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Devonshire James Newest Member · 21 hours ago21 hr

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Radical refurb for generic Victorian terraced house

What may appear to be "plucking" to some might be expertise.

I have found clients who trusted my proposals if I requested an hour or a day to do an assessment, but I knew what the result would be.
Not for an exact price, but in feasibility terms.

But you have a point... there is much overconfidence out there.

By saveasteading · 1 minute ago1 min
how much 100mm silver aluminium tape will I need?

I suspect that own brand retailers shop around and change suppliers so the quality may change over time and even between batches.
Example from a different market: Which magazine would not rate some products (ketchup?) From Aldi or Lidl because samples from different UK regions were not the same product, though labelled the same.

By saveasteading · 6 minutes ago6 min
Please Check Your Ecodan Installation (Immersion Heater)

I want to sanity check that my installation is wrong and to warn others of the possibility that theirs might be too.

The Legionella cycle that is run periodically on the water cylinder is supposed to heat the water up to 60C or 65C (you can choose). I don't know, but suspect that the system uses the ASHP to get most of the way to that temperature, but then uses the immersion heater to do that last 10C - 15C. The immersion system rightly has a safety cut off thermostat to avoid overheating the unvented cylinder (serious issue if that goes wrong).

Surprisingly, the Ecodan FTC6 doesn't throw and error if the Legionella temperature is not reached. Based on the immersion heater being involved, there are two simple failure modes that can cause this to happen:
RCBO/MCB off: the immersion heater has its own breaker in the consumer unit (fuse box). This could have been left turned off or could have tripped.
Cylinder's Immersion Thermostat Set wrong: The immersion heater has a companion bimetallic thermostat that is there for safety and has no software connection to go wrong (or that allows monitoring). This thermostat has a safety cut off which is understandably likely to be mandatory for an unvented cylinder. If this thermostat is set too low, it will stop the immersion heater heating the water to the required temperature. Also, the resettable safety may have tripped.

Below is an photo of my immersion heater's thermostat which looks to be set to (3) = 40C. Feels like this should be set to (5) = 70C [SAFETY WARNING: there are obvious issues here playing with these settings]. Can somebody please check their installation to see it they have the same thermostat and what it is set to.

Ecodan FTC6 Installation Manual:

COTHERM TSE thermostat:

My Thermostat:

My Ecodan's attempt at Legionella cycle:

By MortarThePoint · 19 minutes ago19 min
Timber frame self-build with family annexe, Ipswich – plans and thanks

Thanks @ETC that's really helpful, and exactly the sort of critical eye I was hoping for. All the points are welcome.

Some context I should have given: the annex is for our daughter, Jessica. She's very short in stature and slight in build, and uses a child-size wheelchair. She has reached skeletal maturity. She lacks capacity, so she can't self-propel or operate a wheelchair independently. She'll always be pushed by a carer or one of us. She can walk indoors, though her mobility isn't great, so wheelchair use inside is currently rare but permanent when outside. Her prognosis is uncertain, though, so we're designing with the future in mind rather than just for today.

Taking your points in turn:
Turning circle / door leading edges: Even though Jessica won't be opening doors herself, a carer pushing a chair still needs space to get alongside a handle, so I'll go back and check the leading edges at the front door and en-suite door, and the 1500mm circle in the bedroom.

Storage: This is genuinely a must-have. The store nearest the front door should really be labelled cloakroom, for coats, shoes, boots etc.

The other is for medical equipment and continence supplies, which arrive in a 3-monthly delivery. When it turns up it feels like we need a second house just to store it! Your point about splitting the storage to fit the en-suite door is a fair one though, so I'll look at whether we can keep the same volume while freeing up access to the door and cupboards.

Accessible WHB: Use will be assisted rather than independent, so I'll check we've got carer space either side of the WC and that the basin is reachable from the seat.

Hoist: We're designing in the infrastructure for a ceiling track hoist from bed to en-suite (structure and route), but not installing one at this stage.

Utility: This will be purely for carer use rather than Jessica's, as she isn't able to do her own washing etc. So independent wheelchair use isn't a requirement there.

OT: Yes, we've had an independent OT report, and that formed the basis of the design. I'll run your comments past them as well.

Thanks again, and for the NI wheelchair standards link, very useful.

By Jeremyw · 25 minutes ago25 min
how to insulate an outdoor shower?

Thanks all, I've gone with the drain down approach! :( Using it during the day after a long slog in the garden, is very therapeutic I must admit... But I don't think there's a better option!

By Andeh · 1 hour ago1 hr

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BuildHub Guide: Information about the site : Introduce Yourself

Build Design, Planning, Finance and Legal

House Construction & Structural Issues

Building Trades

Environmental, Alternative & Green Building Methods

Self Build & DIY: General

Self Build Regional Groups