EREC G98 / G99
Network connection route
Works out whether solar and batteries can be connected first and notified under G98, or need the network operator's approval under G99.
Paperwork and permissions
Planning, building control, the network operator, and the documents an installation should leave behind.
Calculators
Reading
Article
Paperwork and permissions
The Warm Homes Loan Scheme
From 27 October 2026 you can borrow at low or no interest to pay for a heat pump, solar panels and other clean energy upgrades, with nothing to pay upfront. The article explains what you can borrow, how the loans compare with ordinary credit and what to check before you apply.
7 min read
Article
Paperwork and permissions
Telling the network operator: G98 and G99
Anything that generates or stores electricity has to be notified to the local network operator, and above a certain size has to be approved before it is connected. The difference is worth knowing before signing.
4 min read
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme
The grant that pays part of the cost of replacing a boiler with a heat pump in England and Wales. What it is worth, who can have it, and what the April 2026 rule changes opened up.
7 min read
Article
Paperwork and permissions
Heat pump noise and the 37 decibel rule
Most air source heat pumps are installed under permitted development, and one of the conditions is a noise calculation. This is what the calculation does and what fails it.
7 min read
Answering the hard questions honestly
Six questions that come up in almost every appointment, with an honest answer to each and what tends to get said instead.
6 min read
Comparing quotes that look nothing alike
Quotations for the same house rarely arrive in the same shape. A method for putting them side by side, and what a big difference in price usually turns out to be.
5 min read
Questions
Paperwork and permissions
Planning and paperwork: common questions
Short answers on what needs permission, what needs notifying, and which documents will still matter in ten years.
10 questions
Questions to ask before you sign
Eleven questions, what a good answer sounds like, and what a bad one tells you. Print it, take it to the appointment.
4 min read
What a good quote looks like
A quotation should show its working. What ought to be in one, what the gaps usually mean, and the handful of numbers that matter more than the price.
6 min read
What customers now expect to hear
Householders are arriving with their own figures and a list of questions. This is what they have been told to ask, why, and how to be the quote that survives the comparison.
5 min read
What the customer wants from you on site
They are not judging your pipework, because they cannot. They are judging half a dozen other things, and those decide whether you get the review and the neighbour's job.
5 min read
What to leave behind
The documents and settings that decide whether anybody has to ring you in three years, and whether the next engineer can work out what you did.
5 min read
Article
Paperwork and permissions
What an MCS installation should leave behind
The paperwork is not a formality. The certificate, the design calculations and the commissioning records are what prove the installation was done to the standard, and they are needed years later.
5 min read