duel fuel heating

Hey ​@Mick l 

Welcome to the Forum, thank you for a great first post.

I’m not too sure myself, though I wonder if ​@Peter E might be able to share any opinions or insights?

We don’t have too many topics about set ups with solar and gas mixed but we do have the following topic which may be of interest to you:

Do also keep us updated on how you get on with this.

Hi ​@Mick l, welcome to the forum as Abby said. 

I haven't got any linked systems or solar but as you have mentioned it solar is not going to be a large contributor to heating in the winter and you don't need it in the summer. That leaves spring and autumn where solar will help out to some extent.

I use cheap electric with an air to air heat pump for most of my heating and supplement that with gas on the very coldest days.

I'll have a look around for solar/heating combinations and get back to you. I will probably ask ChatGPT and follow up leads that are promising. I'll probably get back to you this afternoon. What make are your designer rads?

Peter 

Thanks for your response. I think the best way to look at it is Wi-Fi sockets, can they be linked to some kind of house thermostat? 
I could just get basic dual fuel heating elements for my designer radiators and towel rails.

I think it may be better to go down there home assistant route

The reason why I’m looking at dual fuel is when he gets really cold as mentioned I could always just use my central heating. I would also like to use , if possible, my unused cylinder in my attic that has the cap where an immersion heater can be fitted.

That sounds like a good start. The only advice I would give is to keep it simple. Some people start off complex control systems designed to make life simple and spend all their time trying to make it work. I would say start simple and only make it as complex as it absolutely has to be.

I used Tapo smart plugs for simple time control but you can get temperature sensors and switch things on and off accordingly.

Peter 

I suppose the first thing to do is sort the solar panels, and hybrid system etc. then see how much excess I’ve got in regards to power.

I have a Combi gas boiler, but in my attic is still the existing header tank and cylinder all piped up.. there’s just a blank ends for the flow/return for  the cylinder and the hot and cold. It wouldn’t be a big job to put an immersion heater into the cylinder and connect up the shower. 
but I’m wondering, what would save me the most money,  cutting down my hot water or cutting down my heating which you only use in winter when you have no solar.

The dual fuel heating elements might be the easiest and best because I would still have my Combi as back up for heating but if I was to connect up my cylinder to the shower then that’s something that’s more final. But then again, you don’t need heating in summer😂😂

… the reason is I am planning to fit 14 solar panels a sun sink 5KW inverter and 16.1 Fogstar battery ... 

Make sure the equipment is compatible. We have had a thread on here recently where someone can't get their inverter to talk to the battery. Consequently they have a full battery but no way of discharging it. 

Your solar export (SEG) can also be with a different company from your import. Look at the T&Cs to check what the requirements are. OVO do a good export rate if you arrange the installation with them. A good SEG will mean you get paid for your large summer generation when you can't use it yourself. 

Peter