my head around Air conditioning to make sensible use of generated power... Reason being that the upstairs living areas of our house get intolerably hot during the summer (we have large amounts of loft insulation but it still gets up to high 20's to low 30's during a prolonged warm spell)
I'm looking at some form of ducted air-con with 4 or possibly 5 outlets into the upstairs rooms. (Bedrooms downstairs are well insulated thanks to UFH and they are half underground so always delightfully cool, never seen them above 21 degrees ever)
Am I right in thinking if a 10kW unit has an EER rating of 3.2 (for example) the actual power required to run at maximum rating is 10 / 3.2 i.e. 3.13kw ?
Also, an Inverter modulates compressor load depending on how much cooling/heating is required?
And... that a heatpump feature means additional heating is available should it ever be required for a speedy warm up of a chilly room?
Also for a ducted system there is only one control which again I guess would be situated in the hottest part of the house and is it possible to have some form of thermostatic vent control in the individual rooms?
Finally... How much of AC can be done DIY? I'm presuming the pipes from head to compressor would need to be made (flared) on-site and the system charged by a man with a cylinder?
It would be nice to think the Solar PV being generated is actually making our living area liveable especially for the dog! :)
Cheers Pete