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Some small lumps of insulation I found around I just tossed them into the sea of blown cellulose in the attic. They sit there little boats, reducing my energy loss by nanoWatts.
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Norrsken patio doors with slide under sill
Selfbuildsarah replied to Selfbuildsarah's topic in Windows & Glazing
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If a gas travelled along a pipe which then branched and one branch went off at a steeper gradient compared to the main run, I suspect it will take the pass of least resistance. The branched run can have an AAV, but not a SVP as I don't want anything through the roof. I assume the svp is to allow air in so as to not create a pressure differential as the water moves down the pipe, but also for gasses to escape. The ensuite is on the first floor
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The brown envelope culture has been, is, and will continue to, rule the world. Personal greed is insatiable, ignorance is bliss (when they open the brown envelope and all is good....) and then these rats sleep incredibly well; the government just look the other way "b'cos they get paid" regardless.
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OK to cut excess window fixing straps to help airtightness taping?
Nickfromwales replied to Gaf's topic in Ventilation
I think you can stand down red alert fella, sounds like a great spec!!! My comments are relating to the OP. -
Moving inspection chamber. Any issues?
Nickfromwales replied to flanagaj's topic in Waste & Sewerage
You can vent an STP in the landscape or at an outbuilding. Gasses would travel to the end of the run and up / out the SVP at the far end of the run. You're panicking too much about that . A better drawing showing where the pipes rise inside the house would help, stating exactly what is connected and if they rise to 1st floor or not. AAV's are not require on the ground floor unless the invert is at 1300mm or more btw, and a lot of BCO's are unfamiliar with that allowance. -
OK to cut excess window fixing straps to help airtightness taping?
SBMS replied to Gaf's topic in Ventilation
Asking because I’ve closed our 200mm cavities with 100mm PIR (will have eps beads blown behind) fully foamed and taped all gaps with illbruck fm330 and airtight taped across the window to cavity joint and done soudatight on cavity to inner block joint. Wasn’t sure if I also needed to insulate reveals as I don’t have much left on the aluminium frames. -
UFH - do I need floor probes?
Nickfromwales replied to Great_scot_selfbuild's topic in Underfloor Heating
I direct bury the ones for UTH in bathrooms, but as they're so cheap I just put A - in use and B - spare each time. I just prefer the nub on the end to be wrapped in tile adhesive or SLC for the most accurate reading possible. The last job where I was asked to do this, we just used offcuts of 16mm ufh pipe and made long sweeping bends. The probes then got taped to piano wire and pushed into the depths; if these fail, you just pulled out the piano wire, re-attach, and poke the wee beastie back in. -
Below is the currently designed drainage run for our house. I am contemplating moving the IC circled in red, simply because the invert level is 860mm below the FFL and these will be a PITA with regards to the footings. I am wondering whether I can instead take the soil pipe out the East side of the house at a level that works and then simply run with a 45 degree branch down into either a Y on the main branch (if allowed with regs) or run into another IC further along the branch to the east side. Yes, it will mean that there is a short section which will exceed the 1/40 slope. That section will be used for discharging a utility room and ensuite bathroom. The only possibly complexity is around the fact that we are on a treatment plant and I have a feeling that gasses from the tank could in theory travel up the pipe and then up the first branch. We are planning an SVP at the head of the stack, but I am not sure this would help if we had a branch.
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OK to cut excess window fixing straps to help airtightness taping?
Nickfromwales replied to Gaf's topic in Ventilation
Technically you're inside the insulated envelope here, but ill-fitting PIR and airflow at the window frame makes me default to getting any last whiff of cold and condensation risk dealt with once and for all. A sheet of 6mm or 10mm Marmox with regular PB bonded to it would lift the cost by a couple of £10's per reveal, so it's not a bank-buster. -
Because if I'm not onsite it's easy for the local contractor to say "oh yes, the heating and floor loop is working, the problem must be with {insert excuse here: poor insulation, high heat losses, bad room sensor}." if I can show the floor screed itself is not getting hot, it's much easier to save myself a call out. Not saying this is how it should be, just how I've found it to be in practice. Also, somewhat counterintuitively, floor sensors are in many ways easier to install as they happen much earlier in the programme. A room air sensor needs to be sympathetic to aesthetics, and coordinated with plastering and decoration, and that sometimes results in them being significantly delayed or even omitted, so functionally useless when the heating is being commissioned. FWIW when I've specified floor temperature probes I think they ended up being direct buried without the install tubes, yet I've had 0% failure rate. That's not a recommendation, just observation. This is with Dallas type encapsulated 1-wire probes.
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OK to cut excess window fixing straps to help airtightness taping?
SBMS replied to Gaf's topic in Ventilation
@Nickfromwales does this negate the need for insulated PB? -
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From the Mail online...but maybe worth a read for any potential 'new high-rise flat' buyers? "Buyers are turning their backs on one and two-bedroom apartments, especially those in new, high-rise buildings, and the fallout will be far-reaching for the economy. Competition is fierce as to which of the high-rise blocks of flats on the south side of the Thames is the ugliest. But what they all share – in a mile-and-a-half stretch from Vauxhall Cross to Battersea Power Station – is a sense of abandonment. Hundreds of plush apartments stand empty, while others have been languishing on the market for years, with viewings few and far between. Shoddy workmanship, fears about cladding, exorbitant service charges and the financial burden of stamp duty are just some of the reasons why apartments are empty or occupied by people desperate to sell – even at a loss. The outlook is particularly bleak for those who bought a flat in a new-build. People have begun to realise that many of these new blocks of flats are not built to last and so you’re being asked to buy a depreciating asset. And that applies to the top end of the market, too. Residents of One Hyde Park in London, regarded as the most expensive tower block in the country, recently won a £35 million court case against the contractor that built their homes. The High Court ordered the construction company, Laing O’Rourke, to fix defective pipework that was discovered in 2014, only three years after the luxury development was completed. Then, there’s the ongoing cladding issue, which began with the horrific Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, when 72 people lost their lives. Trust in high-rise apartment buildings was destroyed overnight. The wrangling over cladding has continued ever since. We’re also still seeing the fall-out from the pandemic when a lot of flat owners wanted more space and moved to the countryside. Flats lost some of their appeal during that time. For years, developers have been allowed to build sub-standard blocks of flats, cashing in on the need for more housing – and "laughing all the way to the bank..." https://archive.ph/62KS7
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Why do you need a floor sensor for that? A room sensor does that anyway. If a room sensor breaks its an easy job to replace, not so sure about a floor sensor.
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As others say, the main use is for nerdy stat collection. I also use mine to protect the bamboo floor finishes when I'm overdriving the flow temp during cheap rate (to maximise energy delivery) but that's really just because I can, not something I'd design into a system. TBH the single biggest use I have for them in other installs I'm involved in is it gives me some independent data on whether the heat pump is working, and whether individual loops have issues. When I'm working remotely it doesn't matter how many times the local plumber says it's all working, if I can see the floor in a room is not warming up I know there's an issue on the hydronic side (probably air trap or the flow balancing valve screwed down too tight) and I can feed this back without an extra visit to site to confirm as much. Without the temperature probe expect a bit more time staring at the floor with a thermal camera while debugging the system. But in normal operation, it's not needed.
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Hi all - my Ecodan ASHP comes on once a day to heat water but is set up in such a way that if it is only 1deg below target it comes on. Is there a way to set it so that it would say need to drop 10deg before calling for heat? I cant find this in the normal or installer menus. Thanks all
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Damp condensation in built-in wardrobe
Nickfromwales replied to steveoelliott's topic in Heat Insulation
I’d do the ceiling too. -
Custom cut oak sleepers (Hampshire, Wilts, Berkshire)?
flanagaj posted a topic in Building Materials
I need two 250mm * 100mm * 2400mm oak sleepers, but am struggling to source them. I didn't know whether anyone may know of a saw mill in the above areas that could cut them for me. -
For the information it gives, would not bother. Certainly no need for cooling as your plumbers says. Pump at 17 degs, humidity will never be an issue - ever. I did short bursts at 12, with zero issue. Heat pump off, circulation pump on, will tell you way more than the odd probe in the floor, you can see solar gain and chart floor temperature drops and rise rates for heat and cool. Generally if you need more than a manifold and possibly a single thermostat (if the heat pump controller doesn't do that function) you are over thinking it. The thermostat should do heat and cool with in build humidity sensing. Humidity sensing is belt and braces for cooling and serve as as safety cut out off, if you or someone has been messing with controller
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Im sure the easiest way forward for zoot is to relocate the existing stat/controller.....all terminals are know and visible to zoot so easy to replicate with a longer piece of cable. More importantly it's all at ELV!!!! @zoothornthe stat/controller wants to be located somewhere that is representative of the house temperature. From what you've said that wants to be in your living area. If you're going to be turning off the heating upstairs then that's not the place for it, nor is the kitchen, bathroom, workshop, porch or outside! Keep it away from your woodburner and radiators.
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Exploring the ratios and losses between building elements
JohnMo commented on SteamyTea's blog entry in Energy Ideas
I would keep it simple and not bother with the complexity, for the small gains if any you would have. -
Vaillant ashp (my battle with).
sharpener replied to zoothorn's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
I was thinking of the S20/S21 contacts in the outdoor unit which I use to shut the HP off if the mains supply fails, as otherwise it would discharge the battery far too fast and there would be nothing left for lights and TV. But there are also the EVU terminals in the indoor VWZ AI interface box which are designed for the electricity utility to shut the HP down as a load shedding measure. Assuming this is in a suitable place you could use it with a 3rd-party time switch or even an ordinary light switch to give a simple on/off facility. -
If you do this the advice I've seen which seems like a good idea is to put the sensor inside a pipe/conduit with the end sealed to stop concrete getting in. That way if something goes wrong with the sensor you can pull it out and push in a new one. Can use either an extra length of PEX or flexible electrical conduit. PEX might be the better option as long as your sensor fits inside.
