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It's not a hard run- just across some rough ground at the back of the garden. I'm not digging up a driveway, or even a lawn. So I don't think I'll regret it too much if I do end up having to re-do it. Anyway... cabling aside, with the rest of the installation, what would be best practise: - breaker and/or isolator up at the panels? - breaker between the Eddi and the immersion? - anything else that might not be obvious to me?

Thanks, shall do a bit more digging. Seems it is not a benign mixture when in the atmosphere.

Aluminium Bifolds 3.5m wide and 2.4m tall, top hung, stack can be positioned to either side of opening when open. Fixed to timber and steel beam above. (The timber was added because we changed the choice of doors and the height of the opening had to be reduced to suit.) Best to have professionally fitted by careful, conscientious and experienced fitters. Getting the threshold position correct is critical if you want something close to a level threshold, so knowing where the finished floor level will be. PROCESS: Prepare opening, survey measurement of opening and marking of reference level markings around the area, detailed drawings with tight opening size, bifold manufacturing size etc, carefully check drawings and amend as necessary then sign off drawings, send to manufacture, professional delivery and installation, test and acceptance. Beware the limited accuracy of laser levels. The company claimed floor level had been changed between survey and fit but this was nonsense. Their lasered levels differed by 11mm over 9m from survey to fit because laser levels clearly not reliable/calibrated. My water levels showed they were wrong. So buy a water level and mark careful reference levels. Make sure the fixing methods and positions are defined and there is going to be solid material in the right positions and alignment for the frame to be fixed to. Insist on careful preparation, inspection and checking of the opening - builders lie and cover up - thus in our case the first fitting visit was abortive.

Hi all, I’m hoping to get a bit of insight on a CH014 flow error I’m seeing on my LG Therma V 9 kW monobloc. I use both heating and cooling and it behaves perfectly in cooling mode. In cooling mode, there are no errors at all and the reported flow sits steadily at around 31–32 l/min. As soon as I switch over to heating the unit starts up normally and will run for 10–15 minutes, but once the flow temperature gets to around 25 °C, the displayed flow suddenly drops (sometimes down to ~5 l/min) and it throws a CH014. It then shuts down for about a minute, restarts, runs for another 5–6 minutes, and repeats the cycle. A few things I’ve already checked: The circulation pump seems fine. The system has a 4-pipe buffer tank, so I don’t think this is a downstream restriction issue. In pump-only / no-load operation (cooling mode with no demand), the flow is stable all day. The flow sensor itself is a Sika vortex-type sensor (no moving parts). I took it out and cleaned it — it was coated in a very fine black film. After cleaning it did improve slightly, but the fault is still there. I’ve now added Fernox F3 and am circulating it to see if that helps. What I’m struggling to pin down is whether: the unit is really losing flow once heating starts, if the flow sensor is reading false once the water warms up, or maybe something different entirely. I was going to just replace the flow sensor to see if that solves it until I found that they are more than €300 from Sika and closer to €500 from LG. So before swapping it out I’m considering fitting a temporary external flow meter just to confirm whether the real flow is actually collapsing or if it’s a false reading. Has anyone seen CH014 only in heating or had experience with vortex flow sensors drifting or failing when warm on Therma V units? I’ve searched through the forum but haven’t found anything that quite matches this behaviour. Any thoughts very welcome — thanks in advance. Peter

Yup. Ask to see the start result, and just watch how quickly the magic begins to happen.

https://www.doncastercables.com/cables/20/89/PV-Ultra--/PV-Ultra-----Double-Insulated-Multicore-DC-Cable/ The do 4 core so you can have 2 strings if required. Regarding upgrades it depends a bit on which panels you're putting in. Current "mid range" panels are in the 450w range with some premium panels going over 500w, a few years go the 450w panels were premium and most were 400w or lower In 10 years time the cheapest panels might be 550w and the premium ones 650w So if you reolwce/upgrade your current will go up even if your array stays nominally the same. Also we don't know what planning will do in the future, it may be they change the permitted development allowance and you could add more panels. Be nice if the cables were already sized for that, especially if relaying them would be a faff - if the route would be a doddle to add an extra cable don't worry too much. But if it"s a sod, just do it once

anybody waiting on there PP, be aware, a lot of councils are insisting that BNG has to be discharged on its own, and can't be grouped with other conditions for discharge. This means paying another fee ! This is unlawful. Dacorum council tried this on with me only this week. i pushed back, and said i wanted to know the legal framework that allowed them to insist on a application on its own. They could not come up with anything, so backed down.

I think it's that the regs require the conductors to be double insulated within the armour. Ie you take double insulated conductors, then pack them into an armoured sheath, then wrap that in insulation (which is mainly to protect the armour) Most SWA is single insulated inside the armour ie each cable is single insulated, Ie you take single insulated conductors (like you woikd find in a twin and earth) then wrap those in the armour. I think it's because DC shorts between conductors are much worse than AC for the same voltage and current. So the individual conductors need that extra level of protection.

I appreciate that, I just thought maybe I was missing something. I'm not sure how likely an upgrade would be. I'll be maxing out my permitted development with this ground mount array, and the next sensible move would be adding something to the roof. I also have the other property which would benefit from a similar setup, and I'd likely do that project before I did any upgrades to this system. I hadn't heard that standard SWA wasn't suitable for DC. I thought that so long as you stayed within the voltage rating you'd be good. Would something like this be suitable? https://www.superlecdirect.com/6942x-6mm-2core-bs5467-xlpe-swa-pvc-cable-harmonised-black/ (the datasheet for the above cable shows DC and AC values. The 6mm2 is rated to 53A when buried in the ground, which is a lot of headroom for a system that should be generating around 15A)

Chunkier DC cables gives you headroom should you upgrade to more/better panels in the future. The resistance of 6mm cables, about 2/3 that of 4mm2 (and 1/4 of the 1.5mm cable) is lower which will reduce your i2r losses (not as much as lowering your current but there isn't much you can do about that) There are DC specific armoured cables now (the common AC ones are not suitible for DC) which makes doing the runs much neater and easier.

Would suggest running the pump in CP (constant pressure) mode (second pictogram down) on setting II which at ~ 4.2M head should be ample for your flowrate requirements, suggest setting the flowmeters to 2/2.5LPM, if you have temperature gauges on the manifolds note the readings and compare them with the present readings.

Indeed, and it's the sort of thing that can hold up a future house sale as the solicitors see a way to charge the buyer more money 'investigate further'.

I’ve recently been bugged by Enforcement a couple of times and had an NMA turned down. And the LPA owes me some money for their previous unreasonable behaviour. The whole ‘system’ is a piss take designed to stop development. The beneficiaries are the existing land/property owners, of course. It needs rolling back 50 years or so.

Do these help? https://usceiling.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/AeroBarrier-X1-Sealant-Datasheet-and-SDS.pdf https://www.arcat.com/datasheets/aeroseal/AeroBarrier_X1_Sealant_Datasheet_and_SDS.pdf

Sam U’s example: 1. Application Form (inci. the correct type 23. Economic/Employment Assessment of Ownership Certificate 24. Energy Statement 2. Site Location Plan 25. Flood Risk Assessment 3. Existing & Proposed Elevations 26. Heritage Statement 4. Existing & Proposed Plans 27. Inclusive Design Statement 5. Existing & Proposed Sections 28. Landscaping Strategy 6. Affordable Housing Financial Viability 29. Microclimate Wind Assessment Assessment 30. Noise & Vibration Impact Assessment 7. Affordable Housing Statement 31. Planning Fire Safety Statement 8. Agent of Change Assessment 32. Planning Statement 9. Air Quality Assessment 33. Public Art Strategy 10. Archaeological Assessment 34. Preliminary Drainage Strategy 11. Aviation Impact Assessment 35. Preliminary Ecological Assessment 12. Biodiversity Statement 36. Refuse and Recycling Strategy 13. Biodiversity Net Gain Statement* (incl. 37. Safety, Security and Resilience to completed copy of the statutory Emergency Strategy biodiversity metric calculation tool) 38. Topographical Plans/Surveys (Existing 14. Community Engagement Statement & Proposed) 15. Community Infrastructure Levy Form 39. Townscape and Visual Impact 16. Contaminated Land Assessment Assessment 17. Daylight & Sunlight Assessment (On- 40. Transport Assessments Site & Off-Site) a. Swept Path Analysis and 18. Demolition Plans b. Parking Surveys (Richmond 19. Design and Access Statement Methodology) 20. Draft Construction Logistics 41. Transport Statement Management Plan 42. TV/Radio Reception Impact 21. Draft Delivery & Servicing Plan® Assessment and

I'm tied to a UU because i am within 12km of some woodland that people go and trample all over at the weekends. Legal fees that i had to pay to the council £1500. and £6500 towards the upkeep of the woods. That's for one new house. The other is considered a replacement, so i dont have to pay for that one.

I got a few Aqara light switches to start with - they do Matter/Zigbee and take a neutral which is what I was after. The fixings/screws were tiny, the electrician dealt with them but not as robust as I'd like. I have a standard 3 gang switch in the hallway which does porch, hallway and landing, I just bought some zemismart matter wifi smart switches (3 gang) and plan to replace this with one of them so I can trigger the porch light when my doorbell sees me. The others I'll install in my bedroom / elsewhere as even though there's only 1 light I can use the other switches to trigger an automation and do something else. I had a long look around other light switches, the aqara dimmer one is really nice, the two gang above not so much, looks flimsy but is working well enough, zemismart TBC. I've a 4 gang switch in the living room, but no one seems to be making smart ones of these. Something for down the road! Getting switches to fit UK back boxes can also be tricky. I have a smart screen but it needs a EU backbox - but that doesn't fit behind plasterboard! The zemi below has perfect screwhole placement though for a single gang: I bought a zemi roller blind motor but it was 28mm and the blocout blind I got for my bedroom is 32mm. I found a 3d model on the web and printed it the local library but it didn't adapt correctly. Instead I purchased a couple of Aqara roller shade E1 drivers. I fitted this a few days ago and have the automation working fine tied to the sunup and sundown times. Must change it before the Spring!! It's a heavy blind but works well so far. I'll do the same with the other blinds as I buy them. Would have preferred the driver inside the roller itself but this is the next best thing. I have vertical blinds on a cord for the kitchen and even though there's no beads, just a string, this product can apparently handle them. I just can't find the other 4 E1's I bought, probably in a box somewhere.....!!! I've Luxor Perfect Fit honeycomb blinds for privacy and then the blackout blind for total immersion in the summer! I went with a load of Shelly Relays for the floodlights, towel rails and stairs LED but Sonoff for other things - presence detection, PIR, Door Sensor, push button remote, water sensor. It's been an interesting mix. I've two presence detectors in the bathrooms, one gets me in the shower 99% of the time behind the glass. There's no room door currently and when I exit the front door it triggers also which is weird. I don't expect it to penetrate plasterboard - I'll know more after the door goes on but it's facing into the bathroom so unlikely to pick anything beyond that I would think? Not sure of a use case for it....! I use a unifi poe to usb dingle to power it which is neat inside a double gang backbox and a blanking plate! Retrofit is a bit different to new builds so I get the need to keep things familiar. You really need smart switches to deal with legacy users. All my bulbs are non smart / traditional - they just dim etc. If you find a nice switch it's an easy win. It's the LED's around the kitchen etc that have more options / control requirements that need more than a switch can provide. I've only automated some lights to on / off via presence detection but I want to get it to dim the lights in the wee hours when they come on, that would be really nice. I was able to CAT6a around the house which worked well. I have a few smart sockets in strategic places that will come into their own in the coming months. I can move these around as I figure things out. Sometimes just a double socket with USB is fine. Just bought a raspberry pi and mounted a monitor in my room so I can put my cctv picture up there and turn it off at night but have a push button to turn it on if I get an alarm. I've hikvision cameras and NVR but looking to move to unifi as I can't get the HA integration to work so I can trigger floodlights etc on people detection / line crossing. That said I did get the tumble dryer to send me a notification last night for the first time when the load had finished! Some success, some head scratching. I also want Sonos voice alerts but haven't figured that out yet either! Really happy with the HA Dashboard though! I'll post an update in a few months here around HA stuff and any questions let me know. New to this myself too!

not sure how much use this info is but i have some 4m bifolds, but under a steel beam and there has been no deflection. All work fine the last 10 years, it was the glass with integrated blinds that kept packing in. The beam was probably massively overspec.

We opted for big sliders, as 85%of the time it's all closed up, so maximum glass views. Lot less to go wrong as well!

I probably missed the option when ordering. It was only after it arrived I went "oh"! Ah well, telescopic ladder in the shed for my Velux entry into my 80's lies ahead!!

PV modules (the individual cells) are fixed voltage devices, basically diodes), as @JohnMo mentioned earlier, it is the current that varies with light intensity. Modules are tested to a standard format, "The reference condition called standard test conditions (STC) is commonly used and assumes 1000 W/m2 solar irradiance, AM1.5 spectrum, and a cell temperature of 77°F(25°C)" (more here), it is not difficult to exceed those conditions (even in the UK), so a lot easier to put in a safety factor. Putting cables into conduit can affect the amount of current they can carry (similar to passing cables though insulation). There are standards for this as well. DC cables also carry, for a given size, a different amount to AC cables (usually more but not much in this situation, more at higher voltages). On this site, there is no price difference between them.

I can honestly say I like mine, but my opening is only 2m, I would imagine with the amount of leaves you are planning as above it could start looking quite cluttered when they’re all stacked up fully open, and may well look cleaner with a sliding door, but if you are set on bifold, then yes they are good, as with most things, if you get a good one. Don’t get top hung as they aren’t as robust as ground bearing. If PVC, Liniar modlock are very good, what I’ve got, 10 years in and they’re as good as new, just don’t get chrome hardware outside!!

We will have this opening for a bifold door. Big and heavy, and moving so it must not jam. Looking for any experience of issues from such a door deflecting. Its not the Engineering in question but any idiosyncrasies of such doors. We have two choices. 1. a steel macross the opening. \there is room for 178mm RSJ and then timber around it. It would sit on timber so we would add 2 more uprights at each end. 2. Simply retain the timbers as currently designed and plate both sides with high quality 12mm plywood, and screws every 150mm. The ply could be whole sheets so say effectively 1200mm high, but 600mm will surely suffice.... the outside will be faced in osb anyway. This make it an immensely deep timber beam of the James Jones / Pasquill type. we would probably add suds between the horizontals to ensure a precise level beam before plating. And perhaps noggins/ dwangs at the top of the 600 sheet. the timbers are 6 x 2 tanalised. You may get the idea that I like the latter, because it is a neat composite design, and we dont have any issues how to fix the door. But my only doubt is in the reality in use: do bifolds

But this mechanism is to protect the boiler, nothing more nothing less. Short cycling is just a quick way to empty your bank balance. You heat the boiler, pipework and a load of energy goes out the flue and maybe you still have a cold house. If you boiler is in that mode, you maybe have way to many zone, badly set up heating system, or another issue, or all the above.

That makes sense, thanks. I'm still wondering why the DC cables need to be so beefy. I did my initial calculations based on twelve 285w panels. That gives a minimum system voltage of 348v, and a maximum current of about 10A. Even a skinny little 1.5mm2 cable will only show a voltage drop of 1.82% over 25m. Upgrading to 4mm2 gets me down to 0.6%, and 6mm2 would be 0.45%. I just didn't think that was necessary? I could use a smaller number of larger panels, e.g. seven, giving me 234v/16A (gives a slightly smaller array overall). In this case 1.5mm2 is definitely too small (more than a 4% drop) but 2.5mm2 looks pretty good to me (2.6% drop). 4mm2 gives 1.6% drop. 6mm2 gives me a 1% drop. I've built a lot of off grid stuff where this kind of voltage drop is of no concern. but I appreciate that things are a bit different. When you have a panel pumping out 17v and you want 14v to charge a battery, you can afford to lose a whole volt somewhere and it will still work. I'll happily stump up for the chunkier cable, I just like to know why...