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I think it does that because as it approaches the max voltage (253V) less current will flow. There will be variations because local grid voltages will vary.

Is there any known insulation under the existing floors, and what’s proposed for the extension floor? You’ll likely need to put pipe in at 100mm cc on the existing areas, and maybe 150-200mm cc for the extension, to balance out the difference in performance. Running the pipes in to Z2 is easy, just needs some sleeving over them where they exit the room, but why not have the manifold in the back of a kitchen unit?

You must be minted. £600 for the charger on a supply only basis is not 'very small'. Neither is the £300 plus installation fee.

Thanks again. TBH I don't really fancy those bung type connectors. Our drains have been blocked a few times creating some backup. Most recently by our neighbour, whose drain feeds into our manhole - and he has two extensions and no soakaway. So if the drains backed up I wouldn't want a leak at or under floor level. Seems better to me to have a leak at a manhole cover or surface drain at ground level outside. To effectively ensure any back up would rise up the waste pipe rather than leak out. A plumber fitted a bung but it seemed loose and potentially prone to leaking. Also might an enterprising stray rat disturb it. I have now seen there seem to be some small pipe angles - could I somehow put a 15 degree or 11 degree bend on the 110 pipe to try and get it vertical ? Also can I ask what the form is for drains and wastes in kitchen cupboards. It seems to be common to keep the 110 drain under the base board of the cupboard and convert to smaller waste pipe size below the baseboard and just bring 40mm through the base board. But am wondering whether this is ideal because... 1. If there is a leak at the 110 to 40 join (including by a backup) then you won't know because it is hidden. 2. If you want to clear the 110 pipe of a blockage, you can't access it to rod it except through the 40mm waste pipe, or from the other direction. 3. If you want to take the waste pipe and traps apart to clean them all out, then you can't remove the lower 40mm waste pipe because the join to 110 is below the baseboard. Your trap door partly addresses this although seems to be rather fixed in place by water pipes also going through it. Is it just nuts to bring the top edge of the 110 pipe through the baseboard ? I am possibly over thinking I guess. Poor trades people make you paranoid. Pic show what is currently in place in my utility - will place two 40mm connections through the base board - is this madder than a mad thing - should I get it reworked before the kitchen fitters come ?

Hi, We are currently in the process of purchasing a 1970s bungalow in Scotland. It has a private water supply shared with other properties. The water filtration system associated with the property is going to require upgrading to correct PH, remove peat colour and then sterilise water. This will be a relatively large set up located within an insulated and heated plant room within the garden. This is priced in. There has been some last minute questions over the presence of lead, which we are working through. Part of this process was asking the Sellers to remove a section of insulation where the house main pipe crosses over a stream to confirm the material of the pipe under the insulation. They have expressed some reservation stating that they are worried that removing the insulation might damage the pipe. This has introduced a new fear, given we will have to excavate this pipe in the garden and tie-in the water filtration system into it. Does anyone have any idea what a mid to late 1970's Scottish bungalow might have as a water main, and is it feasible when we go to try and tie-into it we discover that we have to relay the entire main? Thanks

I need to get UFH done in 3 adjacent areas, ground floor, solid slab construction. Area 3 is Kitchen, new built extension, Area's 2 and 1 are are existing old structures with solid ground floors. Plan is for UFH for all 3 areas but in 2 satges. Manifold to be kept in Area 2. UFH to have 2 zones, Zone 1 =Area 3 and Zones 2= Area 2+1 Now due to logistics etc is it theoretically possible to get UFH done for Area 3 first, so have the flow and return pipes from Manifold located in area 2 , pipes pressure tested etc. and screeded Then few months later get Area 2 and 3 done. Property will get boiler installed at a later date, currently no boiler in the property. Basically is it possible for me to get Area 3 pipes installed, pressure tested and screeded and then do Area 2+ 1 simultaneoulsy at a later date? Thanks

thats a cold roof not a warm roof. warm roof has to be sealed and doesnt require ventilation. very difficult to achieve by insulating between rafters on the underside.

Well exactly. I like to be nice, but if someone is taking the p1ss then they aren't going to be my friend for very much longer.

car charger (not a piece of paper) is a planning requirement for us. It has to be a proper charger not a socket.

It's not quite that though. Depending on the situation is equivalent to 'I'll pay for a taxi/train ticket to get you to my place'. If it's a child coming to visit then maybe it makes sense. If it's a contractor coming to do work for you, it doesn't. It's nice to be able to offer the generousity if you have the means but even semi regular charging by guests could be a substantial drain on some people*. Especially as the bills tend to come much later so the scope for running up bills and not seeing the impact until months later (when the electricity company revises your direct debit). * This is a self build forum that has a very specific audience who are much more likely to be knowledgable about these things, have solar, are relatively wealthy so the impact of charging might be less. But in a world where the EV charger is a legal requirement for any new property, plenty of people who know much less, are less wealthy, etc, will be living in places with EV chargers soon. So with that in mind, my view is that if you drive an EV and you ask if you can charge your EV at someones house you should always offer to pay (generously) for the priviledge of charging and only accept free charging if very confident the person offering understands what they are offering.

There is a hybrid option available to help keep costs down. So base layer of RFG to be compacted say to depth of 100mm - 150mm and wrapped in geotextile membrane, this should help with ground floor mositure content, followed by 100-150mm of PIR slabs followed by 75mm dry screed.

I don't know where you live, but here in Scotland we try to be nice to our friends. It's likely to cost less than the price of a bottle of wine and is the least I can do if someone is helping me out. Also if they come to visit me then it's nice to be nice. I honestly can't stand the mentality of 'what's in it for me?' Just be a nice human.

I'm at that point when I'm spending time thinking about parents increasing needs and having homes prepared for future accessibility needs seems completely sensible. In many ways it would be good if all homes had to be built with this in mind as retrofitting a building not designed for it can be much more troublesome/expensive at what may be a very stressful time. The regs only require it if the PP says so because requiring it everywhere would prevent some homes being built (mostly tiny starter type homes). I'm generally in favour of less mandates, etc, in regs but this one (and functional EV chargers) passes the bar for me. (I see the argument for just putting the cables in for EV chargers, but the extra cost of installing the charger if all the prep work is done is very small and if it's there it will get used*). * We are at about the point now where EVs are same price or cheaper to buy than combustion (before accounting for fuel costs) and it's only going to swing more towards EVs. China is already making 1500km range, 6 min charge EVs, so the reasons for not getting an EV are diminising rapidly.

That's a pretty stunning change.

I've noticed that if the overflow connection is a corrugated pipe and it attaches almost horizontally into the plughole base, then you can get backflow from the sink into the overflow pipe connection with associated detritus which eventually starts to stink. The only way to fix it is to get under the sink, disconnect the overflow pipe and clean it out. A bucket underneath is a good idea as well as a mask.

Our dish washer is connected above the U bend below the sink and can smell. Every 3 months I have to unscrew dishwasher waste connection, clean and reconnect. Problem solved for me. Running a cleaning cycle in the dishwasher doesn’t sort it. It’s just a badly designed waste connection, that allows a build up of crud. The washing machine connection in the utility is identical and also requires the occasional clean but not as often.

AAV could have failed - in which case the smell should be worse there. The other thing we had with a waste disposal unit was the flow rate was too high for the (old and clogged) pipework so we ended up displacing air back up via the overflow, which was pretty stinky.

Stench of sewerage? Is it coming back through the dishwasher?

My kitchen waste is causing me a headache - it's smelly and getting worse, even though I've tried to fix it. Originally it wasn't smelly and all was good. It began smelling only when the dishwasher was started and did it's first flush. Just in case I installed an anti-siphon trap at the sink. Not change. I then went to the soil stack boss and double checked it's all sealed up and layered on some extra solvent weld and did some general checking of joints, which all seemed good. I thought I might have resolves it, but no, the smell is worse than ever. It's an internally routed soil stack with an aav at the top just below the very high ceilings. The waste pipe boss is a normal strap boss with rubber (could the problem be here despite double checking?). The soil pipe does a wiggle through steels - this is my only know sin with this installation as I used a flexible connector to meet the soil pipe below the floor, which goes into a push-fit soil pipe. The smell is no noticeable in the ensuite below where the soil pipe is exposed so I can try to work this out. My suspicion is it's either something to do with the strap boss even though it seems to be properly welded in there, or maybe the aav at the top of the soil stack? I don't think it's the flexible connector unless it's split where it doesn't allow fluid leak. Help....

https://amzn.eu/d/0ejwJXIa Lose the rigid one, and use the above to give you enough wiggle room to get these pointing vertically again.

Fit trap to sink, use two 45 bends to realign with floor waste. cut a large trap door 200x200 in cupboard floor, sort the pipework then make a nice cover trim to go over the 200 hole, it’s far easier than trying to cut a 50 mm hole and getting it all to line up. especially if you are using the same monkey knuckle draggers you had to install that pipe.

The bigger issue is that private building control, at least in the context of commercial builders, have the wrong incentive structure. A guy who will sign off anything and never insist on rework will get hired repeatedly. The inspector who insists all the houses on a development need to be reworked because the brickies didn't bother with wall ties isn't going to get the next contract.

What is the difference between "new electricity demand" and "demand growth"? The thread title seems accurate and the same as your description. "Renewables met demand growth...while fossil generation stalls, i.e doesn't grow. "

Doing some research on what i need to provide for both my drive way and the paths i was directed towards this site....www.tobermore.co.uk Within i read this....'In England, SuDS can be recommended by planners but not enforced by law. Section 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 is designed to help with surface water management in urban areas.' Does anyone have practical experience of the implications of this. I dont want or intend to circumvent the planning rules. But it would be comforting to know that if i screw up on the effectiveness of what i do it will not have dire consequences for my bank balance. I started today looking for a recognised test of whether my drive currently meets the permeability requirements. Would hate to dig it out if its not necessary.

Thanks for the tip! Will get around to small snagging at some point! I'm using Fermacell so after screwing that in place you use a joint filler for screw heads and gaps (I have straight edged boards, not tapered). Then you sand. Next is fine surface finish all over the board, then you sand again. Then you prime and paint. There are definitely areas for improvement especially around the rooflights where I didn't get a perfect corner and I didn't use any profiles on the edges at all. I hope to return with joint filler and pack out these area, then sand and finish again at some point but it's "good enough" for now. Especially as the flaring and angles were challenging enough compared to walls / ceilings which had their own troubles! I'd say any plasterer would be having a good laugh at my work (you should see my outside rendering at a distance!) but it's fine for now. There was plenty of bashing in addition, I dropped a 20kg board from the top of the stairwell and it broke 3 stair threads and dented the front door sidelight before it stopped! So, my goal is to get all the big jobs finished, then start work outside and return to polish up the inside over the next year or two when I have the energy!! Hope this helps!