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Good point! The old "nail in the fuse box" fix.

Still not enough to boil a cylinder tho? And if someone fits a co2 HP capable of boiling a cylinder - then it's g3 as per usual. The exemption would only apply to HPs deemed unable to boil cylinders. Could even be a tick box in the spec where the manufacturer declares the HP unable to reach 95C in all fault conditions.

Too many heat cycles to keep it reliable without regular replacement. Plus some numpy would see a hole in it, and replace with some random bit of metal from the shed.

Absolutely out of date nonsense. Just bought an ASHP that does 80 Deg flow temp, unassisted.

Why is this any different to a normal gable. Some straps off the timber at the top of the wall built into the inner leaf. Job done. Why complicate it? What am I missing? Some wall start ties tek screwed into that steel post if advised by se.

Had a bit of a traumatic day today, so not really kept up with the news, but the results of the power supply auctions were released today. 8.4 GW of wind. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-breaking-auction-for-offshore-wind-secured-to-take-back-control-of-britains-energy

I guess the problem with a prv test is a proper test is to stick the immersion on and boil the tank, but that isn't really safe or practical. The units we had fittednhad a knob on the top you turned and that would lift the valve, which isn't really a test of the system only to see if the valve would open. TBH fitting a burst disc would be the safest way but i've never seen one on a domestic system. They do need to get around to sorting the g3 regs so that a system only connected to a HP without any immersion can be treated as a vented cylinder since there is no possibility a HP can boil the tank. That would make installs easier

In that kind of build the air sealing won't end up being external; external insulation goes over the top of what you see there. Or at least the majority would go on the outside. You could put some between the studs but, following the UK rule-of-thumb, it would be no more than 1/3 of it avoid the risk of condensation within it and hence the need for a separate internal VCL.

So is living in a tin shed, animal skin tent, igloo ect. Have lived in a Queen Anne period place, that was misery, but it may have b cause it was my last school.

They’ll have to raise the red vessels, as that’s on fixed pipework, but the white ones are on flexible hoses so make sure that if they just bend the hoses instead of lifting them that the hoses aren’t kinked. If you can ask them to raise the brackets for all the vessels, to accommodate the Tesla valves, then I’d do so to ensure as good job has been done as possible for the fee.

Ok. Once the glycol has been topped up, ask them to pressurise when cold to exactly 1.5bar so you can use that as a benchmark to monitor by.

Yup. Shite service.

I have an OSO cylinder fed from a rainwater harvesting system and it suffered from low pressure which I thought was the crap Stuart-Turner pump. Turned out the inlet reduction valve spring had been corroded away by the acid rainwater and was providing no counterforce for the valve. OSO could only sell me a complete valve block but a 3rd party dealer had a replacement Reliance cartridge which was a lot cheaper. The next fault to come along was the pump, cracked plastic impeller shroud. S-T regard them as unmaintainable but I had the bits of a previous pump which had failed with a leaking shaft gland so was able to fix, no thanks to S-T. Will buy DAB if it fails again, you can get replacement glands for them. Other house has an Ariston cylinder with ?their own valve group which has a mesh debris screeen in it, MIs say to check this annually and I do this though I have never found anything significant in it. +1 for always giving the knobs a twist when I am up there and it is always reassuring to hear the water gurgle away proving the D2 pipe is not blocked with spiders.

Aiming for ~100mm of Knauf Omnifit above it. I'm fully filling the rafters with 150mm Omnifit and I'm hoping it will be not too tricky to get around the ridges and junctions.

Agreed but they are wanting to pull his pants down. The elevations look simple enough. No magic needed and it is well within the skills of any decent bricklayer.

Padstones both sides, but on the left there's another column of blocks because the opening was the wrong size initially.

Hi JAPro, did you source an architect and structural engineer? If not, there are two architects that you could try, neither are in Scotland but that isn't really an issue. Architects can work with the information you give them and photos. The same goes for structural engineers but it would depend on how complicated the site is. Try Grain Architecture or Wellspring Architecture. Both a long way south but have worked up here in the Highlands. Structural engineers are a bit more of a problem as they all seem to be madly busy. I'm just working with Tom Joseph of Grain Architecture and Andy Bayliss of Jengo design (structural engineer) on a straw bale on the west coast. We will be doing a warrant submission before the spring. I've not heard of a strawbale house being refused a warrant because of fire safety. In fact they are safer than a timber house or a timber frame and block house. No air pockets to fuel combustion, straw so dense it can be counted as solid wood that will char but will be hugely resistant to combusting. Also the straw is coated with lime render which is a natural fireproof coating. You can find more info on straw works or from Barbara Jones at SNAB if there is certification they will know. There are quite a few strawbale houses up here Muir of Ord, Skye, Isle of Eigg, Ardnamurchan and just outside Fort William, to name some of them. They all have completion certificates. And John Mo, have you ever spent time in a strawbale house? The difference in living environment is chalk and cheese compared to a 'conventional' build.

Properly laid Type1 is basically returned to nearly solid stone density, just not glued together. Good planings are the same but do stick together. Yes clean out the hole to see stone. It might be worth painting it with pitch or bitumen to get some bond.

A service is supposed to test stuff and then fix and replace items needed. A standard item is test glycol and top up as required. They are also supposed to clean the condenser (finned heat exchanger you fan blows through), clean the casing, inspect expansion vessel pre charge pressure and top up as needed. A cylinder that has got a defective expansion vessel should not be put back in service, as the expansion vessel is a safety item, and be an item to fix asap, as the home owner would no longer have hot water. If you took your car for a service and it came back with a service invoice stating your oil and filter needed to be replaced, and you will need to book that in as it's additional cost, you would be well pissed. That is the service level you have just experienced with ASHP.

I would be concerned if the steel won't hold up a standard med dense block within the allowed limits. In addition to the mesh for the render, you could look at bed reinforcement for the blocks. Only use the 7.3N ones.

So how far can you get away from the house to start with if the underground pipe went through the flower bed? That will determine if a soakaway is even practicable. Then how large is the roof area that the downpipe drains. Arguably that ought to be the additional area as you are not meant to make an existing non-compliant situation any worse than it is. Presumably the original pipe didn't run to a soakaway so the extension is what is causing the problem.

I’m not sure i would be looking in the merchants you have a few things going on here you had a post asking how to get a certain mortar colour, and this is mainly down to quality tradesmen getting the local Joe who slashes up an extension every week is not the man I would want. for a whole hose with multiple openings I would want a quality team. cheap n cheerful is not what i would want.

I used these on mine: https://www.wickes.co.uk/LoftLeg-Loft-Lid-Downlight-Protector-Hood/p/148851

+1 Also look at any extensions going up. Merchants can often recommend, even if it is the guy in the yard or a lorry driver. Have a drive around and a chat. It shows you are not a time waster. Farmers often get brick and blockwork work done and they don't overpay.

I don't think they topped up the glycol, this is on their quote to do with the expansion tanks. They noted the glycol was low.... they are doing it on Friday. The system will be cold (we have not turned the ASHP hot water on since yesterday and won't be turning it on before they come Friday AM. The heating will be off at that time too.