Solar panel installation When approaching a renewables design and supply company for a quotation, the more information you give the more exact a response you get. We look at the sort of detail they would like, in an ideal world.
Imagine walking into a mobile phone shop and saying ‘I’d like a phone that takes photos’. The salesperson would stand there and wait for you to finish describing what you actually want. It’s not so different for a Nu-Heat account manager when an installer calls in saying they’d like underfloor heating with a heat pump.
The most basic information needed is a contact name and address and the site address. Then what products are being considered – for example, if there’s a heat pump involved, is it air source or ground source? Is the project new-build, retrofit, refurbishment, extension or combination and what type of building is it?
Underfloor heating
Key to any quote for underfloor heating (UFH) is any information needed for SAP, such as glazing, wall construction, loft insulation and floor construction. Floor construction, quantity and type of materials and installation timescales will have an impact on the estimate.
If work is being done in phases, zoning and manifold locations will depend on the building timetable. For example, if there are plans to add a conservatory in the future then it’s important to ensure that there are enough free ports available on the manifold, or to take pipes down to the future zone.
Heat pumps
For a ground source heat pump with ground loops a knowledge of the amount of available land, soil conditions and gradient are all helpful. Having this sort of information facilitates practical advice – so if it transpires that a ground source heat pump isn’t feasible alternatives can be suggested, such as changing the spec to an air source heat pump.
Where a heat pump is to be integrated with UFH on the ground floor and radiators on the first floor, knowing this in advance gives the opportunity for advice to be offered about the type of radiators that are needed to work with the lower flow temperatures. It also highlights the fact that the heat pump will need to work at a higher temperature than a whole house UFH system.
Solar
For an enquiry into solar, it is useful to know the roof type, so the right fixing kit is specified, the roof tilt and orientation as both have a bearing on solar gain and the roof length. Power showers, the number of bathrooms and anticipated occupancy is helpful information, as is knowledge of any over-shading from neighbouring buildings or trees.
Stage of project
It also helps to know what stage a project is at; outline planning, approved, started or roof on. This won’t affect the quality of the response but will indicate what level of quotation is needed and where system installation fits into the build schedule.
An ideal lead time to ensure a really good response is 2 to 4 weeks, giving plenty of time for any questions to be asked and the right solution to be offered. Detailed plans are extremely helpful, and if these are not to scale, knowing the dimensions can make a big difference.
Right first time
Investing in the time to provide enough information for the response to an enquiry to be right first time is well worth the effort for all concerned.
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