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Not really all DIY, 2x 500W panels cost £60 each, inverter £150 and an isolation switch. Wood not that expensive and brackets.

If it’s good enough for everyone in the med, then they should be plenty good enough here.

Post a pic to see if the manifold has 1/4” pickets to take some friction fit ones which just push in. Or get some of these: https://www.bes.co.uk/clip-on-pipe-thermometer-63mm-22147/

Be interesting to know how much better external shutters perform for keeping heat out. My instinct is that it has to be quite a bit but don’t know for sure. It would be the main reason I’d consider external shutters.

if you need to open the window yes - but ours would be shut keeping heat out if shutters deployed! Air from mvhr........

We have two cheap 12l rated dehumidifiers, both can be run off a smart plug as restart with power restored. We are running home made fancoil with 80mm PC fans, but even with 8 on a rad it does not make too much difference, we combine with ceiling fans to move the cold air again but still only cooling a couple of C (27-29 inside cf 35-37 outside) - record dew points of up to 24C have meant we have had to increase flow temp to avoid condensation which hasn't helped. Dehumidifiers have been extremely productive with the high humidity of the last week. My understanding is the latent heat of condensation only adds a little to the effective heat released so more like 125% of the input electricity is converted to heat not the 300%+ plus of a heat pump.

The basic premise of the design was a single circuit running above dew point to take the edge off heatwaves. (Downstairs with the UFH that’s working a treat already). We took an active decision not to go for aircon type cooling. We don’t want wet floors so if we encompassed significant condensation on the fancoil(s) then that means a second circuit and a volumiser and, and, and…. And whilst that may be needed that’s not our first choice. We want to keep it simple, and if my arithmetic is correct we only need a little cooling. One odd aside, we’ve found that we can sleep comfortably with the MVHR induced lower humidity at higher temperatures than we could have done in our old naturally aspirated house. I’ve nicknamed the Zehnder “Life Support” but perhaps I should call it Turbo.

whilst clearing the jungle in the neglected veg garden area this afternoon had a similar thought, but not as elegant! I was thinking fabric/sailcloth of some sort made to measure to work with reveal liners with eyelets - with hooks / screws / pegs of some sort into liners. can still open the window a bit and hopefully the gap would dissipate heat further before hitting glass. I like the magnet idea though. But don't want to stick anything to aluclad windows.............

The mention of black was a case / point, my apologies for not being clearer, but you seem to have been promised something quite specific and have received something ‘different’. That is now a case for you and the supplier, and if the sample you ordered from is completely different to what you have received, and this wasn’t caveated in their small-print, get chasing after them to supply the correct materials; and the cost to swap them over. A shame as it looks like you have found a very neat and conscientious roofer to do the work.

Also a door, and 2 more windows, 1 larger, 1 smaller - going to get costly as would need to be bespoke, probably aluminium louvre panels. I too think potential to look smart particularly if same colour as windows - but having now measured / visualised going to look too much on the elevation!

I made this in a week, which works well for a freestanding solar pergola / carport. Used to take it on the weekend shows, and there was lots of interest in a timber offering tbf.

nice idea - but pricey and we're already generating more we can use from PV on roof! Probably some fins out there with pv too - like the stuff tata offer as option on standing seam??

I assume this is a series system vs radial? Do you have the same number of supply outlets as extract? The outlets closet to the unit need to be strangled back, to allow airflow to eventually arrive at the very furthest ones, and this makes them audible / noisy; another con / caveat when deciding between series and radial. Radial for me every time, too many fleas with the series dog. . No need for cross-talk elimination (more £££) either then. If the system design has balanced the number of in vs out then are you doing this with doors open. Have you done the undercuts on the bottoms of all internal (vented) spaces?

The system are you running semi flexible ducts via a plenum box or rigid branch system?

Forgot about that, mkII version would get slightly closer together angle plates in the roof.

External shutters only work with inward opening or sliding windows.

Found it. I was actually thinking of your pergola, which I think is excellent.

https://www.international.zehnder-systems.com/en/spotlight/detail/6-common-mistakes-when-installing-and-commissioning-ventilation Our problem is that all the supply valves are effectively being throttled to get down to the per room flow rate.

We are setting up our MVHR. No issues using an anometer and the extract rates are bang on. However for the supply we are having to restrict the flow through the pipe to such a point that it’s all coming through a small gap, creating noise and it’s throwing the balance off. zehnder say to commission at the medium speed (their default is 235) but we just can’t get the supply right. Should we be adjusting it to the total air flow needed for this actual build which is ~160. we’re giving up for today but grateful for any tips!

Systemair are another company that make a range or fancoils. Why would you go to this much trouble and not fit condensate drains? The humidity was high this week, a big part of the discomfort in hot weather is high humidity. The dew point was 21C where I am on Thursday. You wouldnt get much cooling if you ran your flow temps at 22/23 degrees...

After this last heatwave I’ve got some fabric samples of outdoor UV stabilised shading material, of two grades, and am considering making some fixed awning/external blinds for the windows which bring in a lot of heat in summer, an attach them with neodymium magnets, one stuck to the frame and the other sewed into the fabric itself. Originally I was going to get outdoor roller blinds until I costed them, about £600 each for the bigger windows 😬 fabricsUK is where the samples are from and it looks good quality, around £20/m and 2.67m wide if I decide to make them I’ll post about it on my blog. I’ve got the external blinds on some of my velux windows and it knocks a good 10C off of the centre pane temp of the 3G ones, I think they were about 1-2C above air temp compared with about 12C of the non covered in same position. 2G ones that effect is even greater (showed around 50C with inside and outside blinds closed, without outside blind I seem to remember they got closer to 80C)

Who said I wanted a black concrete tiles Nick? I’ve had samples of EVERY product. They are sitting outside my current house in a lovely coordinated heap and the black fascia still matches our windows. Weinerberger cover themselves on their website by saying batches may vary. Order dark grey tile with matching dry verge and you get plum tones with a non toning/matching verge and I have to put up with it. I’ll take Nick’s advice and stop staring at it. All good. Thanks Nick

Dead man walking lol.

Paint with live yoghurt or spray with water/manure mix. That'll soon get a nice uniform, aged finish.

Couldn't agree more, which is why we purchased / requested multiple samples of EVERY exterior material before the concrete was poured, laid them out to compare the actual products, cherry-picked the options that worked and binned the ones that didn’t pass muster. The concrete was poured 16th March 2026 and all this was buttoned up and ordered before the end of 2025, trades vetted and selected. Client had a 4’ sample board made up in the site office after initial choices became a design freeze, with all the materials then fixed onto it to see the real items as they will be, for zero ambiguity or disappointment. For completeness, I have never seen a “black” concrete tile, as none exist afaik, plus anything that dark just gets lighter with weathering; taking you back to my above point of not staring at it for too long, as whether it’s then or now, they’ll get lighter eg to the shade / colour you have. Those should stay pretty much as is btw.