More PV generation and an air source heat pump

I've been a bit busy.  My partner and I decided to buy a holiday house in the latter part of 2013 and finally got the keys in February.  Since then, we have been working to get the house ready for the 2014 holiday letting season.   

We think it now looks rather good :

If you fancy staying there for your holiday, please go to www.VarisHoliday.co.uk.

The house sleeps 6 in 3 bedrooms and is a spacious comfortable house, overlooking Loch Alsh just 5 miles from the Skye Bridge.

Since this picture was taken, we have installed an air source heat pump (ASHP) and PV panels.  Our hope is that in the period of peak use of the house, the PV panels will power the ASHP which will in turn heat the house and provide hot water.  Our initial calculations are that the PV panels are significantly powering the ASHP and we are working to optimise the controlling programme use more of our power.

Now fans of this blog will know that I like monitoring.  At Varis, we can see how much power the ASHP is taking and what the internal temperature is.  The internal temperature varies a lot : when there is no-one there, we turn the heating right down and some guests (for example a Malaysian family) want the house to be significantly warmer than we regard as normal in the UK.

The live feed is at http://my.currentcost.com/device/1189895837