Leaderboard

Ah, gotcha Just electric plane the shit out of it and the rest can be taken out with the adhesive that you use to lay the flooring. ?. I would not use levelling compound onto the egger as that will be guaranteed to break up over time and the floor will become decoupled any drive you crazy. Best policy here is to over order on the adhesive to allow you to bed the adhesive thinly with a trowel where the planing has occurred. Use some SBR mix ( 25% water / 75% SBR ) to size the open chipboard first and really let it soak in and dry fully before applying the flooring adhesive. That will be ‘supersonic’

That would be at full wallop To have air con for summer and heating by air in the winter make this a no brainer. I think I’ll grab two of them now for my sons back bedroom and my shed/office, as in the death of winter it’s Baltic in there and vice versa in the summer. DIY in a day off a 13a fused spur, which is a huge attraction.

Fit one of these and be done with it - quick and easy, and you could do it yourself for change of £600 https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/a1%2fiqool-smart12hp/electriq-a1iqoolsmart12hp-air-conditioner

Depends how deep you go. At the surface the ground temperature matches the air temperature and you've basically got an ASHP. As you start to go deeper, the thermal mass of the ground means that the temperature is the average of the last few days - and the deeper you go the longer this average gets until with a borehole it's pretty much constant at the average temperature over a year (~10°C). Correct, heat is coming downwards from the sun. Water flowing through is effectively just widening the area of the collector. Unless you're in monsoon conditions this isn't likely to have an enormous effect - essentially it makes the coil act as if it's buried less deeply. Minimal impact - it really tracks air temperatures over a period of time, sun helps but really isn't a huge deal. Correct. It's better thought of as a low-temperature heat sink which you can reject heat to very efficiently (possibly without even a heat pump) in summer for cheap cooling. Not really - it's broadly comparable with fan power for an ASHP because the heat capacity of liquid is so much higher. COP values include pumping losses as I understand it. Care does need to be taken with the ground loop design though - if everything is in series the pumping losses can stack up, which is why manifolds are often used to run loops in parallel. Pretty much, although in exchange you get a GSHP whirring inside - no fan, but you still have the compressor. This is probably the main selling point for me, and why I'm willing to pay a small premium for a GSHP over an ASHP. Not sure this is a pro - I'd say large area of ground required, so neutral if you have the ground and major negative if you don't. This is the averaging effect - cold snaps usually don't last more than a week or so, meaning you're taking advantage of the mild weather a few weeks (or months, depending on depth) ago when heating during a cold snap. You lose out when making hot water in summer though (the ASHP gets lovely warm air for this), so overall the effect isn't as big as it's cracked up to me. Again, it really comes down to ground area - particular soil types need more or less ground array area for the same heat load. Unless you're drilling a borehole, the effect of this is modest in the grand scheme of things.

Hi, I thought I'd aim for an original title for my first post but couldn't think of one! (Sorry.) I'm a long time lurker on the Renewable Energy board and now that I've finally registered I just popped in here before heading back over there. From the age of 5 to 9 I grew up in one of the first houses to be built on a big new estate. In the school holidays I watched the builders at work and asked them a constant stream of questions- I must have been a delight (especially in the era before sites were fenced off- we used to play on the scaffolding in the evenings and at weekends). This left me with an interest in the various building trades and a basic idea what their work entailed. As a teenager in the 1970s I was glued to Granada TV's 'A House for the Future' and this left me with a lifelong interest in sustainable housing. http://www.hevac-heritage.org/electronic_books/M&NW_anniversary/Section-13_Houseforthefuture.pdf In the meantime I worked as a bureaucrat and lived as an 'ambitious DIYer' in a succession of conventional houses where I've knocked down walls, replasterd walls and ceilings, built chimney breasts, built conservatories, designed and installed central heating from scratch, plumbed and installed bathrooms, tiled walls and floors and some fairly serious landscape gardening. I've also taken over various extension projects at second fix stage (but not the electrics). Scroll forward 50 years and I've just retired- now we're going to move into a house that is enough of a project to keep me occupied for a few years but not to the extent that we can't live in it while I do the work. It was built in 2003 so it should be well insulated- making it ideal for a heat pump to replace the current oil-fired system and enough potential inside and out to keep me out of trouble.

I opened up a plug this afternoon to dry it out and inside the wires were colour-coded Red, Black and Green, bliss. It made far more sense.

Repeated from a thread a while back but there's a story goes around I first heard at college about the outgoing head of the IET I think it was. Every year he'd give a blinding speech full of anecdotes and laughs and every year it was different. Before he began he'd unfold what appeared to be the same piece of crumpled paper year after year then launch into it. Upon his retirement somebody asked how he gave such cracking speeches every year and what was on the bit of paper to which he replied "All you need to remember is red wire live, black wire neutral!"

It must have been the earliest example of priority being given to a disadvantaged minority with a net burden placed on the majority. Consider an inept DIYer wiring a plug in 1970. Hmm the red wire must be the dangerous wire so it should be safer to put that near the fuse. Ok next wire, my dad told me the big long pin is the earth, green leaves grow out of the earth so obviously the green wire grows out of the big earth pin. In 2021 the same inept DIYer will think. The mud colour wire must go into the earth pin because any other colour convention would be absurd, inherently confusing and unsafe. Electricity makes blue sparks which can be painful so best put that blue wire near the fuse and that twirly coloured wire reminds me of an icecream lolly so clearly the old cold used up electricity flows out opposite the fuse but oh, blue is the colour of cold things so maybe I should swap the sun coloured wire into the hot dangerous position near the fuse.

Depends on the numbers. 88888 makes no difference But 9999 does

Yup..! my spreads does it by eye - compound curves, the lot. He packed out the bottom edge of a valley as he wasn’t happy where it came into the room and it’s done with bonding and bead and it’s like a knife edge it is that straight. Mates new developer box looks like it’s been plastered with a plastic butter knife …

Me to, at least the electrons have a closer path to the heart.

Best place is on the warm side of the insulation

As it’s just one joist (and I am OCD) I would pack it, if you don’t do it and if it is noticeable after being plastered it’s too late and you will kick yourself all for a bit of hardboard and 15minutes work ?‍♂️

Loxone for me also. I think it's an excellent system, very robust, very flexible and good value compared to other centralised, whole building automation systems. Similar to others, it looks after heating, cooling, hot water, mvhr, blinds, roof vents, internal & external lighting, alarm, fire, videocom, and entrance gate. I think HA is at its best when you don't have to interface with it (too much).

Thanks il give it a go and post photos

My boiler has broken down in the winter before and it was 2 days before anyone noticed. In a modern house it takes a very long time before you feel cold.

Plenty of examples i can think of:: you're out with the family for the day, but for whatever reasons we need to come home early unexpectedly. Rather than get home to a cold house, you can remotely switch on theheating or modify the schedule so that it reaches the required temperature just as you get home. Teenager at home alone. Teenager told to turn the heating off when she leaves. Teenager forgets. Tado's geolocation will turn it off as soon as the Teenager leaves. You leave the house in a rush and can't remember if you turned the heating off. No worries, you can check the Tado app and control it from there. Bad luck about being burgled.

It’s quite rare to tack directly on to trusses Most including myself Counter baton with 75x25 That way you can easily pack where there is any undulation

Why does red black and green make it better? Give me brown blue and yellow/green. Harmonisation was a boon. Next you be calling for pounds and inches...worst units of measure going. It's like anything in life, what you grow up using is what makes sense. No one likes change, unfortunately the ship has long since sailed with those kind of changes and we shouldn't revert....the youth don't understand them, only crusty old sods!

It has a hole markc ideal for drop bar, but oddly not so the tube can pass through it. So as i couldn't dare put tube superflush into me 'crete, or crete would overflow into it p*ssing on me parade, ive set my tube just protruding above me 'crete, by thickness of the plate, & levelled a shelf for it. Just then to enlargen the plate hole so it'll fit over it. Prolly wrong idea, but couldnt think any other way.

Thanks so much to all of you for your interest and suggestions. My husband renovated the whole house but we've struggled to get the right help with this problem, despite asking other tradesmen for their opinions. He's reading all your comments and we'll decide next steps, based on your suggestions. Again, thank you all.

Yep, just give me some cash and I shall tell you what I want to install. Seriously. You need to decide what you want automated, above and beyond what you can already do. So if you need to switch lights on when you are away, that can be fitted, if you want to turn your heating down, when you are away, that can be fitted. But have a real hard think about what is important to you. My personal view is that it is all a nonsense, technology looking for a use.

Quite a few people are red/green colour blind which gives rise to an obvious safety issue. Harmonising colours throughout europe was a good idea, unless you're a member of the ERG.

From what I have read (and I am open to being proved wrong!) the Germans for example still work on the old system of apprentices and investment back into the business, also most Germans prefer to buy Germans made products. We appear to have digressed into buying cheap (china) products and not supporting our own industries. I believe it’s also true that we have the lowest productivity amongst similar nations. Don’t get me wrong I would not want a politicians job for all the tea in China but the country voted to leave the EU, not the gov (there were pro Brexits and remainers in gov). It would appear the pig Industry relied on migrant workers and yes units not the gov,s job to help every failing industry. (I like the old wiring colours too ?)

Not a problem as the batten is tight against the rafter no air can leak as poly is trapped tight with the fixing. Make sure screws or nails don’t miss

After WW2 and a massive leap in the wrong direction when the internet gave idiots a voice

Couple of noggins between joists either side of the wall and then a diagonal from the end of the wall to the purlin. You are not looking at big spans or loads (steep pitch roof), possibly an additional vertical as you say spread over a couple of joists to be doubly sure

Definitely in a duct

Points not raised. Writing as a small landlord... One cause may be that the render makes it more difficult for moisture to escape, and so moisture tends to hang around more. I note that your 2G windows do not seem to have trickle vents, which will have helped seal the house even more compared to how it used to be. Useful test: What is the humidity in the house like? If it is high (which means perhaps 65-70% or above, ideal is 50-55%), that suggests that ventilation may help. You can get min/max humidistats/thermometers from Amazon for £10. I have about 3 of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ETI-Ltd-thermometer-hygrometer-indication/dp/B017KNQNZA/ My only warning is that they don't bounce off tiled floors. Do you have any lifestyle habits that would cause problems - eg drying washing inside, tumble dryers that vent to inside, bathrooms without decent ventilion etc? Find alternatives. My best anti-moisture measure to make my rentals more resilient to tenant lifestyles is to fit a PIV loft fan, plus a constant ventilating HR fan. That maintains a slow throughput at minimal cost. I also do things like fitting small shelves immediately over all the radiators. Examples would be: This: https://www.nuaire.co.uk/product-list-page/drimaster-eco-range?v=DRI-ECO-HC and this: https://www.vent-axia.com/range/lo-carbon-tempraselv That has been my policy for a decade now, and it works ime. While you are at it, make sure all your fans have anti-backdraft shutters. F

Did you ever resolve this @pocster? It's not as straight forward as some might think but it's not difficult either tbh. You just need to know what you are looking at. The four red are effectively hinge securing screws, you can loosen these to increase/decrease height, then adjust the greeen circle for the height increase/decrease requirement. Tighten the red again. Yellow are compression against the frame, you can increase/decrease this without having to loosen the hinge. The Orange is left / right movement but is actually on the door side of the hinge. If you look closely, you should see the arrows on the hinge (repeat steps for height adjustment).

If it was me I would get some access & a harness and go and remove all the roughcast, and then deep rake out the joints and repoint it, then roughcast it. Or I would get a roofer/builder type to do the same if I was in the right mood. I would not get rid of a chimney. I think the costs you have provisioned are about right.

That looks like a good idea, low wattage and fairly cheap to buy, cheers Oh, it works in the far infra red. At 350 W, 4 old light bulbs would give off more power.

I know everyone suggests the roof / gutter as an issue . Yet the wall looks very clean . Had exactly the same internal issues you have . Checked outside including the guttering - nothing obvious. Then one day whilst passing by it was p*ssing down - then I could see it . I’d certainly go outside when it’s hammering down just to check .

Not easy to answer specifically as we don’t know what, span etc of the joists. what is the section and span of the purlin? might be easier to turn the purlin into a trussed member to enable it to span without support. If you definitely want to remove the whole wall you could add a steel and the prop sit on top of that in the loft space (steel to bridge wall to wall)

Aerogel? Been looking at this for the walls - stone - need to breath etc. Went outside for a little cry when I saw the price.... ?

A1 from Appliances Direct can just mean that they have taken it out of the box to check it as the box is damaged. Either way, it’s for an outbuilding so a minor scratch or dink won’t be that worrying I would expect.

Cute unit, but how noisy are those all-in-one heat pumps in reality? The page suggests 58 dB(A), which might be irritating in a small space.

That is a second hand unit. I would expect the price to be a lot lower.

We have the same. I did not realise there would be quite so much gear overhead but I belive they are better inslulated than a roller. They also look quite neat from the outside. Ideally I wanted an insulated side hinged door but they are too expensive for me.

I'd be careful assuming that you'll get much, if any, heat moving upstairs as a result of maybe a square metre of warmer floor at the foot of the stairs. It depends on the floor temperature of course, but UFH isn't like radiators. In particular, the temperature difference with UFH isn't enough to generate convection currents.

PERT and PEX are broadly the same thing - a polyethylene pipe, the difference being PERT has a modified binder to deal with continuous high temperature (ie 55°C plus) which isn’t needed in most UFH installations. The AL layer is key to oxygen diffusion but has nothing to do with the flexibility or tightness of bends etc. 100mm spacing is close and will use more pipe and will also need “light bulb” turns toward the ends as the bending radius will not allow it to turn back on itself in 100mm. Bear in mind if you use 100mm you will get quicker response times as you can put more heat in, but it will still be the same amount of heat irrespective of the pipe spacing.

The lower the heat loss of the house, the lower the flow temperature needed and the wider apart the pipes can be and the less energy it uses

@WWilts I think you'll need to do a light bulb end when bending to that radius. I've just laid UFH pipe at 135 centres and done the light bulb ends to achieve this. Did do a test on an offcut to see how small a radius I could achieve however it kinked before 135mm. Maybe it could be done with the use of a former?

Me. Have done this in England twice and also handled existing reports for a bigger project. The fundamental point is that you should not build in such way as will increase flooding generally, or have damage to your own building in flood unless there is a very good reason to build exactly there. So the test is if you have tried other places, and found there are none suitable, and why your project is so important that others are put at increased risk. It is one of those things that follows a logical pattern. Brief, issue, background, proposal. etc., and you can probably find someone else's on the local planning portal. that will have the advantage of having similar issues. Then you can contact these consultants or be inspired yourself, or see why to give up. Mine took about 12 pages, arguing why this client was a huge asset to the area but had to expand next to the very big river or move away. Plus the facts of the project, the effect flood would have, and designs that avoided damage to the building in a metre of river. He had 'looked at the other sites but they are all in other towns' blah blah. Our client had to sign a form that he realised that his factory might flood, and no claims would be made. He had a plan if a flood was forecast but not for accidents. Another by the sea for an infill. This was very difficult to justify, and wasn't tested as the client pulled out. Meanwhile I have seen reports maybe 50 pages long. Whether or not this was necessary I can't say, but the planner seemed impressed by the thickness of it. It is unlikely to be a diy. Cost will depend on the attitude of the planners (is it box ticking or do they really need convincing?). £3k to £20k for a single small site? that might not be the end. One client had to get the flood modelled by computer to show what effect the river would have. Add another £20k for a big, very specialist consultant. In summary, I suggest you first discuss with your Architect if there are clues from the planners about the seriousness level of this, and local precedents.. Then find a local Civil Engineering consultant who has done this successfully and have a preliminary discussion before committing to them or to proceeding with your project.

I had this issue once, old cavity wall house we had insulation blown into the cavity then I jad a recurring issue where there used to be a fireplace it had no damp but I was getting effervescence through new plaster in the end we used a specialist salt treatment which was painted on and solved the issue.

Eddi device? Now you've done it ? I know one of those.

Sounds like the walls are drying out into rather out of the building due to a sealed wall or lack of ventilation causing condensation. Try ventilation and/or an isolated metal stud internal wall.

You can innovate, but you need to pick your hill to die on - yes there are alternatives for a tank however a tank is the easiest (and probably cheapest) route to compliance. We've complied with this regulation with all sorts of different methods, suds ponds can be good if need one anyway! I'd guess going by your comments that you havebn't dealt with a lot of building standards officers in Scotland!? ? Young forward thinkers are only a couple of applications away from being jaded!

If the ASHP is connected to the same "normal" radiators that the gas boiler used to feed, and you are trying to run the ASHP at 60 degrees or more to get the house hot enough, then it will perform very badly. It is what we keep saying, "Design" An ASHP is not the golden goose to replace a gas boiler UNLESS you re design the whole heating system that may involve changing ALL the radiators or installing UFH. I am willing to bet most of the retro fit ASHP systems we see criticised are "designed by salesman" and are not correct in an engineering sense.

Hi Peter.. yes pin! Ive got just about enough/ 2" to go in ground. It has a metal 2" tube ( & small mystery plate w' hole in middle in packet).. so I assume this is set in the concrete thingy area Ive got to do as last job. Anyway, all that time measuring until my brain hurt seems to have paid off: