All Activity

How much do you need to fill? Have you dug out for your foundations yet? You can fill with whatever you dig out and cap with topsoil

There's a lot more to it than that. As I understand it at the moment, the pump is a modulating pump which is just there to boost head where necessary, which is becoming less common with the current crop of pumps, but there are still heat pumps that require external circulators. The issue with the radiators is that if you use standard balancing approaches, they're only correct at certain flow/pressure situations, and other than pressure independent flow regulating valves, there aren't any other tools that are a reliable way to balance the flow through radiators for all operating conditons. Most of the industry still uses standard lockshields and some are now starting to use the flow regulating valves, just like the UFH ones. The Adia unit has its own valves and room stats that feedback information to the system to understand the local climate situation at each radiator and it can also adjust flow temps and flow rates etc. to those based on this information. Nothing else on the market can do this. However, the flow temps are still global ones. What's also handy is the ability to control the system according to tou tariffs which I know customers really struggle with. But I do agree with you that having a box that includes everything, where you need it or not, may be unecessary. My thinking is that its position is really for retrofits with primarily radiator circuits and at the moment there are limited heatpumps it can work with - I have one project I'm completing the design for right now with a troublesome heating area fed by inadequate pipe sizes but the customer is adamant they don't want any disruptive work, so pipes have to stay the same. My worry about all these things is that it is a startup with unknown reserve capital and it largely seems like it's still in a development stage. They proudly display the venture capital firms, but having worked in the tech startup scene for about 10 years, I'm always cautious about this. This is an add-on product with currently limited compatibility with heat pump manufacturers living in the hope of an open protocol to be agreed across the industry. Looking at their team, they've clearly got a lot of very clever people on board, but other than a small number of testimonials, I can't see any real-world test evidence to back up their cost saving claims - and that always worries me. I also wonder whether some of the benefits they're selling are really as valuable as made out because they are suggesting forms of zoning, which we know in practise aren't great and don't necessarily improve efficiencies or save on running costs. For me, this is another of those 'solutions' being introduced to the market in the attempt to overcome common objections to installing heatpumps and trying to make it out like it's no different from installing a gas boiler, a bit like the new Zero disrupt scheme by Heat Geek. I'm taking the cynical view here, but I am thinking about how it might work very well for some projects, but it still doesn't and shouldn't detract from the fundamentals of good design and the long term benefit of designing and installing a system to run on good old low flow temperatures.

Hi Guys Our site slopes down away from the lane towards our house by about 90cm over 8 metres. Each side is also about 8 metres wide. So i have a wedge shape on either side of the central drive that i need to fill. Not certain if it needs to also be SUDs compliant. Filling it 100%with topsoil will probably be more expensive than necessary. If anyone has done similar how did you approach this please?

The most pernicious aspect of self building is sleeplessness. Hands down, no contest, it's awful. I'd rather have no money in the bank than be constantly sleep deprived. (Maslow's Hierarchy) No matter how good a day you've had, it manages to kick the ground out from under your feet: and once its started, it happens not once or twice but - OFTEN- Adrenaline has a certain fizz to it doesn't it? Great when you're playing with the kids, walking in the hills, laughing with mates, skiing, sailing on a reach. But at 03:00 it's a real fekkin' bastard. And when thats already happened three nights this week - I've been reduced to a Zombie for much of the following day. And this - in my direct experience - in the context of having professionally been required to lose sleep and get on with it over extended periods. I know from experience, sleeplessness stops. But that was last century when I was fit and sap was on the way up the tree. But still, boy oh boy, did I make mistakes when sleep deprived. Luckily I was working with experienced people whose job it was to keep an eye on me. And who relied on me in turn to watch their back. But self-builders don't have that do they? It's you, lonely little knackered but brave you. Watching the sheep cavort on the ceiling. Heart beating faster than .... [insert appropriate simile here] @Pocster watching for non-existent drips coming out of the ceiling ? @Onoff seeing a new - but expensive - laser level ? @SteamyTea finding a hitherto unknown data set ? @Gus Potter fantasising about being able to do complex stress calculations in his head ? All of us - every man-jack-jill-one of us has suffered the delights. And ( like me) , you probably still are to a greater or lesser extent. Depends on the stimulus doesn't it. So, let's have a list of how you've coped with it. There's no cure. But we can have a bit of self help....... we're good at that. Over to you.

I will also be installing MVHR and UFH on the ground floor. Whilst these aren't identified in the SAP calc, I've now made them aware of this change

Good morning all, Please find attached the:- Architects drawings (JM 1A-JM 1C) Structural Drawing - Drawing 05-8876 01-02 mod B SAP Calc Hopefully I've caught all of the information when I've redacted. Important changes to note:- Structural Drawing shows a Girder Truss at the front. This was misinterpreted by the structural engineer. He has since confirmed that using extra heavy duty lintels above the two bedroom windows is acceptable with the current roof truss design. The two small Bi-Folds have been replaced with one singular 6m long Bi-Fold. This is reflected in the structural drawing but not on the architectural drawings. This has been agreed with BCO. SAP person is also on board and he believes some additional insulated plasterboard will compensate for the reduced cavity and insulation on the ground floor, rear elevation. The main part I struggle with is the conflict with the information contained within the SAP calc and that shown on the Architects drawings. Especially once I start following the recognised construction details that I need to achieve for the SAP calc (see link below for part fill insulation in the masonry cavity wall:- https://www.recognisedconstructiondetails.co.uk/walls/masonry-cavity-wall-partial-fill-insulation# Step 1 - 100mm Insulation (except on the rear ground floor, where it is 50mm) Step 2 - 0.022 W/mK Step 3 - 0.60 W/mK (Although I'm slightly better than this) Edit:- I should have explained my current build position:- Drainage all installed including attenuation tank in rear garden for surface water. All block/brickwork completed. 22mm flooring installed on 1st Floor. Roof completed with integrated solar panels & Soffit/Fascia. External cladding being installed on Dormers this week. Thanks in advance for this. Jamie drawing 05-8876 01-02 mod B.pdf JM 1A.pdf JM 1B.pdf JM 1C.pdf SAP 10 - Client Declaration of Agreed Construction Form Rev 0.pdf

More or less, yes to all that. The central point is that the UK is a waning FF producer because of geology and not any policy. There is no reversing that. No "give more tax credits" or "allow more drilling" that will increace FF production. The NIMBY's often come up with reasons to be against the various things we need to do. One of those reasons is "claimed change/net zero is a scam, we have plenty of fossil fuels of our lefty government would just let us drill" - that is bollocks. Of course there are other nimby reasons - "thousands of birds will die", "the view", "rare snail/newt/bat once was seen here", "my house price!"

Once signed off, I would remove the glass panel from under the bottom tread. It adds nothing to safety and will impede the hoover.

Are you not just arguing for the sake if it? No one one says (well maybe a few some ill informed are) that we must stick with hydrocarbon energy sources. NIMBY's are complaining about anything and everything, even if happens 20 miles from them. If we can get all our energy from renewables (which doesn't include nuclear) let's fill our boots. Distribution of said electric needs to happen, more NIMBY action there. In the time to bring renewables on line oil/gas needs to back fill. All very simple.

The problem I’ve seen in these situations isn’t having sufficient bearing of the concrete lintel onto brickwork below, it’s the condition and location of the lintel onto small pieces of badly secured brickwork. cutting a hole up through a wall could end up with the lintel sitting on a small cut piece of brick instead of a full brick. removal of the plaster is needed as is proper placement of the opening or removing any small slithers of brick and replacing with full or half bricks minimum.

Some of our building regs are bloody ridiculous

Ah this old chestnut..... Fossil fuels are absolutely vital to modern life for all thr reasons you just mentioned and many more. Which is why it is daft to burn the stuff when we don't need to. Imagine you were a furniture maker and luckily had a nice forest of trees ideally suited for all sorts of furniture projects. It wasn't a huge forest but, if you used it just for making wooden things it would be sufficient and you could trade some of your wood for other wood when you needed a specific wood you didn't have. Now do you heat your workshop with a wood fire, cutting down perfectly usable trees to do so? Do you generate the electricity for your workshop with a wood powered generator? All the whole consuming that valuable resource at a rate that will.empty the forest in less than a decade? Or do you use wind and solar etc to do that, only burning some of your valuable wood over the few winter weeks where the suns nd wind are insufficient, so you can make that resource that you cannot make furniture without last longer?

Panasonic, Daikin, I'm using a Myson iVector. You need one with adjustable water flow temp fan start permission. Some only really designed for gas boiler so have a fan start permission of say 45 degs - which is no good. These fit in the none adjustable fan permission category, in most and are designed to allow cooling.

Think it's there to cover all bases. Use the installed pump of the ASHP to overcome heat exchanger and piping to house. The secondary pump is there to push though micro bore if you need to. It's a one box to cover a lot of situations. Still not seen anything on how it works with UFH. It says one flow temperature systems including UFH are doable. But not seen any details.

Back to the heat pump compatible fan coils…. Does anyone have any recommendations??? or with the „fan assisted radiators” (basically a fan coil so far as I can see)? Or is running AC split system more effective? If so, I’m assuming heatpump could be downsized to offset capacity provided by AC heating/cooling

We're these news articles from sources like the telegraph, times, express, mail? They have a tendency to put the most negative spin on stuff eg quoting costs and not savings "will add £140 to each bill!!" - neglecting the saving element which reduces that to £30 net and so on. And the £400 figure would be if the entire £13bn was split evenly amongst all households and then charge in one year.-again not waht woukd happen even if it was being added to bills. So you brandish comments like "Ed added £300 to everyones bill last week!" When actually you mean "I don't know it it's going on bills but if it did and it was all charged on one year then it would be £300" Incidentally there is good eveidnce not all of the 13bn, if any, is going on bills because some of that is on thr form of 0% loans over several years. That means the money is paid back so thr government only needs to back the loans not actually pay out. The eventual cost woikd be defaults and interest which won't be all of thr loaned out figure.

Not for the individual with the PV. My January bill is looking to be about about half what it would have been otherwise and I'm expecting to drop to zero sometime in March before becoming cash positive. So from my perspective it's lowered my prices. And the fact that my demand from the.grid has been lower will (ever so slightly) lower prices for those still fully on grid due to lower demand.

The high unit price for gas generated electricity itself isn't the issue. As you say, backup capability is expensive - the capital and fixed operating costs have to be amortised over fewer kwh so they will push up the price. Obviously we have to pay that to the gas generators or they will just shut up shop and not be there when we need them. The issue is that the price paid to the backup gas generators (or whoever happens to be the last generator) is paid to all. On the one hand this is good for renewables generators as they get much more for their electricity, up to the strike price, but it does push up the wholesale price somewhat.

They can't, almost no country can, it's a global market. It's what I mentioned previously, it shouldn't be a binary gate, each fuel, renewable or hydrocarbon has a part to play. Trouble is the environmental activists, demonstrate, with their plastic tents, plastic drinks bottles, fleece jackets, nylon ropes, and don't understand all that vanishes with no oil. The point should be what mix of fuel and energy sources leads to best self reliance. A grown up discussion needs to be had, but British politics, the press and the money, will never let that happen. You need people power to revolt and standup, but most couldn't give a stuff or cannot or not interested enough to understand the issues or possibly solutions. In the round renewables is the way forward, but for a long time hydrocarbons will have a big part to play, especially in England, Scotland way less so.

You used the wrong word there. "would" be lower is "sholud" be lower. But itsnt and wont be due to market structure. In fact it made it more expensive.

My understanding from the various news articles was it WAS coming from bills, but granted its not entirely clear. I made it over £400 per household using simple maths. Even if its from other than bills, its still 13bn!!

Its a given, because theres been action to make it otherwise. Nor any serious proposed action that might bring prices down. However, theres been plenty of actions that are pushing costs up. Based on actions, not words, prices cannot come down. Prvate PV is entirely seperate from the price of electricity that one buys from an energy company. If theres a proposal for a commercial PV array, that will provide free energy and circumvent the market price peggging, please do tell? As it currently stands the consumer wont benefit from the "free" PV. The company who installed it will in the shape of mad profits.

Not at all, I was chuckling at your comment about needing money and explaining to my other half. The build is way more expensive than I ever could have imagined. I won't even break even, I'm expecting £540k on a £500k property but it is what it is. First things first as you say @Gus Potter, I need you guys to tell me where the big problems are and we go from there. One step at a time. Let me get these plans redacted and posted

Is it your contention that there is vastly more oil and gas accessible in UK territory that even the most optimistic estimates of the oil and gas industry? If so what do you base this on? If not, is it your suggestion that the UK continues to rely on oil and gas for heating, transport and power *and* that we source almost all of that on the world market?

I think one of the problems that many forget is that it is almost impossible to get more than 30% (on average) of the energy out of a combustion process. Domestic gas boilers are at the high end, vehicles are the low end.