Amazing what a few days’ sunshine makes. Now that there’s a bit more oomph in the sun light, the thermal panels heat the water in the thermal store quite quickly, so that within less than a day there’s all the hot water we need and plenty in the bottom half to keep the house warm, should it need it. And the house needs quite a lot less because the heat coming through the windows is putting warmth into the thermal mass, so that even if it gets frosty overnight, the house keeps warm well into the night before the thermostats call for heat.
So today (Monday 9th March), though it was sunny for a while this morning, the sky clouded over quite soon and only a little heat was stored in the bottom half of the thermal store. But there is more than enough heat from the previous two days to keep the house warm and the DHW requirements met until tomorrow – when the forecast says it will be sunny again. We have not needed to light the log burner since 28th February!
All very satisfactory.