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First of all, my apologies for being silent for so long. TBH, having finally settled here in our new home I needed a break from self-build. Not for any particular reason at all, just that I'd been living and breathing it for so many years that I needed some time out, a bit of breathing space if you like. Old age seems to do this, creep up on us almost unnoticed (and I'm now in my 70's). Also I was spending way too much time here, to the exclusion of other things I should have been doing. Anyway, thought I'd post here to hopefully shed some light on how things have gone with our Sunamp adventure, and give a bit of a gentle warning. Those who've been here, and on Ebuild before this place, may remember that we bought a Sunamp PV right back in the early days, before this place existed. We ran that for well over a year, with a few minor teething problems, but it was enough to convince me to swap it for a larger Sunamp UniQ eHW 9, which I did in September 2018. That also had a few teething problems, but Sunamp sorted them out quickly and without fuss. Since then I've been more than happy with the Sunamp. It's provided reliable hot water, mostly heated by excess solar generation, in fact far more hot water than we have ever needed as it turned out to be a bit over-sized. The first time we went away on holiday I turned everything off and was amazed to find that when we got home a week later there was still piping hot water available. I cannot complain at all about its performance, it has been significantly more efficient than a hot water cylinder, which was the reason for me being so enthusiastic about it back in 2016. Sadly, our Sunamp died on Saturday morning, and ejected its phase change material all over the floor, down through the ceiling in the kitchen below: A check upstairs in the services room confirmed that it's death had been spectacular, with PCM all over the floor and a long icicle of sodium acetate crystals down the back of the unit, from the burst casing inside: To it's credit, despite this it had delivered two showers that morning before we spotted the problem. Sadly this was to be its dying endeavour. I contacted Sunamp, not because of any warranty claim (there was no warranty anyway) but to ask them to put me in contact with a local installer for a replacement. I spent the weekend looking at the specs of the newer Thermino models and, given that the 9kWh (11kWh) UniQ was overkill for just two showers a day I decided its replacement would be the smaller Thermino ePlus 150, with the PV02 key to better match it for PV heating via the Eddi (when summer comes back). I found a couple of online suppliers, price, including VAT looked to be around £1,800 or so, plus delivery, which sort of seemed OK. I'm not up to getting the old unit downstairs and the new one up stairs, so I contacted a few local plumbers. All said they wouldn't touch this job. No idea why, it's a pretty straightforward swap, as the PRV, TMV etc is all there, just a matter of re-jigging two 22mm pipes. Seems the technology just scared them off, or, perhaps, it might have something to do with dealing with Sunamp? After a lot of delay, Sunamp customer services came back to me, asked for photos, then went silent. I got on to them again and they gave me contact details for a couple of installers. I contacted them, first one got back to me saying it would be around £6k to swap out our failed unit for a new one. I questioned this. He said it was about a day's work. Now, I'm all in favour of paying a fair rate for a job, but I know how long this job is going to take and I know the cost of all the materials. I am not going to pay a bloke £800 plus per hour, no matter how damned good he is! So, looks like I have to fall back to hiring a stair climber and doing it myself. PITA, as I'd have happily paid someone a few hundred quid to do this (over and above the cost of the bits) but I point blank refuse to stuff over £4k in someone's pocket for a job that is so straightforward, especially when there are installers advertising prices of around £4k to replace an existing hot water system and cylinder for a Sunamp, a job that is a heck of a lot more work. Sorry for the rant, thought it was worth posting here as a warning to others thinking of going down the Sunamp route. I can't fault the performance, but if the cost of repair and maintenance by a Sunamp approved company is so crazy then it may give some pause for thought. I've half a mind to bin the Sunamp and just get a high efficiency 150 litre cylinder installed. No idea what that might cost, but I doubt it would be over £6k. PS: Seems I have hundreds of PMs that have accrued in my time away. Sorry, but I doubt that I have a hope in hell of answering them all!

Prompted by a private message today We have just finished the house With just I say just the drive and patios to do As with our previous build I’ll put the cost m2 Excluding the purchase of the plots But including fees surveys Architects etc etc While I’ve a trade background and plenty of contacts There’s lots of aspects of building a house that where as new to me as they would be to most of you I’m 63 and my wife is 60 and both work full time Monday to Thursday From our previous build to this we’ve tried to do as much of the work ourselves as we possibly could The figures are to encourage Not to discourage and show that you can build a house far superior and much better insulated for less money than your average Persimmon home we are at 420 m2 and have spent Just short of 350k We expect to pay 12k for gates and allowed 20 k for materials for the drive and patios Which the 39k vat refund should cover The seller wouldn’t split the two plots Or the field So we may have another build in us 😁

Major news!!! Guess what? Sunamp have just emailed me to say that they are going to replace our unit as it is covered by the 10 year warranty on the core! They emailed me as I was typing the reply above.

Morning all. I don’t drop in here very often these days but just happened to browse on my way back from an extended trip to the USA. Lo and behold I see a post from @Jeremy Harris talking about Sunamp so thought I stick my head above the parapet and say hi. I’ve just looked at when I last posted here. It was June 2020! Where in hells name does time go? So here’s a quick summary of what I’ve been up to in that time (possibly not in chronological order): Fully retired (two years ago). Finished my build which is well documented here and there on this forum. Then sold it in 2021 and bought a “project” which I gutted (nothing left but 4 external walls, the roof and a worrying array of steel and acroprops). Then spent all lockdown rebuilding it. Finished the house but am still working on the landscaping. Spend vast amounts of time faffing about on my small holding (came with the house). Have I learnt anything? Yes, a fair bit: Stop buying houses on the national park, planning is a PIA (but the views are exceptional). When you retire you can’t work out how you ever had time to work! I can’t sit still. Wish I could (I’ve always known this really). Renovating an existing property is way more difficult than a new build. Building during lockdown was a complete nightmare. The window supplier/installer is more important than the window! Actually had a great experience with this renovation which is a world apart from the pain I experienced with EcoHaus SW and Internorm. Just stay WAY clear of “bleeding edge” technology. Exhibit A: SUNAMP (I might comment on the thread which started this resurrection off). Land is a time sync, the level of maintenance is mind blowing BUT it gives you an excuse to buy a digger, tractor and trailer. Plus a myriad of attachments Well that’s it for now. I can’t promise I’ll return to being a regular contributor. I simply spend much less time time in front of technology these days. I much prefer being outside. P.S. I think I’ve got one more build in me before I fully reach my target of eccentricity and too many animals.

Appeal successful. I need to sit down for a while 😁

After what seems like an age (but is not compared to others on here) we have at last are formal planning approval! We had quite journey, some of which is detailed here. We were told by our planning consultant just before Christmas that it would be approved by the 10th but of course until it actually states "Application Approved" on the portal then of course nothing is guaranteed. We were on site today cutting the overgrown boundary to the rear when I got the call to say that it had been approved. So, just a bit to do over the next year or so! Onwards and Upwards.

I’m sorry but installing insulation takes time and I always charge for it. It is not something that should be included in the rates the same as feature bands, cutting up gables and cutting the bottom course of blocks where others have lost the ability to use a laser level correctly. I won’t take on projects with tongue and groove insulation because it’s not fit for purpose. Cutting and installing full fill insulation requires the following skills. 1) be able to use a tape measure 2) be able to use a long sharp knife and a cutting slot. 3) be able to think ahead 4) checking each junction as you go. 5) protecting work properly as brickwork progresses Gaps in insulation is my pet hate and the lads who work with me know it and have known it for years. I can guarantee that there isn’t a single gap in any of the cavity insulation on the 2 houses that I have just built for myself. Like I said it’s not rocket science but it does take time to get it bang on. Time should be paid for. Some of the bricklayers that have worked for some of this forums members were most likely used to working on a ‘rate per 1000 all in’ to include all the sundries. I stopped giving my time away for free 30 odd years ago. You pay peanuts you get monkeys. I do agree that there are plenty of poor bricklayers about but to tar them all with the same brush is pure stupidity.

Welcome back @Jeremy Harris, nothing useful to add to this thread but I wanted to say I have learned a heck of a lot from your posts on the forum (and still getting my head round some of the more technically inclined ones). Thanks for all your input over the years.

Sitrep 01/25 Kitchen in during the summer, tiling on the to-do list the topsoil mound in the back garden has now more or less disappeared and the rest of the garden is a bit more level. Plus the back hedge is mostly rejuvinated. We lost the big Scots Pine at the side of the lane during Storm Darragh (fell across the lane, naturally...) so that's a fair few tonnes of firewood to process for seasoning. We're still comfy and cozy, and well pleased with how the house works for us. ASHP's consumption for the year was 2996kWh and as around 2/3 of that was E7 overnight we are very pleased to heat a much larger house for less than the cost of heating the previous wee bungalow. Plenty more to do this year tho, but it's ever more home, and less work-in-progress. I gotta thank all you lovely folk in the Community, Buildhub is so much more then just a resource...

Just an update. The bay window, floor insulation and the room is now completely. Managed to get 100mm PIR fitted under the floor. For got to take many pictures. The difference all the work done has made is significant and we can now heat the room no problem.

Thought I would just update this thread with a few photos. It was a bit of a journey for me compared to the main build as the detail is exacting down to how sharp is that 2H. Starts from the original measurements (used a laser measure), drawings in SketchUp, produce cut list for https://sydenhamsplywood.co.uk previously Avon Plywood. Spec was 22mm Birch "artisan" grade. Then the invisible fixings which I used, for the first time, a Peanut 2 Mini jig and a few pocket hole fixings. I did use Ikea Pax frames and drawers inside the plywood surrounds and fronts. I learnt a lot, did the other bedroom and now have plywood floor to ceiling pantry, coat and boot and utility cupboards! Also window surround. Very fortunate to have the time and space and do appreciate the skill and cost of the professionals. Total cost £4.6K in materials. Curtains / blinds, window cushion to follow which I will not be making.

1) the insulation needs to go down to at least the bottom of your floor insulation. If you have room to go lower then do it. But there is no point of over insulating cavity walls to an area that is served by air bricks giving cold air flow beneath your floors. 2)no gaps around the cavity trays or anywhere else. 3) ideally protect with a roll of DPC on top of the wall, use a cavity tray roll to do this in one continual piece for each elevation. Try to plan the works so that the internal and external skins finish at the same height before covering. This is a pain in the butt if it rains during the day. You will need to weigh this down well. When it rains quite often the wind gets up. You will not always succeed in keeping the insulation dry but you will also not succeed in getting a 100% perfect build. At least you have made an effort. 4) wall ties need to penetrate the insulation at reveals where the ties are spaced at 225 mm centres. I use a long sharp knife to achieve this cutting a slot the width of the knife ( about 25 - 30 mm) 5) over filling is better than under filling but not excessively. Any cut bats that I do on 150 mm insulation are typically 20 mm longer than the gap. The most important thing is to cut the bats square. I have found the easiest way is to cut them them through a ‘slot’ If there’s room I do this in the scaffold and lie the bay on the scaffold and cut through the gap in the boards. When I work off the ground it’s easier to set up two trestles and a sheet of OSB or similar with a slot cut in it at least 500 mm long. I lay the insulation on this board then cut through the insulation and the slot. If it’s cut square you save on waste and have no gaps. Win Win ! Watch out for …. 1) Brickies attempting to cut it with their trowels. This makes me shout at them. It’s quicker and easier to do it properly. 2) Brickies building higher than the insulation without covering it. I use lengths of 4 x 1 timber to catch any mortar droppings. You will use it elsewhere on your build anyway. When we reach window height we cut these to fit the panels and move them up or around the build as we go. 3) at lintel height make sure that the gap below the lintel is full before placing the lintels. I try to cut this as an L shape around the lintel rather than cut a small piece below the lintel with a piece joining it. I then make an angle cut ( at the same pitch as the fall on the lintel) to pass the cavity tray through. I’m sure I’ll still get slated for this post but by using these methods you will achieve the best job possible. Alternatively find another better qualified trade to carry this work out while the bricklayers start the stopwatch to get compensated for downtime. 😜I’m just going to find a link for the knives I use. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Insulation-Scabbard-Cutting-Stainless-RockWool/dp/B09RW57LRL/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1P0E1NW2VAXET&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.684K2TWJ9ecZU2r20s7M2w4ShwmQYHp_4_4s3wJsF1sX3thu1LFat02fZ9ZjWiizdHfA-RauLUIFuTtgv-HKLUTAF9vifstTeWSkSiVZwNKenGr4DEYuc95QW7qfjew5y2SZkXgP5t89ZIGtHddUktN4AkHmOaZZJUg4SQs3Kxz6LcLEKslEcVaETycQkggid1bUrDN5k3cfN5-rtoUugMwGRUIqLR1NiFVUrvLbbuhZHrvRGdGyENqTIL6S8gNqLkmbQPOTrllelqmfxorPrOS4826YkNmy1qp8ieOZIWc.Q5ZptyHAlgRHUbhm1V-Df08zvXWWWLhHi5jDXsQYEY0&dib_tag=se&keywords=insulation+knife+rockwool&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1736500922&sprefix=Insulation+knife%2Caps%2C207&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1&smid=A3CYBNKKYWTMTI

I know this is an old topic / post but thought that (as a brick maker) I would post what is good practise and often gets missed by DIYers and professional builders alike: Portable sample boards ARE NOT to be relied upon as being truly representative of the product that may be delivered. You should: Request a sample from the manufacturer of enough product to build a site panel 1M2 to be used as a reference panel. This should be built on site on a level, weather protected area and used to build subsequent sample panels from each delivery to make sure they are a reasonable match to the reference panel. The product supplied by the manufacturer should NOT be filtered (with the exception of broken pieces) and laid as received. If critical you should also request the manufacturer approve that what has been built is acceptable to them as to what will be received in the main deliveries. This is as per PAS (Publicly Acessible Standard) 70:2003 for good site practise. So the question usually is why do you have to do this - surely "They should all match the sample board"... Clays, sands, kilns, thermocouples, valves, fans, motors, sprayers, people and the wind direction changes. I kid you not - these are factors that can affect the appearance of the finished product and I have probably missed a few factors. So imagine you order a sample board (which are usually 3 courses of1 and a half bricks - so 4.5 bricks) 18 months before you build and rely upon that as your reference. 1) 4.5 bricks is not usually representative of a complex blend due to the size of the sample 2) The stock pile the brick works might change from when the sample was made and current production runs - clay stock piles can subtly differ in their chemical composition due to the nature of how clay deposits are laid down. 3) The works may have upgraded/changed its kilns from i.e. a Hoffman to a tunnel kiln 4) The sand stains originally used may have run out and a similar (but not quite the same) product has been sourced 5) If the works is a clamp works (that being where the bricks are piled in a huge mound with coal between each layer and fired in the open air) for example the wind might have been stronger this batch than the one you sampled from meaning they fired faster and hotter - which changes the firing curve affecting the product achieved. 6) The temperature measuring devices (thermocouples) can drift. This is usually compensated by yearly calibration BUT they do drift and a noticeable colour difference can occur with a firing temperature difference of 5 degrees C in 1100 i.e. a 0.45% change... 7) Coal addition is usually done by inline belt weighers - these can also be affected by mis calibration / poor maintenance affecting the weighed amount added. 8 ) The product may be in high demand so it may be that the management want a higher throughput to meet demand. This means that the works manager might increase the speed of the firing (usually by either increasing the ramp speed of trimming the top soak). This modification can affect the colour and appearance. I could go on but these are some of the factors that can affect why one batch may differ from the other. In short - the only true way to garauntee the product you show planners (for example) is a perfect match to what you end up building with is to go to the manufacturer, inspect the yard stock, get it ring-fenced and randomly sample from that exact batch. Clearly for small builders this is not really practical. This is what the big house builders used to do i.e. they would call Redland and say we are looking at buying 400k Dorking Multi / w/e. Redland would then make 400k bricks and invite the buyer to come over, sample for his reference panel and ring fence it if he was happy. HTH for those who are confused why sometimes bricks do not match the sample / image.

Hello I'm Al, Finally got round to introducing myself, having scavenged lots of info on here. Previously Refurbished and extended various houses the UK. Spent 15 years living and working in the wilds of Northern Turkey. (Not where the tourists go). Turned a wooden shack into a comfortable house. Decided to move back, nearer home and completed on this place Feb 2020 just as COVID lockdowns hit - any plans and budgets blown. 14 months later managed to get here, moved in with no electricity or drains, water from a standpipe and no planning permission. Still 'camping' in one of the barns but life is more civilised, wood burning stove, basic electrics, and STP. Working on the rest of the place. So far, new and refurbished roofs with lots of insulation, all floors dug out and new slab throughout, doors and windows fitted and internal stud walls all up. To do, floor insulation UFH and screed, MVHR, electrics and plumbing, heating system, plastering, flooring etc. Then start again on the other section. Doing a most of the work ourselves with one semi full time builder. Will probably be looking for advice on MVHR and heating systems next.

Ask Rachael from accounts how her plan is going?

Janet simply hated them for their flaws, but I was torn: I really liked the concept but there are so many design issues left unaddressed or unoptimised that I am glad that we decided to replace ours. Take the issue of the strict cuboid form factor. Superficially this has lots of installation advantages because you can install the unit in a tight space without much space overhead -- except this is a dangerous assumption unless all of the risks are addressed. For this concept to work you would really need a unit designed for all maintenance access on one side, and this is not the case. All components that don't have a life that is significantly greater than that of the overall unit could fail in life and therefore need to be field-replaceable, e.g. heat sensors, heating elements, etc. The fluid design issues can't be ignored but IMO they largely are. The Sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT) PCM is heavy (S.G ~ 1.45) and cycles through a phase change roughly daily. The PC expansion coefficient is small but not zero, so the unit must be designed to facilitate this flex, and ditto all connectors and fitted components. A strict cube is a bad choice there. The cylinder is preferred for a reason. The fascinating Youtube History of the Jerrican discusses the evolution / design of a similar cuboid container that has been largely unchanged in 70 years. The SAs use plastic cells in a bolted steel box for support, but if you remove a side panel for maintenance access (except when the unit is completely cold) then game over. Ditto heat transfer. The unit needs to support ~30kW thermal transfer from the PCM to the potable water and this requires internal cell design especially as this has to happen throughout the phase change cycle. The SAs do better here, but IMO the UniQ implementation is still far from optimum. I could go on with more detail, but this post has already lost most readers so time to pause.

What’s the problem with increased energy use if it is renewable powered? Sunny day in summer is when we seem to have an oversupply of energy as everyone’s PV is generating flat out. Might even solve a problem.

@Nickfromwales, Out of curiosity I had a good look at the sensor string in our failed unit, to see if it had moved. Easy to determine that it hadn't, as there's no form of gland at the top of the dip tube on our old unit and the cable was folded over where it had been under the insulation, so would have been physically restrained from moving upwards. I pulled the sensor string out to check, and it looked undamaged, same as when it went in from what I can remember. I also had a look to see if there was somewhere obvious that the PCM had leaked from but couldn't see anything. The filling plug (which I had thought might be a blow-off point) looked fine, in fact the area at that end of the cell looked pretty dry, as did the pipe entry points into the top of the cell. If I had to guess, based on the fact that the PCM had pushed up around the edges and leaked out around the pipe entry points (but not obviously out of the cover over the heating element terminals) my suspicion would be that the casing might have cracked, perhaps somewhere close to the top corner, at the pipe entry end somewhere. The PCM looked to have pushed up between the cell case side and the VIP panels in that area. Doesn't really make anything any clearer, I'm afraid. All that seems fairly certain is that this failure wasn't caused by anything on the water side, there was zero evidence of any water leakage at all, so I suspect the concerns I expressed earlier about some sort of over-pressure event almost certainly had nothing at all to do with it. Very annoying not being able to understand the exact cause of the failure, both because I'm too damned curious for my own good, and always want to know WHY stuff happens, but also because it'd be reassuring to better understand these things, perhaps even to find ways to reduce the risk of it happening again. Guess I'll just have to accept that it is what it is.

Out of the blue I had a phone call just after lunch from the installer, who was on his way to us, about 2 hours away. Two vans arrived just before 15:00, one with the lifting crew and a stock of Sunamps, the other with the plumber. Within ten minutes the new Sunamp was up the stairs and ready to install, ten minutes later the old one was out, loaded in the delivery guys van and they were off. The new unit has been in for about half an hour or so and is now charging, the installer's happy all's well and has just left. Total time from the first van arriving to last van leaving was 1 hour 40 minutes, so not a difficult job. Does make me wonder how the chap from Bristol had the brass neck to want several thousands pounds labour for a job that took less than two hours . . . Anyway, hats off to Sunamp, I really can't fault the speed with which they've fixed this. Impressed by both the handling crew who did the delivery and lifting and by the installer. Poor lad had driven all the way down from Nuneaton to do this job.

I’ve just posted on the “Introduce Yourself Forum” for those that don’t know me (or have chosen to forget 😁). You can add my name to the list of Sunamp casualties. Somewhere on this forum is a picture of one of my Sunamps (I had a pair) bursting its way out of the steel casing. It was replaced under warranty. What you won’t know is the second unit also failed. 4 weeks after I sold the house! I don’t know if the buyer eventually got any redress from Sunamp but from a couple of emails they sent me I don’t think so. In my latest build (actually a renovation) I fitted ground source with a lovely shiny cylinder full of water. The whole system works like a dream and has never missed a beat. I intentionally went for a German brand with a proven track record in the market. I would never go near bleeding edge, emerging technology in a property again. It’s just not worth the grief.

Just to give an update on this, for anyone who’s interested: I got my estimate wrong in my first post & the builder, & his irate wife, have chased for payment several times on three outstanding invoices which total about £10,800. I haven’t paid any of this £10,800. I arranged for another builder to spend a couple of hours with me on site, looking at all the problems. He provided a report/quote detailing remedial works, etc. I paid this builder for his time, so I’m not going to feel bad if I decide to use another builder when we get going on site again. I’ve deducted his bill, the cost of the remedial works & around £2,500 for consequential loss (my time away from my business spent dealing with these problems) from the £10,800. I have yet to get a cost to get the drains sorted out; once I have this, I’ll end up with a figure I’m prepared to pay the cowboy builder if he sends me a credit note (probably around £9,000 – that’s the credit note – not the amount I’ll be paying). The mortar was assessed as being good & strong, so we’ll be OK to fix up then build off the wonky walls. Thanks @Roger440 for prompting me to get this assessed. I wrote the builder a very long email with pictures attached, explaining each of the main defects in detail, a breakdown of costs for remedial works & my intention to pay him once I’m in receipt of a satisfactory credit note + information he was supposed to give me which I have not yet received. Also, I included a detailed explanation of the saga of the c £7,000 he overcharged me earlier in the build, before reluctantly issuing a credit note, so in the unlikely event he makes a court claim, I have everything I need, all in one email. I sent the email just before Christmas & I haven’t received any more demands for payment, nor any other communication since.

What a cracking question! Talk about putting folk on the spot! Forgive me if I don't deal with some detail or give a definitive answer. One main reason is I use my own name and while my PI insurance covers me to write on a public forum (give unpaid advice).. it's not open ended. I make some comment later that may help the self builder / folk extending say. It's good guidance. The following is some general comment for discussion purposes only. The guidance adds to / provides a methodology to support some of the things we have been doing for a long time anyway. The recent changes in the regs formalise this and aim to hold folk to account for their design, contractor to their duties and say the duty of a self builder, even someone doing and extension in timber frame. I support anything that will keep folk safe. The document is a guidance document. Many of the clauses in the Buildings regs, British Standards, Eurocodes, product manufacturer's guidance / data etc are.. guidance. But if you choose not to follow this and something goes wrong then you can find yourself on a sticky wicket as the onus falls on you, as often you need to prove that what you have done is equal to or better than the guidance. There are times when SE's need to go back to first principles and develop stuff from scratch. This crops up a lot when renovating, upgrading old buildings and say converting farm buildings to domestic use. You get funny sized cavities / flexible steel frames / old mortar and all sorts. Generally once we get into the "higher risk" building category.. could be a flamible house next door, a TF of say 3 storeys or more, close to an old folks home, a block of flats, a fuel station etc then the bells start ringing. At the concept design stage we would pick this sort of thing up.. good designers spot this kind of thing. To go back a bit let's look at what we are trying to achieve. The following list is not comprehensive and I've tried to put things in some kind of sensible order. 1/ We want everyone who works on the site or attends site to go home safely at the end of the day. It's basic Health and Safety stuff. Everyone on site needs to know what to do and where the exits are if a fire breaks out. This includes anyone working on scaffolding / mast climbers or the like. There is plenty information readily available on this from the HSE and other knowledge bases. One key point more applicable now is that a Client should aside enough in their budget to enable a contractor to comply with the current HSE regs and stipulations from the designer regarding say construction sequence. It's always been there under CDM but hidden to some extent from the domestic Client ( self builder / extender) For all on BH. When getting prices from builders it's worth getting them to itemise out a sum for safety complicance on site. This lets eveyone see that you are taking safety seriously from the outset. 2/ OK say there is a fire and everyone is off site safely. The fire brigade turn up. They need to be kept safe also. You can't have a structure suddenly collapsing on them. Now we are getting into the design / planning of the method of construction and sequence. As a designer when faced with this I would introduce this at an early stage to a Client.. this is usually an expansion of the explanation about fire boundary conditions that apply post completion. See my previousish posts. 3/ OK say we want to do a self build in TF that during contruction poses a risk to a neighbouring building? The Building regs talk about fire boundary conditions.. you can have one even if there is no house next door! Most of the time we know that the construction phase is relatively short cf the common 50 year design life of a house and can see if there is a structure next door or know if one is planned during the construction phase. 4/ Well we can look at the STA guidance for fire during the construction phase, refer to other stuff we are aware of and importanly apply common sense. Then find that we either can't have a TF under the STA guidance or it is going to become too costly to do a self build of say 2 storeys. 5/ Now we need to go back an look at the risks of the particular project. No project is without risk so what can we do? 6/ For me I look at how could a fire start. Again much of this is covered in the HSE regs and guidance on fire safety on site. But basics are no smoking, no hot work, no using a grinder that causes sparks.. no hot site lighting and managing material handling / storage that can add to the fire load (the fuel for a fire) the basic stuff. I look at my design.. Have I / will design something that adds risk? What is not so well covered is site security (your location) and the way you conduct your personal business! A few years ago we had a big problem up my neck of the woods with the criminal fraternity washing money in site security. Bills were not paid and a lot of TFs went on fire at the weekend / at night. Mind you the poor spark got the blame some of the time for dodgy site security electrics! A big risk is theft from containers. Folk use burning gear to cut the container open.. keep your container away from the house if you can. 7/ If we can't get the risk down enough (say 24 hour site security, a fire watch at critical times etc) we may then say let's put up a few TF panels and get the brick cladding up straight away to fire stop level. We may need to get some cross walls in to act as lateral support to the external walls and worst case provide some temporary protection. In summary it's about looking at the risks and mitigating them to an acceptable level. The question is what is acceptable! For me part of the foundation of acceptible is a Client that will engage / discuss, that is my starting point, rather than just "seeing me" as an unwanted expense, a route to getting BC approval and then going off an going their own thing.. the new regs are intended to put a stop to this in some ways. Some may say it's jobs for the boys! But if you get you designer in early and just talk through the job it can lead to lots of other savings and ideas that can easily offset the professional design fee. To exagerate to make a point. In item (2) I point out that we don't want the structure to collapse on the fire brigade. The structure is connected to the foundations and these can provide rotational support to a wall subject to fire @saveasteading has written lots about encastre support / wall and steel frame base fixity and you can find out more about this if you look at his posts. So now we talk about your founds / floor joist span, type etc etc.. and this leads to holistic design and cost savings. Some clouds have a silver lining even if you have to stump up a bit more cash at the outset in terms of design fees. Over my working life I've seen two fatalites and one serious injury on site (loss of a limb). Two were preventable, one was a freek of nature to some extent. I myself got briefly trapped in a tight solum space when I was a young builder (before I became an SE) and set fire to the floor above when using a gas plumbing torch.. I could see the flames above and that rapid crawl to get out stays with me to this day, worst still there were kids in the house so it was just not myself I was looking after! Uncontrolled fire is an awful thing. That's it for now @LnP

Hi Everyone, I am just about to start on a renovation and extension project in Co Clare hoping to bring a 1920s land commission up to EnerPhit/Passive standard. The project is currently awaiting planning permission decision due next week and then its all systems go. Looking forward to learning from this great community best jason the pic is ground zero.....

How about we don’t actually need more houses, we need less people.

I suspect I am not alone here, but why do people put in public objections for a property that does not impact them in anyway. We have just received our first public objection (currently, cannot read the comment) from someone who lives 200 metres down the lane, and only comes past our plot when they walk their dog up the no through lane. So it can only be a "I don't like it as it changes the appearance of the lane", when in fact, it's that he wants to walk his dog along the lane without anyone being able to look out a window and see him. Just reinforces my view, that there are some very sad and bitter individuals out there!

Because they can. In the same way as Elon Musk can do what he does. He does so because he can: and will soon realise that one day - because he abuses that right - will be roundly ignored. It's the quality of what anyone has to say that matters. Immaterial Objections ( technical term in the Planning context) cannot be taken into consideration. Because if they are, and they lead to a rejection of a Planning Application, they form grounds for Appeal. It's hurtful, its nasty. Its normal. You are not alone.

Stay with the owner who was present and on board the yacht when re floated. Just a bunch of fellow sailors helping out, and hope we would similarly be helped if we were in a spot of bother. Boat re floated

Kind words Jack Thank you I’m often asked can I recommend a good roofer plumber etc I don’t like to recommend anyone that won’t do a good job at a reasonable rate and is reliable You tend to find that with most tradesmen So my massive list of contacts is quite small Bits of advise If you are using a main contractor or getting the trades in yourself Expect delays between trades Or your just going to get who’s available Be patient A few weeks delay in the grand scheme of things won’t make that much difference This is why mass produced houses are so bad Know what you want before you visit your Architect Don’t let fees rack up Get a good SE onboard We spent 800 -1500 on the SE Plus 500 for a Topo Familiarize yourselves with the drawings Then you can spot mistakes easily LA building control won’t be swayed by the builder that’s brought them in and are readily available and on anyone’s clock Most builders will tell you that LA BC are a pain in the arse and they are But at least there inspections don’t rely on Photos of YOUR house More so this time round Do all the buying in yourself Quotes for the same items can be double when going in to negotiate on tiles bathrooms etc Go in your scruffs and boots It’s common knowledge that all self builders have money to burn 🔥😁 The biggy Do as much as you can There’s lots of jobs that we have tackled that neither of us had any experience of So many things are a learning curve Oh Remember when you go into the merchants The chap selling the stuff probably only knows slightly more than you 😁 When dealing with trades There working for you not the other way round They are definitely not your mates Plenty will take advantage of your kindness The best way to earn respect is to have everything ready in front of them DON'T LET ANYONE OVERDRAW OR DRAW IN ADVANCE No exceptions Im sure there’s lots more feel free to ask

Posting again now that I have some free time.

I have an update on this, after having spent 3 weeks monitotoring the MVHR unit. Learned a lot, which in hindsight I should have anticipated based on the basic laws of physics. These are my personal opinions/observations. TLDR: I think I made it work, but it's not a "plug-in-and-forget" unit. 1. Tilting the unit by about 5 degrees towards the drainage spout helped the drainage of condensation water. 2. The manufacturer placed the drainage spout on the same corner of the unit as the electrical connection box. This is poor design which caused electrical tripping at least once a week due to dripping water, until I identified additional sources of dripping (hint: not through the built-in spout). The manufacturer had 4 corners to choose from, and picked the worst one. 3. My MVHR unit is not insulated on the outside; this is poor design. I note that Boulder now sells the same model that appears insulated and costs 2x, i.e. they may have learned the lesson. About half of condensation that I collect (about 1L per day) forms on the outside of the unit, specifically, the "cold" half. Since the unit needs to be tilted to aid internal condensation drainage, the outside condensation droplets also slide towards the spout corner (following sheet metal bends). Then they drip out of the unit not through the spout, but out of the corner of the unit. So I had to put an additional tray underneath the whole unit to catch the outside condensation. 4. Internal drainage only works well when I switch off the return air flow. When the return air is on, the air flow is against the drainage direction and this prevents the water from draining by gravity (unless there is a cup of standing water in the condenser). As soon as I switch off the motor, there is a burst of water flow in the drainage spout which until then was prevented from draining. If the drainage spout was on the opposite side, the condensation water would flow better (aided by direction of the return air). 5. The sheet metal screws in the unit are made of nickel-coated steel. These are now showing signs of rust, after only 3 weeks of operation -- the drainage water has a brownish color which I traced to those screws being in the "flow path" of the drainage water. I will prob get 316 screws and replace the stock ones. 5. I ordered 25mm-thick closed-cell PE adhesive insulation foam to cover the the "cold" side of the unit. I hope this directs the condenssation towards the internal condensation tray. Fingers crossed. 6. I inspect the unit daily and pull the "cube" out weekly. If this unit was somewhere in the basement, I can imagine life forms would form in it in a few months, especially if the unit was switched off in the spring and left standing as is through the summer (I saw ghastly pictures on this forum :)). This unit is definitely not of the "connect and forget" type. Maybe there are better manufacturers out there. My unit was 500 quid at the time of purchase; now Boulder wants 1000 quid for it. For 1000 quid for a sheet metal box with two blower fans inside I expected more R&D and less fussy operation. 7. The intake air filter is noticeably darker (from the soot of wood-burning neighbors) after 3 weeks of operation. I live in an area with relatively good air quality; in the UK (Leicestershire) I would have collected much more. At any rate, I consider this an interesting learning experience. If I had to make a unit like this myself, I would prob make it out of transparent polycarbonate -- easier to see what is going on inside.

Some possibilities.. 1) Once a Pressure Relief Valve opens once they have a tendency to leak and let water out too easily at a lower pressure than its rated for. The more it leaks the more easily it leaks. Not sure why? Perhaps they are sensitive to a bit of grit or scale in the water. I've seen it a few times. 2)The Expansion Vessel could be faulty allowing the pressure to increase too much when the system heats up. Monitor the pressure and see what happens as it heats up. Perhaps check the valve on the Expansion vessel. When pressed air should come out not water. 3) The filling loop could be letting water into the system when it's meant to be closed causing over pressure. 2 or 3 could cause the PRV to open then it sticks open due to 1).

I lifted our original unit upstairs, on my own, with a sack trolley, loads of spare climbing ropes, two Petzl stops as safety brakes, a steel cable and a tirfor winch. Took me about half a day to get it up a single, straight, flight of stairs. I used the tirfor with a 2:1 tackle to move it up one step, then locked it off with the ropes and Petzl stops, re-jigged the steel wire and tirfor so I had enough movement to get it up another step. The sack truck was rated to carry 150kg, but really struggled and has never been the same since. They only way to move these things safely is with something like the guys used on Thursday, a Zonzini powered lift and stair climber. That had the advantage of being like a mini-fork lift, in that the forks can be motored up from floor level to around the level of the back of a van, and then a couple of people can just about slide the unit across and strap it to the Zonzini. They are, without a shadow of doubt, a manual handling nightmare if you're on your own.

Quote from here https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uks-electricity-was-cleanest-ever-in-2024/ Other key insights from the data include: In 2024, the country generated just 91 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity from fossil fuels – mainly gas, as coal was phased out in September – down from 203TWh in 2014 (-55%). Renewable sources more than doubled from 65TWh in 2014 to 143TWh in 2024 (+122%). Gas-fired power stations remained the UK’s single-largest source of electricity in 2024, generating some 88TWh (28%), just ahead of wind at 84TWh (26%). The remaining sources of electricity in 2024 were nuclear (41TWh, 13%), biomass (40TWh, 13%), imports (33TWh, 11%) and solar (14TWh, 4%). Some 58% of electricity – or 64% excluding imports – came from clean sources, both records, but a long way off the government’s target of at least 95% clean power by 2030. The emissions associated with UK electricity supplies has fallen from 150m tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) in 2014 to below 40MtCO2 in 2024, down 74%. The reduction in the carbon intensity of electricity means that an electric vehicle (EV) now has lifecycle CO2 savings of 70% over a petrol car, up from only 50% in 2014. Similarly, a household using a heat pump instead of a gas boiler is now cutting its heat-related CO2 emissions by 84% per year, rather than only 45% in 2014. Again to circle back to should we be looking to swap out direct electric for HP systems... Yes, because we would be massively reducing the co2 output from those properties but also, it would reduce the demand for electricity For every home currently on electric you swap to a HP, you can move another 2 similar homes currently on gas to HPs without needing to increace the electric supply at all. If 10% of homes are on direct electric at the moment that means we could end up with 30% of homes on HPs without any additional generation capacity needed. (broad figures)

Hi @Jeremy Harris. Firstly, any opinions or information hereby given by myself are my own views, experiences, and knowledge ONLY, and are to be taken as such. I am just a random bloke on the internet. However….the FACTS, ones which I can evidence, are as follows. I know of a number of these units which have forcibly ejected the PCM from the case, however it is purely a matter of my own deduction as to the cause for some, and direct and factual knowledge for others, given whether I was involved directly or indirectly, and whether I had the opportunity to examine the failed unit(s) or not. Also, some I installed and some I simply attended after they failed. Firstly, Jeremy, I do not wish to give you a bum steer here, seeing as it makes sense for you to go KISS and adopt the new unit offered to you currently FOC. Please ask if you require further clarification, as with ALL MEMBERS, by sending me a PM to enquire about my experiences / feedback, and reasons why I would perhaps pursue your other options. FYI, I do have better things to do y’all, so please only PM if maybe you are currently in conflict or suffering difficulties, but I will help members as much as I can (if I can). Perhaps @readiescards can enlighten us as to whether SA compensated him for property damage, when his units failed at his rental property. If so, then I assume they would meet your costs, @Jeremy Harris, for repairs to your home too. An architect I know suffered the same fate as you Jeremy, in their new home, as did someone aforementioned in this thread (someone who was on their 7th replacement SA unit before turning his back on their final offering, understandably then favouring an UVC which to date AFAIK has not flooded his home, unlike the SA’s). I can only assume the architect was compensated for his damages, especially with having to move his family and new born baby into a hotel for a week or two; that unit also leaked from a 1st floor airing cupboard and molten PCM made its way all through the hall/stairs/landing etc wiping out the house electrical system as it went. The title of this thread says “catastrophic”, which I heard a lot from folk where these things had gone, often spectacularly, wrong. Some of these instances are documented on Buildhub, pre-covid, IIRC, on public forum. I can throw up some links if anyone is interested, searching is relatively easy though for anyone who cares to investigate for their own satisfaction. The biggest kick in the bollocks is where these are the customers only means of obtaining hot water. To date I can recall only 3 ‘catastrophic’ UVC failures in over 30 years in the trade, all due to negligence or ignorance from either the owner or the installer. Only one was due to the actual cylinder failing, and that was a POS Ariston (glass lined) one where the sacrificial magnesium anode had not been replaced. To date, the number of failed SA units I alone have dealt with / been associated with is in double-digits; the first number is not a 1. That’s just me, a non-registered installer (I was never ‘registered’ per-se but I was drafted by them and became the 1st SA installer in the UK, outside of SA that is, employed indirectly by themselves in that capacity for nearly 2 years), and the majority of my association was not as a new installer but by being a repair or replacement agent, often under duress. During that period, and then beyond, I visited various units ranging from the early version of the Sunamp PV, all the way through to the units that preceded the “Thermino” range; the latest version of the UniQ, which had the onboard electronics vs the large wall mounted controller. Again, for completeness, I have zero association or experience with the newest Thermino range, but my own opinion there is that it is very much the same box which the sales & marketing team have given a new name, perhaps simply to disassociate the new product from the muddied reputation of its predecessor. Sunamp, Thermino and Aquafficient (AFAIK) are the same product from the same source. Having been left at the frontline with several disgruntled customers my love of these things quickly diminished, but, for clarity and completeness, up until this point I thought these things were ‘the future’ and I was a huge advocate of them. I genuinely thought they were the mutts nuts; more so when they were actually affordable in comparison to a quality UVC! Currently, as Jeremy states earlier, the pricing of these for supply & fit via their ‘trusted partners’ is now just completely insane, however there is no law against overcharging unfortunately. I can evidence instances where SA refused warranty claims, until I got involved and supported the claimant in their representations. Miraculously, once I got involved, free units were then immediately doled out (supplied and fitted free of charge)…. In most instances initially SA refused to honour the warranty claiming the units had been fitted in a “non-standard” way. It was a little embarrassing for SA when I told them that @readiescards refusal could not possibly be upheld; seeing that I worked closely with SA to pioneer one of the few dual SA low & hi temp installs in the UK at his property and Sunamp had endorsed and approved directly my own design for his installation, scrutinised and approved by the man in charge himself no less. Odd that they forgot about this, when first approached by the client independently. “Well done Sunamp”, my arse. @Jeremy Harris, I wonder if you could clarify if it was after this thread was posted that you got your offer of the replacement? Feel free to ignore this question, it is purely for my own curiosity, but it would be refreshing to hear that this was a genuine olive branch that you were offered with some signs of sincerity… Anyhoo…..I think you all get the idea of my position, so let’s get to the burning question: “Why do these things keep going pop?”. The answer, not only in my opinion but also from first hand experience, is systemic bean-counting in the manufacturing processes, plus the dismissal of mine and former SA employees suggestions for making these things more robust. The top line obviously came above everything else. These things were first put together rather clumsily, and the tour of their manufacturing facility back then was ‘interesting’. SA PV’s just choked up with limescale due to the tiny micro bore pipework in the HEx, and the cheap option “water conditioners” recommended to the customers were not even touching the sides of combatting scale etc. If you live in anything resembling hard water, you will need a full-on water softener to stand a chance here, but all I found were plug-in bits of crap with a clamp on the pipe performing miracles, or not. The amount of crud that I got out of one SA PV in the Forest of Dean was clearly the cause of that lady having no hot water (or resolution) for 13 weeks or so, which is how long she was given either excuses or zero communication for. You could understand if this was a one-man band, but not what you’d expect from a company of that size / structure, absolutely terrible. Things seemed to worsen with the advent of the UniQ, IMO, where these would often swell up with overheating of the PCM to the point where the lids were bulging 75mm upwards, and the forces thereof were enough to snap the M5 Allen head bolts off that held the lids on. That and cheap overheat stats keeping tripping out rendering the unit dead. Pics of those still provoke gasps, as you need to see it to actually believe it. Most would jump to the assumption that the incoming cold mains pressure had compromised the SA HEx, but no. To this date, I know of not a single unit that had a failure that had potable water constantly leaking from the HEx. Let’s be Sherlock Holmes for a moment, “Fetch my pipe, my dear Watson, we may be here a while…”. Mains pressure leaking from an instantaneous water heaters HEx (heat exchanger) would result in a flooding of a property where you needed wellies. This type of failure would result in a constant flow of water coming out at mains pressure, until discovered, and then the mains being switched off to prevent the 10’s or 100’s or 1000’s of litres of water, or more, being lost. In a nutshell, If it was a cold mains related failure, you’d bloody well know about it. These instances seem to recount my experiences, eg where the units puke out the excess PCM due to it ‘going nuclear’ and the only damage / evidence is the small-ish volume of molten salty yogurt making its way through the fabric of the building (vs constant running cold water flooding out everywhere). Jeremy says in his instance this may be because the PCM sealed the leak, but me, personally, I doubt the PCM could ever hold back static cold mains pressure, and even less where there would be a path already created from the hypothetical hole in the HEx, carved by the molten PCM, to atmosphere. The issue actually was / maybe still is (admitted to me directly by an ex Technical rep at SA) that the thermistor string that resides vertically in the core was ‘on the move’. Curious of this explanation, whilst stood in front of another trio of failed units in one home and yanking my hair out in despair, I checked the validity of this information / theory. It seemed kosher as the thermistor string was only held in place by gravity plus an ill-fitting compression cable entry gland (I’ll post the pics of these parts when I can find my other iPad) which seemed completely incapable of doing its job; the gland couldn’t close down tight enough at its max excursion so was pointless / useless. This chap was clearly a clever lad and had looked into this with vigour, arriving at this conclusion from (I assume) multiples of other similar instances of failure which forced him to surmise. Saved me a lot of looking / testing / time wasting because he was spot on! Shame he’s not there any more, but SA had difficulty holding onto good people, particularly those who had an opinion. So, to explain what was happening, the PCM would ‘flex’ slightly during heat / cool cycling and this created physical movement within the core of the cell. There was a flimsy tube set into the centre of the PCM core, which allowed the thermistor string to be pushed downwards into it, and each heat / cool event seemed to be creating a little movement which somehow squeezed or otherwise manipulated the tube which translated into the upwards migration of the lowest thermistor of the string. This could very well have been happening maybe by only 10th’s or 100th’s of a mm a time, but that marked the beginning of the end. As the immersion heater is installed at the very bottom of these things, and the electronics that switch 230v power to the immersion on / off rely on feedback from the thermistor string, as the lowest thermistor creeps away from the heat source that provides the temp reference the longer the immersion stays on and the hotter the PCM becomes. This continues from bad, to worse, right through to ‘salty ceiling mode’ kicking in. Basically the immersion was then staying on way past the point that the PCM melt-point required, which then led to the PCM58 effectively boiling (I think it did that at around 85º) and there’s the source of your salt-puking problem. The PCM cell is a sealed unit and comes factory fitted with its own internal ‘PCM PRV’ which opens to allow the PCM to escape when over pressure is terminal, eg to allow it to go ‘POP’ and stop it going ‘BANG’. The aforementioned project where 3 units failed in a few months was painful to be around / associated with, as SA paid me to go and replace them with these “new” UniQ’s (with the onboard electronics) and I thought “phew, now time to pack my shit up and go home again” as I was confident these new units would be “all sorted”….. “Nope”, and back I went, again, to be screamed at again. The point being, these people did not listen, or learn. My new found confidence at the arrival of these replacement units was short lived, as when I returned back to this site and opened up the first of the then failed replacements (yes that’s right) I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. The build quality was horrific, cable management was not just rough as a badgers arse but also (IMO) dangerous, with single PVC 230v cables not in containment or grommeted and more. I have MANY pictures should anyone think I am just a raging buffoon or a liar. No wonder they didn’t last very long….. That’s where my SA adventure ended. Hello UVC, I’ll never be unfaithful to you ever again. So, on to the next issues…. These things were sold as not needing G3 certification, “requiring no expensive annual maintenance or inspection” and so on, but I’m not sure what the advice (instructions) from SA is these days. If anyone could post here to clarify, eg if this is now superseded by a new sales patter (stated in black & white that G3 is now needed or not needed) as this may now have changed, that would be nice to hear about. I had always been sceptical of this ‘no G3 etc’ claim as the units all require expansion vessels, these are supplied by SA and their inclusion is stipulated in the SA MI’s. Mentioned previously in this thread is an instance where someone mentions possibly a unit failure being attributed to the EV being spent and ineffective; I’d look into this though, as if you’re not told to check these in the MI’s then why would (should) you be accountable for this item then failing and you then being incorrectly or unfairly deemed “out of warranty” and left to foot the bill?!? That’s negligence in my books. I think this suggested lack of requirement for service / maintenance was total sales BS, yet it made for an excellent USP. *Has anyone reading this been told of any annual service requirement for a Thermino or Aquafficient? Please say now, or forever hold my piece*. As with any EV, the one fitted mandatorily to every SA unit surely has to be commissioned to match the back-pressure pre-charge according to the incoming mains water pressure, for every single unique instance / install, and this then can only be proven to be doing its job of protecting the unit IF IT IS INSPECTED AND CHECKED FREQUENTLY. This periodic service / inspection protects against a failed EV unit being inadvertently left in commission, for one, but also allows for changes to be made to these values downstream eg if the street (network) pressure at the dwelling has changed since the unit was 1st installed, aka “good practice”. Now we come to the cherry on the G3 cake. So…..NOW you have to install a control group to a SA unit (a combination of valves that provide incoming cold mains pressure reduction and pressure relief (discharge)) a-la an UVC install which requires annual inspection to check these safety devices are in good order / functioning correctly etc, BUT, does the new SA MI state that you need to prevent over pressure from mixing taps if this is a replacement or retro-fit instance? Because if the pressure reducing valve is only at the SA cold inlet at the device, then the network cold mains pressure will simply bypass this (by reverse pressurisation through back-flow from showers / thermostatic valves / mixer taps and so on) and render all that completely useless eg a total waste of time and effort. No mention in the new SA Thermino MI’s about the pressure relief valve being a D1 or D2 discharge and how it should be installed / terminated / pipe size charts etc? Just say's, from what I can find online, to fit a 6 bar PRV with no mention of what happens when that opens!! Surely if a PRV can be discharging potable water to a drain for the rest of time, if unnoticed, it should then be governed eg fits into G3 categorisation? What a mess…

I've been trying to see if my theory about these issues being related to pressure might be born out, by comparing the specifications for the UniQ that we have and the newer Thermino (which seems to use essentially the same, or an extremely similar, core design). It's interesting that the pressure specs have changed. The UniQ has a minimum pressure of 1.5 bar and a max pressure of 10 bar, according to the last set of MIs I received, version 2.0, dated 17/06/2018: For the Thermino though these pressure specs have been very significantly reduced, to a minimum pressure of 1.5 bar but a maximum pressure of 5 bar, half that of the UniQ: Moot point for us, perhaps, as our well pump can only deliver 3.5 bar maximum and the pressure regulating valve has always been set to 3 bar, same as the pressure recommended for the Thermino, but it does suggest to me that there is a known pressure sensitivity issue. When combined with the emphasis in the new MIs that mandate the fitting of a pressure relief valve, set to 6 bar, together with the 0.5 litre pressure vessel I'm now more than ever convinced that the most likely cause of this failure is pressure, most probably some sort of repeated pressure shock from something like the shower turning off. Although we have a 100 litre pressure vessel only a metre or so away from the Sunamp, it seems possible, perhaps even probable, that this is too far away to mitigate some sort of fast pressure shock wave. This is all really just theory, but it does pretty closely fit with the known facts and details from Sunamp, and the experience of Jonathan Porterfield up in Orkney. Why else would Sunamp have reduced the maximum pressure permitted, and added these over-pressure mitigation devices, if it wasn't because over-pressure can cause issues like this?

It is indeed very good news, best I could have hoped for, as I really was not looking forward to trying to shift either the old one downstairs or the replacement back up stairs, TBH. I was even thinking of buying a second-hand stair climber, I'd found an ex-hire one for sale not too far away (Waterlooville) and was just about to agree to buy it and go down to pick it up, thinking that it would be worth it only if I used it twice, given the silly price I was quoted last night. On another positive note a local heating and plumbing company that I contacted yesterday called. They would have been happy to swap the unit over for me, and were very interested in the Sunamp, they'd not heard of it before. I spent five minutes on the phone explaining how it worked and the chap seemed keen to know more, so it may be that he might be interested in becoming an installer. He certainly seemed very down to earth and helpful on the phone.

Excellent news Jeremy and well done Sunamp if you’re reading this 👍🏻

Hi Jack, My father was involved with the first fully robotic brick plant in the world under Redland, my work experience was in Redland PLC labs weighing clay samples for chemical analysis and loss of ignition analysis and lime slurry input into the line at Wealden aged 12 (or was it Warnham...?) Strong post? When you know you know. With kind regards PS

Or, more discretely as it's not your problem, just inform the neighbour and allow him to take it up with the BCO. I'm not saying it's good, but I've seen far worse from 'brick technicians' laying overhand. An old-fashioned time-served craftsman 'brickie' would find this unacceptable, but there can't be more than a handful of breeding pairs left in the country... probably extinct by the end of this year!

Get the ratio of gas to electric to less than 1:3 and making a HP cheaper to run than a boiler becomes much easier. At that point people will start to adopt much faster.

MCS is the root of the problem, I am sure many agree. Their heat loss calculations often come up with silly answers and result in an over large heat pump, particularly for new builds, and their pricing structure seems to end up with a very large figure, even after deducting the £7500 grant, leading many to conclude the only person benefiting from the grant is the installers who pocket a very large sum for the install. A TOTAL re think is needed. Zero VAT on heat pumps even to retail customers would be a good start. Get rid of the MCS monopoly. Allow anyone to install them, and then submit their invoice for parts, labour and material to receive some of the cost back as a grant. Make fitting of ASHP's permitted development under planning. Of course it won't happen, too many vested interests. Ask Norway how they do it? I bet they don't have anything like MCS? First thing is ensure from NOW (not some date in the future) all new builds have a heat pump for heating. Just write it into building regs. No heat pump, no completion certificate. No bureaucracy, simple. Or just make a properly calculated SAP EPC A mandatory for new builds. Same for at least some PV on the roof. Swapping out boilers for heat pumps is not proving value for money under the current schemes, concentrate on new builds first then find a better way to encourage heat pumps in existing houses.

This is reassuring. The logical part of my brain always assumed that any objection would have established planning principles applied to it, perhaps precedents etc then just dismissed if it was merely a case of "I don't like the way it looks when I'm going on a walk". The other part of me was concerned they would deal with it like the police sometimes do, assume the complainant is automatically in the right and try to stop someone doing a lawful activity.

I've two last major areas to details for air tightness and insulation - this post relates to one of these - a single rear Oriel Window, an architectural feature that juts out from the rear of the building and is finished externally with a metal standing seam. The plan agreed was to create a 20mm lip of metal for the window to sit against. I was right about to commence work when I noticed dampness and beads of moisture and sure enough despite the window being surrounded by a later of insulation, because I didn't think through this detail on the inside, the 2mm metal is bringing in the cold outside and condensing - even though the inside is only 5-7 degrees or so! It's happening all 360 degrees around the window and dripping down to the bottom of the frame too. Obvious in retrospect why this is the case now and lucky I'm aware now due to the time of year so I can address it. I have other metal in the form of an I beam supporting the side of the porch cantilevered outside (80% inside, 20% outside) but this is dealt with by the timber frame company using a thermal farrat - the beam is in two parts and bolted together through the farrat reducing cold bridging immensely. I'm keeping a close eye on this internally during this cold spell to satisfy myself. Anyway, if anyone is to blame for the detailing it's me, it just happened and I had considered angle grinding off the lip to get a better seal as the 2mm metal meanders a bit making it hard to pin against the window frame with rigid insulation or squeeze sealant / spray foam either side of the metal continuously. The window company didn't recommend the angle grinder as the lip provides a water barrier if the external sealant fails. The company I buy my gutex and air tightness products from were confident that covering the metal lip with insulation and using tape would prevent air circulation and address the issue. So, onto the fix: I'm working with Gutex for some areas of the build, a wood fibre board. Messy when cutting (accumulates inside my circular saw) but easy to work with. Not cheap but I'm trying to stick with breathable, natural products and gain experience in their use. I've used Multitherm which is a T&G product around the windows, this time I wanted to use Thermoroom which is a non flexible flat product (no T&G) that I could stack up around this opening. I plan to finish off with a fire rated (A/B) oak veneer rather than plasterboard so needed batons to attach to (main use for this ply is around the internal picture window separating the kitchen from the bedrooms, hence the fire rating but it will match nicely if use in this other area too. I'm going for an air tightness test soon so my current finish is intello plus only so I can inspect and pinpoint leaks. I packed out the Moy Metac flexible insulation and then cut a few Thermoroom boards to size. The board is a lot smaller than the Multitherm so I cut them in half minus 20mm to get the width I wanted and they stack at 50cm heights on top of each other. Battons to secure although I'm finding it hard to get 150mm screws through the baton at times and then through the gutex to bite into the wood frame beneath. When I could get my weight behind it it helped but overhead was a nightmare. Ended up drilling 5mm holes as the top 50mm of the screw was unthreaded and I just wanted it to bite the wood 120mm away and clamp the baton, this worked fine but I've 180mm structural screws to use under the vaulted ceiling later! Drill was set to 15 but still rapped out a lot of time, any suggestions?! SDS with a clutch?! Needed to get a lot of speed up and push force to work. Once the batons were on I filled out the spaces with 50mm rockwool and stapled on the intello plus and tescon vana joined them. The lighter blue tape is tescon profil which has a separated backing allowing you to seal onto the intello first and hinge the tape 90 degrees before removing the 2nd backing to seal to the window. So all 4 sides are now done. I've 11mm OSB on the floor of the opening rather than batons, this sits on 60mm multitherm on top of 25mm bosig phonotherm, a structural insulation board I had spare offcuts for. As this will be sat/stood on a lot I wanted something more secure to sit the plywood on. Now, it's just a case of monitoring and checking if any evidence of condensation still occurs, maybe peeling back the tape in one or two areas and quickly checking but I'm happy for now! Lots more to do. I've to figure out the 6 x Velux openings next and box out about 400mm of splayed / insulated / air tight spaces and close off the last part of the roof. More tower work for me so!!

Yes completely following regs. sockets for normal everyday things are set at 450 high, you can then choose to sit any amount of sockets at any height you wish, you might want to hide a low level one , as we have, or you might want one at 1500 high behind a telly. not every socket has to be at 450, just enough to keep within the rules 😉

White render, black aluminium windows doors and the slate cladding was the style we went with! The finished off with some nice western red cedar cladding (I think it's called? Expensive stuff!)

I'm here on behalf of my father - the builder doing work on his bungalow had a stroke before finishing the job so I'm going to take over the finishing works. I've done lots of DIY, have built an extension many years back and have replaced the rotten timbers on a thatched roof whilst the thatch was still on it. Am able to rewire and undertake plumbing jobs so fairly handy. Most of my recent experience is from about 20 yrs ago and the rest is even earlier. Will have to ask a few questions for help with my fathers current project as I'm out of date ........... nice to be here and thanks for having me.

I put the direct air feed in early, and the penetration through the roof for the flue much later on when we actually fitted the stove. Don't let the nay sayers put you off. As long as you have the ability to open some doors so the stove heat can spread around the whole house, you won't instantly melt when you light it and if you have a good supply of wood it can be free / cheap heating.

We where quite Naive first time round Our build was part of a Heritage site Lots of conditions We thought that planners would be all over us But in truth No one really cares or is about to enforce these things This time round we needed to strip 600 mil off the site prior to starting BC insisted we strip along a line of trees we where supposed to be protecting I think much of it is a box ticking exercise Still had to folk out a grand for a survey showing how we would protect the tree line 😁

Every wall should look like this Real basic stuff