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But you may want to switch that around in winter, when generation is low.

That's an interesting statement. Something like that, if it failed, I would expect it to be repairable for a reasonable price. e,g it is easy to change the immersion heater in a normal HW cylinder. If it failed and was not repairable, that would be a big put off for me and I would be wanting to replace it with something else.

So tangible progress today. First assembly of the deck frame. this has been a work in progress for a couple of weeks. As soon as I got the timber I cut it all to length so I could get it in the dry, in the static caravan. And then I have been painting, and painting and painting. Each joist will be getting 2 coats. It takes several hours to dry, so all I can do is one coat in the morning, and then later in the day turn it over to paint the other side. And there is room only to do 2 joists at a time. So that's a throughput of 1 painted joist per day. Today there was finally enough painted joists to put most of it together to see if it all fits. That's the first time it has all been put together. Phew, i got the measurements right. The 2 missing long joists are still in the paint shop. The two end joists and most of the remaining dwangs (nogins) are still to start being painted. I have now dismantled it again and re assembled up on the scaffold, jacked it all up into position on packers got it into the exact position above the post support pads and then marked the holes through to the wall ready for drilling and trying my spacer idea. TIP: I am fixing to the wall with M12 long coach screws. I have drilled 13mm holes through the wall joist for this. I find a standard sharpie marker pen is a perfect snug fit in a 13mm hole, perfect to mark through all the hole positions onto the wall.

You would either plaster/render them on at least one side, or add a membrane.

I think TBH this depends on your definition of "worth it". Are you motivated by ROI payback, or by using less energy / reducing emissions, or by have a local power resource that limits your dependency on the grid whilst still hvaing it available as a top up? Depending on your answer to that question, lots of answers are possible.

Having spent 2 weeks in the trenches installing the drains, I am at your service for the differences between theory and practice. After 40 years of designing drainage, but never afraid to get down there, I learnt a few things. Also about Chemfloor.

The 40% I pay hurts enough!

I have the Airflow Icon fans that have an iris type shutter built in. I also use external vents with a flap type shutter.

As a tradesman, you would know more about that 🙂 ! The Gordon Brown stealth-shaft special tax rate of 60%+ still exists between approx 100k and 120k of income, iirc.

Not having an Air Fryer yet, I might foil bake it in the pizza oven (*) and open up for the last 10 minutes or crisp the top under the grill. Or even microwave then grill-crisp. F * One of these: https://pizzaunited.co.uk/products/optima-pizza-express-napoli-pizza-oven

I'm pretty sure we used to call them turnips, until the posh and tasteless white ones became more available. When Safeways arrived, it was a thing of wonder to see the exotic offerings such as peppers. How are the haggae coming along to go with it?

You should strip the tiles, fit a breathable membrane above the rafters, place PIR (100mm minimum) between the rafters leaving a 50mm ventilation space above the the top of the insulation and fit 63mm insulated plasterboard across the face of the rafters. You will also need continuous eaves and ridge ventilation - 25mm at the eaves and 5mm at the ridge.

IIRC they do three sizes which cover a range of angles.

Read that as “inconsistent”, Jeremy had the same problem, found fault with every little issue (which Jeremy usually won), mine was brilliant, just nodded and said “you obviously know what your doing” 😎 (I wish).

BCO's can be very "individual" One of the things they were not happy about was my stove, "it's too close to the wall" but they did not tell me this on their visit, only afterwards when I got the "refusal to issue completion certificate" by email. I had to email to them the stove installation manual and tell them which page to look on to find the minimum "distance to combustible materials" and then send a photograph of the stove with a tape measure showing the distance was about 1.5 times the minimum. Why he could not just have discussed that with me, I could have shown him the manual and cleared it up in minutes during his visit.

I have two immersions in my tank, when/if I fit PV I would feed excess into the lower one to heat a greater volume rather than hotter at the top!

HI @Tom I think your quite right, and my tank is only very hot at the top, but then I am using a top down immersion and/or the mid level water coil, however, the example I was thinking of was using PV generated power in the winter when there is little or less power. +1 with @joe90 above, we only set the tank on about 45°C when using the ASHP and only exceed this with excess PV power, which sometimes means if the next day there is little PV power we do not need to buy in power to heat the tank using the ASHP. This works for us, but we have super lagged the tank....

I and others here heat our DHW to 45-48’ with heat pump with a decent COP, why go any higher?

Pretty sure you can get UVCs with multiple heating elements at different levels to avoid this - correct me if I'm wrong though

Marley manufacture a dry hip system which uses cover pieces for the hip to ridge joins. I bought them for our last build and they may be suitable for your situation. https://www.marley.co.uk/accessories/dry-hip-system

Don’t worry about it. Loads of armoured cables in industrial sites that are encased in concrete, tarmac etc. as for differential movement, unless you have a big localised shear move then it will be no problem. Armoured cable will stretch without and compress without issue. Unless you hit it with a digger or pick it’s going to outlive you and many more generations to follow

As above

I'd be wary about fixing to the coping. I'd be concerned about the coping coming unstuck off the top of the wall. Better fix into the wall itself if possible.

Why not look at a cylinder with heat pump built in. Needs an internal and external air supply, something like a Dimplex Edel (other makes available) Will use a 1/3 of the electric you use now. Instant water heater will use peak rate electricity so you don't want to go there.

Hi PeterW and JohnMo After fitting a non return valve after the water softener, all came good. The salt blocks now last at least 3 weeks. Many thanks guys😊

Here are some details with accompanying 3D illustrations: https://www.firstinarchitecture.co.uk/detail-post-timber-cladding-details/ The horizontal cladding detail includes external insulation but I don't think it would change that much without it; the finishing strip would just be less wide.

The beans are poor, with insufficient pollination / too hot being the issues I think. The tomatoes are mixed, but one is stunning. This confirms my strategy of having several varieties, one of more of which will do well according to the circumstances. These are all about 75mm and 4 already harvested. And note the threaded rod for support.. recommended.

For levelling, work out the fall you want per metre, then with a 1 metre long level, cut a bit of packing (wood) and tape it to one end of your level. Then set the level (now jacked up at one end) for the bubble in the middle. No guessing. I think my treatment plant went in and back out of the hole 4 times until I got it properly level. On sites I have been on, it is "surprising" how many professionals seem to "forget" the pea gravel and just put soil back in the hole onto the pipe that is propped up on a few bits of broken brick.

...and if you can, take the top layer of soil off, put that on one side of the trench, then dig down to the required level placing that spoil on the other side of the trench, like this

Some photos later. Lessons learnt first. 1. Supposedly experienced groundworkers don't necessarily know a lot. But they think they know a lot so don't read drawings or take instruction. a) Ignore the gradients stated and put them in at 'on the line' of a spirit level for surface water, and 'over the line' for sewage. Or is that reversed? b) Dig the depth that suits you and disregard the cumulative depth downstream. c) Rodding junctions can face in either direction. d) Joint lubricant is 'rubbish' and detergent is much better. The 'professionals' were let go. The amateurs took over. 2. Plastic junction chambers have a drop of 60mm from the branches to the 'through' pipe. Thus there is a 60mm drop at the first junction and then at every 90 degree bend....we lost 240mm this way and that mattered a lot when digging deep trenches and the digester tank hole.. 'Level' chambers are available but not in stock. (As I didn't know this, my previously lifetime of designed drains have obviously been fiddled in by 'joining the dots', and are flatter than intended. This can be see in the ToughButtercup pic. 3. Plastic junction boxes are designed narrow to avoid children falling down them....even if screwed shut. 4. 300mm chambers have tight seals, but 450s wobble about unsealed. 5. a) constructing soakaway trenches is a pain. The membrane won't stay in place while the gravel is shovelled in. b) perforated pipes want to return to the coil shape they came in. 6. People don't understand bulking of excavated ground. (a: Leave lots of room for the excavated material. b) It won't go back in the hole however well compacted. 7. 'Nobody' puts down a proper slab for a digester, or levels accurately: according to the digger driver (to whom multiple thanks for getting the tank in the ground, through skill and experience). 8. Some pipes simply slot into the socket while others need serious force. 9. 450 wide trenches may save money but some of us can't fit in them.

If you'd actually clicked any of the links you'd have seen an "all in one box" designed for installing in a utility / garage / basement @Spacey73 Buy. Plug in. Finished. You don't even need to duct the vents if it's in a garage / basement; and it will even dehumidify the air as it makes hot water so that your tools / cars etc don't rust. Pretty. Freaking. Awesome. You then spend the £2.5k that you've saved by buying this instead of a Sunamp on more PV in the field. Or...if you would enjoy it more...buy yourself the shiny Sunamp that you want and enjoy wasting the PV that you could be using to heat your house or run your fridge instead. It's dumb but if the Sunamp is what makes you happy then do go buy one and I hope you enjoy looking at it and aren't too bothered by all the electricity it is wasting. Secondhand Electric Agas are also cheap on eBay at the moment if you fancy wasting some more electricity. 😉

Well I am an ASHP with DHW at 48’ tank fan, it’s only 5kW and my tank does not loose any heat as it’s within the well insulated house, during the summer it slightly warms the airing cupboard. I have not yet found that hot water is cooled by drawing cold as the tank stratifies adequately. When I installed this lot Sunamps we’re very new and the original versions had problems (see Jeremy’s blog). I am sure they are better now with version 3 or 4 but it was a risk too far for me back then.

if it's the Xpress Pro 5-In-1 or Xpress Pro Combo 10-in-1 then yours has a capacity of 11L according to the Tower website. That's one of the bigger capacity ovens I seen. But looking at these promo photos, I still don't think it'd take three portions of fish and chips. A 15cm pizza? That's funny. What I can't find is the size of the wire trays? If they're in the region of 150mm square then it's not going to cook for three people. And as I said, it's one of the larger appliances of this type.

Yes, we've discounted any top-loaders for this same reason. I don't really like round ones either, takes up the same effective footprint on your worktop but gives less volume for food.

My air fryer is a multi cooker, as well as air frying it also slow cooks, steams, pressure cooks, bakes, and more some I’ll never use like dehydrate and yoghurt settings.

I did look at the twin drawer one but decided as we love our meat a big lump of slow cooked pork would fill a drawer and as it’s mostly the two of us (I freeze some meat for quick meals), one layer of chips 350g and something else on top cooks well but that’s two fish not 3 you would have to layer 3 fish and turn frequently. It’s suppose to cook 500g of chips. Have a look at specific recipes in your chosen Ninja or whatever make to get a feel of what it can cook. I’ve done bread buns in it making the dough in bread machine putting half in fridge and baking 4 buns for lunch it proves and bakes nice. There’s still things I’ve not done yet like rice as I use a steamer also but glad I bought it just wish it wasn’t so big and heavy. Oh and make sure you have room to open lid I have it pulled to front of worktop because of overhead cupboards so the 2 drawer would be better but hopefully it still working when we move house and I’m not having any overhead cupboards.

Roast for 2 today: Better than a single bin one which we have also had. Big enough for small cake tin. Lovely chips. 3 racks included. Very small amount of cleaning of drip tray. Heats up and blows the heat about: 60W when just blowing, 2000W when heating. Uses about 1.5kWh for a cake and dinner for 2 about 1kWh. Different to using an oven and takes experimenting with to get right. SWMBO well happy.

That's helpful thanks. You said you've got a Ninja Foodi MAX 9-in-1 Multi-Cooker which has a 7.5L capacity. I started looking at twin drawer ovens with 9L capacity.

^ do that a couple of times and you could've paid for an air fryer... We've a Panasonic flatbed combi and it's a super thing. It will do all three modes simultaneously (has a proper oven element) and it's inbuilt programs for pizza and jacket spuds are very good indeed.

Just go to the local chippy, ask for haddock as it is usually cooked to order.

We've been using our combi microwave/fan oven/grill, whenever possible, in preference to our Rangemaster oven since April and it's very clear that it uses less energy. I suspect that the difference in the mass of steel being brought up to cooking temperature makes the biggest contribution. As a baseline, cooking times are similar but the power input is around 2/3. But then using a combination of microwave to get things started, and grill to finish them off, can reduce cooking time even further. Having said that, we're also swallowing the current waves of hype surrounding air-fryers. It's too tight a squeeze to get three portions of battered fish and chips in the microwave and while I doubt there's a big enough air-fryer out there that could do this, I'd be very interested if there was.

What I have. Seems to do most of what I need it to do, and can microwave and oven cook at the same time. Not sure how energy efficient it is, and never baked a cake in it, or made a soufflé, but works well.

I have a Ninja Foodi Max multi cooker. Originally fat fryer although old and still working was very smelly and opening windows for ventilation was too cold. Also we wanted an alternative for when Rayburn gets switched off for slow cooking. Today we had jacket potatoes for lunch, microwave first then finished on air fryer setting. Ours is not small and is heavy so now it’s left out all the time, but it gets used a lot. On our new build (still in planning) it will be in the pantry with the microwave and bread machine (that’s used every 3 days). I would make a list of what you want it to cook then find a model to that fits. We both work from home, and I try to cook most nights. But even if not cooking from scratch like tonight we had chips in the bottom and chicken Kiev on top all cooked in 23mins from frozen with no preheat. The Ninja wasn’t cheap though so need to use it to get payback on reduced energy cost. I have cooked a chicken in it for 3 people max and veg in the steamer but no Yorkshire puddings or stuffing so not a full roast.

We got a combination microwave when we lived in the static caravan (didn't much like the gas cooker that was installed). A combination microwave has a grill and a fan (which blows air over the heating element to replicate an oven). As far as I can tell, that is essentially what an air fryer does - blow air over a heating element. Add in the magnetron and a combination microwave is an incredibly versatile cooker. So... yeah, my recommendation is get a combination microwave!

got a ninja 🥷 but for 4 was a bit small, still got it as wedon't get rid of anything! then got one rom lidl which is bigger and has a rotisserie option foes lovely chips and cooks a 1.2kg chicken in 40mins. well worth getting one, a lot cheaper to run.

Not for me, I fixed so have deferred my next outrageous increase until March, so will get most of this coming winter before being fleeced even more.

& doesn't leak!

nah this looks to be the right size …

I heard he got it from a Bristolian skip!

I have a second pump inside my house for the central heating because that is the way it was fitted for me. The pump itself is not particularly noisy although audible outside the airing cupboard where it lives. But noise from water circulating in the pipes close to the pump is more of a problem.