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Posted this in the off topic forum but am also posting here.... To cut along story short I've not included links but can provide if anyone is interested. The UK urgently needs to reduce of consumption of fossil fuels - and it has absolutely nothing to do with the climate. The UK is highly dependant of fossil fuels for 2 areas: - Transport (petrol & diesel) - Domestic heating (mainly gas) For the above uses we currently import 50% of what we use. This leaves us vulnerable to price shifts in the global market and outright coersion should someone sanction/embargo/blockade our supplies and the majority of the suppliers of those vital resources are not friendly states and have to travel via long sea routes. By 2035 - just 10 years away - we are predicted to need to import 75% of oil and gas (if demand stays the same). At this point someone usually says "ah! That is why we must drop this net zero nonsense and drill for oil and gas to become self sufficient!" The problem with this argument is that figure of 75% imports is from the oil and gas industry's most optimistic projections. It assumes that: - we are able to extract the maximum predicted amount out of our existing fields - we are able to extract the maximum predicted amount out of all the fields awaiting licences - we are able to extract the maximum predicted amount out of all the fields we know about - we are able to extract the maximum predicted amount out of some fields we haven't yet discovered In short this is like predicting our future income assuming we get promoted, get a bonus, a distant uncle leaves us his fortune and we win the lottery. If we use the more sober assessment then in 10 years time we will need to import 90% of our consumption (assuming it stays the same). In short UK oil and gas production will fall every year even in the most optimistic predictions. In order to avoid this major vulnerability to our economy and sovereignty we need to reduce our demand for fossil fuels. 1) Reducing our demand for gas heating in houses by insulation and moving away from gas boilers would reduce our gas demand - yes, even if we generate the extra elecreicty needed by burning gas. 2) Reducing our demand for oil by (amongst other things) reducing the number of fossil fuel vehicles To support the above we need to increace our electrical generation and distribution capability by building new wind farms, solar farms, rooftop solar, transmission lines etc In short all of the "Net zero" things that usually sit in the "green" forum and regularly get trashed by people saying "ah all this green nomsense! Just woke crap a making us poorer! Bloody Greta etc etc" But really it should sit in the national security and economic forum.

Update on this post @Nickfromwales, I think I am going to put the valve into the thermalite wall. 1. It means my arm wont get wet 2. Wont be worrying about the 50mm stud conundrum and that being tight as a ducks butt, I've had the Abacus Mounting plate come in and that is going to take 10/15 mm. I've decided to got a pipe bender to run the 15mm down and up from the original water feeds in the loft. Pic has where I plan to run up pipe work. I've got a 3 way crossbox backing valve and two way front plate, One thing im thinking about is running the 3rd outlet under the bath and blanking it off, it provides future owners with the option to change the front valve plate to three way and use the bath filler. Is that just me being OTT? I know you mentioned you've used a Multi before, was that with a carbide tipped blade?

Yeah, and it's why I couldn't understand why the SAP person is stating secure by design in his SAP calc amongst other things that don't impact SAP.

There's best avoided - the problem is that they tend to push moisture-laiden internal air through gaps in the building, leading to condensation within the structure. MEV avoids this risk. Choose either a central central unit, or decentralised dMEV. If you're not going to DIY it, then yes, you need to find a contractor to propose a solution. You can post their proposal here for feedback.

Not taken to show the bars but their positions are visible on both walls. If I recall, these are everyday , threaded rods, squeezed into exposed beds.

I need something that can go outside next to the house. I'm not bothered if it's ground mount or wall mount. Height and width don't matter. The only restriction I have is that i'm limited on depth to 250mm. I've found Fogstar have just come out with a battery that fits the bill but it's on preorder. I'll need 2 of them. https://www.fogstar.co.uk/collections/server-rack-batteries/products/fogstar-energy-ip-rated-16-1kwh-48v-solar-battery Are there any other options that are immediately available and don't break the bank?

OK. Done that. The cracks are big enough that you should tie the areas together. it will be a heavy galvanised plate, probably bigger than the ones at the builders' merchants. Your SE should advise. That will have to be fixed well away from the gap. And/or bars. into the coursing. I may be able to find a photo of this in use. It's a big gap so that has moved a lot and is out of balance. But this type of wall can accommodate movement by self adjusting to some extent (there isn't an English word for shoogling). I'm assuming this is approx 600 thick, with dressed stone outside, big stones inside and a core of rubble and lime mortar A wall of that constructions should not be plastered (the 50 year old stuff may be ok as not especially hard) but you need to fill the gap in dry stone walling fashion. ie with as many and as large stones as will fit, and using lime not cement. Have a read up on how to do it the traditional (and still best) way. It sounds as if it stopped moving some time ago, but I'd want to know what caused the movement. Water causing sopping ground is the usual cause. SE is right. it may make no difference. From doing the extension you will know the depth of the existing wall and the bottom detail if there is any; also the nature of the ground.. can you advise?

But it easily could with a heavy, out of balance thud. The proper fixings aren't expensive at all, allow you to tighten it fully and I'd think add some hygiene advantage too. I am wholly in agreement with you. I was not suggesting that screws-only is good practice; simply that it doesn't always go wrong - immediately. The plastic 'hats' (less 'top-hat' than the description I gave) are the right thing.

But it easily could with a heavy, out of balance thud. The proper fixings aren't expensive at all, allow you to tighten it fully and I'd think add some hygiene advantage too. That inner washer will expand to bear evenly on the porcelain and spread load, then the cap is tidy and will clean.

Suppose really this thread should be in the networking/automation section ....

No recommendations apart from have you considered managing the project yourself? It’ll save you a bundle and you will more than likely pay much more attention to what is going on, and what soon needs to be going on, than any professional project manager.

Well these things happen! What's important now is to convince BC that the raised decking is permanent enough to be regarded as the ground level thus reducing your first floor height to less than 4.5m.

Hello I've got Planning permission with all the conditions removed withfunds in place and I know which contractor I'm going to use but struggling to find a project manager for a project in North Dorset. That won't cost me the Earth. If you got any recommendations please let me know much appreciated.

+1 to goats https://biogoats2rent.com

No just made sure the floor was as clean. 164m2. Yes across the longest room and at every door junction.

Got it, thank you! Is that true, even if the insulated pipe goes up and down a bit? (i.e. you dont need a condensate point at every low point or something horrible like that) As annoying as that would be, it is probably the least invasive if I can find a nice patch of ceiling to cut! Hmm, thats an interesting point... Though my house is broadly open plan on the ground floor, and with linked smoke alarms in every room, so its probably no different to the fire travelling up the stairs (which is the only exit route anyway). All foam used was fire foam, so at least it will only have the plastic semi-rigid duct to burn (and surrounded in rockwool)

Been scratching my head how to set WC curves, one for heating the other for cooling, however I found because the unit was set to auto (auto switching between heat and cool) the menu wasn't visible. However switch to heat or cool and WC menu pop up. Very easy to set, so set a flat curve for cooling 16 deg (well above dew point) flow temp and heating the more normal curve. Will most likely need some adjustment once up and running.

Some useful posts in this thread: And here.

After an eventful and almost pointless exercise in trying to get any cheap esp32s3 board and screen to work due to poor/no documentation Zillions of boards Even the same model number from the same supplier can be different! e.g. they change the touch screen chip! Lvgl 8/9 variations Toolchain issues e.g. espriff say use their tools - but they don't work always Absolute minefield of shite - no wonder the CYD are so cheap So I gave up and went for something that would work .. the M5stack Cores3!! So first screen is the % of water in the barrel ( this it gets via HA from a standard esp32 with a ultrasonic transducer and mqtt) Backdrop is animating . Wifi symbol to show if connected or not. 2nd screen choose minutes 2/4/6/8 ( some graphics to finish ) Plays a pcm audio e.g. "2 minutes selected" 3rd screen Timer countdown. Uses mqtt to tell HA to turn on the shelly outdoor wifi switch to the pump Some graphics need to be altered ( different background I think - though 8MB PSRAM fills up quickly ). I also added some pc audio that's triggered randomly and says things like "Get (expletive deleted)ed" I thought it was funny ; SWMBO less impressed!! Most the code with quite a lot of effort on my part done with ChatGPT. Before you all jump in and shout Claude is better - I know it is. But I need a lot of tokens!. I enjoyed this project even though as an ex games programmer I made the tiny UI all game like! More projects planned - using chatgpt to accelerate my learning and let its code be sometimes questionable... I've got 2 more cores3 which I want to put above 2 other water barrels i.e. simply to show how much water is in them each - no touch/actions required. Then a compute module 5 with QT to replace my annoying Android home assistant web dashboard!

Bread knife.

Wall mount. Or make a raised floor for the MVHR oN rubber feet or springs or hang from the rafters. Otherwise the vibrations on the joists will annoy you. No, exhaust condensation is taken care of by a drain under the heat exchanger inside the unit. Long term maybe better. You could put MVHR cowls where made most sense for the system then .. Add another roof hatch somewhere else? A cheap one that you can just tape up to air seal once the unit is in place. Otherwise there's slimmer MVHR units available. Flexi pipework is woefully compromised. Stick to rigid if you can. One thing to consider is how your house will behave in a fire. If you have a fire now in a room with a fireplace is it possible that it could travel to the attic?

Did you apply a coat of SBR prior to tiling or just clean Cemfloor and then start tiling? What size is area did you tile, did you have any expansion joints?

Thanks for your reply, Ive fed a drain down the chimney too, so that side of things is sorted. It was last years project to install a nice new insulated roof hatch with ladder, which has now been done, and only now do I realise the downside of it being so narrow... Seems a massive shame to cut it too much, but if the Q350 is the right model, then I can probably make it happen and make it look smart again. Once installed its easy to access the attic though... I didnt really look much at a PIV, but I was keen on some of the side benefits to an MVHR (e.g. installing secondary glazing to cut out road noise and improve insulation (even 10y old sash windows leak a lot), but would need a moisture management ventillation process hence figured MVHR was a good choice).

I think in this case the usual treatment is tie bars through the building holding the walls together. Often seen by a cross or round plate with a big nut on the outside of the building. It would be an SE that specifies that sort of thing usually.