u/Biff0r

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice and hoping to get a second opinion on a conservation officer's decision that's left me feeling pretty stuck.

Our situation:

We live in a 150+ year old cottage next to a canal, surrounded by historical buildings. A few years ago we discovered we're in a conservation/preservation area — something we were never informed about when we moved in. We're trying to reduce our energy bills and make the home more efficient. (we actually had our back door replaced with a wood/composite door from Safestyle, as we couldn't close ti anymore, thats when we discovered we were in a conservation area, by a neighbour, only been in it for a few monh prior!)

We had an EPC assessment done which (D rating) recommended:

• 270mm+ of attic insulation
• Replacing windows and doors with more efficient ones
• Raised heated flooring
• Condenser boiler

I've already tackled the attic myself, adding 170mm of insulation and boarding with air gaps — and I can genuinely feel the difference.

The raised flooring is something we're not going to pursue

The window issue — where I need advice:

Our current double-glazed wooden windows were installed when the property was converted in the early 2000s. Despite my best efforts over the years (filling, hardening, painting — took me months of weekends), they're in a bad state and need replacing. I wanted to match the existing style, colours, and opening mechanism exactly. 

I went through the pre-planning route (£300 as suggested by the planning office) and was rejected by the conservation officer, who insists we use only timber frames. The problem with this is:

• Timber will roughly triple the installation cost
• It eliminates most of the financial savings I'd be making
• The ongoing maintenance is significant — I've spent months of weekends on the current frames and don't want to repeat that every few years
• The wood/composite alternative I was proposing is visually indistinguishable from timber

I'm on an average wage where every penny counts. I feel like I'm being penalised for trying to improve our home's efficiency without changing its character or appearance in any meaningful way.

My questions:

1. Is there any process to appeal or challenge a conservation officer's decision, or seek a second opinion?
2. Are there any specific types of wood/composite or uPVC window products that have been approved in conservation areas that I could reference or propose?
3. Is there a specialist (conservation architect, planning consultant) who could help me make a stronger case — and is it likely to be worth the additional cost?
4. Has anyone been through something similar and found a way through it?

Separate but related — heat pump, EV charging, and solar:

We're also looking at replacing our gas boiler with an air source heat pump, adding EV charging, and our solar panels are now 16 years old (south-facing). I'm not sure whether to treat these as a separate project or bundle them together — particularly given the conservation area constraints.

Any advice on whether the heat pump would also require conservation area approval, and whether there's any benefit to approaching these as one coordinated project, would also be really appreciated. 

Thanks in advance — any guidance is genuinely helpful.

Apoligies seems I seem to have gone on a bit :)

Based in rural UK, we often have weekly power cuts due to the local sub station prone to passers-by sneezing, too hot or too wet etc. Quite often it just a flicker rather than an outage for x minutes.

When we have a cut the process to get all the devices back online is tedious and time-consuming and can take a few days to get it all back up and running due to work commitments, world cup etc.

I have a mixed collection of WiFi devices, Hive, Govee and just started out with Z-wave and Zigbee devices.

If anything, when we do have a power cut it the Zigbee stuff that suffer and seems to suffer, and I have to pull the USB dongle out and sometimes it will work again.

I am using an old small form factor PC under my desk as the HA server.

One thing to note, within the next year I will be adding battery storage to work alongside my solar panels and been informed I can have a UPS-style backup system.

So what I am asking is how to prepare for this, my wife started to get annoyed and myself too, I have thought of ditching and just going z-wave/zigbeee stuff and removing the wifi devices but I have too many and would cost a small fortune to replace. Or just go back to a non-smart household, but I enjoy the tinkering. Think the annoying thing about ti all when we do have a pwoer cut almost all the items return to a on-state, so almost evry light in the house it on, the TV, nvidia sheild etc is all on. I thought I ahd set most of the devices to be off state after powercut but doesnt seem to be working.

Suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Wife and I are attending the gig and staying over. Anyone suggest must things to do during the day and possibly after the gig?

We like a beer but won’t be kicking the arse out of it due to the extreme heat we are facing at present. (This likely to change after a few shandies)

Staying over in Widness and training/taxi.

Thanks in advance.

We’re at the point of replacing our gas boiler and are considering an air source heat pump. Since we already have solar, I’m trying to work out the best order to upgrade things without making an expensive mistake.

Current setup:

• UK, North Oxfordshire
• 18 solar panels, approx. 16 years old, south-facing roof
• Old FIT “rent-a-roof” scheme — currently trying to confirm who owns/controls it
• 3 kW inverter
• Annual electricity usage: around 3,040 kWh (Scottish Power)
• Solar generation last year: around 2,900 kWh

What I’m considering:

• Adding a battery system to reduce grid usage
• Installing an air source heat pump to replace the gas boiler
• Possibly upgrading the panels
• Possibly replacing the inverter
• Adding EV charging in future

What I want:

• Good Home Assistant integration for monitoring and automation
• Ideally a modular battery system that can be expanded later
• A setup that can support future EV charging and heat pump usage
• Advice on whether to phase the work or do more at once

Things I’m aware of:

• The FIT/rent-a-roof setup may restrict changes to the panels/inverter
• DNO approval may be needed if export capacity increases
• Heat pump demand will mostly be in winter, when solar output is lowest

Questions:

1. With this level of generation, does a battery make sense before upgrading the solar?
2. Should I leave the existing FIT/rent-a-roof system alone until ownership is confirmed?
3. Which battery/inverter systems work well with Home Assistant?
4. Any recommended installers or suppliers in/near North Oxfordshire?
5. Anything obvious I’m missing before I start getting quotes?
6. The heatpump will create more energy to be used almost double?