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With all due respect I wouldn’t be designing this myself - you’ve seen the outcome when it doesn’t work - and I certainly wouldn’t be designing it by internet committee. Go find a specialist pump provider, give them your requirements and pay the bill. Your insurance will look for every way out of paying if it happens again and when asked “who designed and installed this”, turning round and saying you found the answer on a forum is a very quick route to them declining a claim and cancelling your insurance.

First go at assembling it. Not all glued up yet. It still needs taking apart, sanding, priming and painting before reassembly. This is the first thing I've made by trusting the CAD dimensions. Normally I would cut part A and then cut part B to fit part A. This time I pretty much cut everything to the dimensions extracted from the CAD and crossed my fingers. Working OK so far. Mostly water resistant MDF so will need sealing well and a good paint job. The rounded corners were made by cutting a 75mm Diameter Poplar cylinder/dowel into four bits lengthwise. The top drawer is fake. The lower doors have soft close Blum hinges. .

In my case, pretty much what pocster has done. Bought a twin pump (zoeller)version of this: https://www.sumpsandpumpsdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Zoeller-Grey-Water-Pumping-Station.html#SID=48 The pumps are at different levels. Mine was done to counter a flood event from the river, so they will rarely if ever be used. In case of power failure, the same company supplied piggy back battery pump (12v) with capacity to run for 4 hours. Which in my case, is plenty. More batteries wouls increase that time. For it not to work, both mains pumps and battery sysatem would need to fail.

I meant retailer, but of course you can get a specialist contractor.

First full week of data and I recon just shortening the time this wasteful sky box is on, has saved me about 4kWh per week comparing this weeks "other stuff" usage with long term average.

Buy SWMBO a head torch.

The problem will be the significant start-up current required for a pump of this type. That’s why 230v breakers got pumps have to be C rated, so they don’t trip out on start-up. An UPS will need to be specified for the load, so beware of that when considering / ordering. It may be a good idea to have a much smaller auxiliary pump set aside for this, which can just run constantly for any such “doomsday” events.

I’ve several of these most sites insist on them a stream of fresh air Great for insulating

I've a full face job. It's great for hardcore work but it gets sweaty in there and not comfortable for all day use. I just use KN95 masks from Amazon. Fit well, and block all the dust. I've a half mask as well but don't rate them at all, don't fit as well as a full mask (never stays in place long), or even the good quality KN95s.

If woodworking then a decent reusable especially for MDF. For plasterboard and other demolition type dusts then disposable as you will go through lots of them

Can you list what is outstanding? I called Building Control when we were near and they seemed as keen to sign off as we were. People might be able to give pointers. Was the mortgage conditional on the warranty? Can you pin them down to specifics? I assume it's a structural warranty and the structural elements were finished and signed off a while ago? I would go with the firing off letters to Radio 4, your MP and the ombudsman. The threat of adverse publicity might make them back down. I'm assuming you might only need a month or two's extension?

Electric arc furnaces have water cooled cables … very strange to be bolting a massive connection (12 x m16 bolts) and then coupling the water pipes up that flow water down the centre and around the conductor to keep it all cool.

I know. I think you instinctively know that water is conductive, so you expect bad things to happen if you mix the two. And bad things will indeed happen if there are electrical potentials around, but once there aren't, water is fairly inert. A lot of water is used in the manufacture of electronics. As @Kelvin says, LCD screens may be a little less forgiving due to their use of organic materials although it's no certain think they would be harmed.

I could literally put a concrete block at the bottom of the sump to put one of the pumps on! that'd give me the different levels. much to think about.

I actually took one box consuming about 20W out of use completely, and the main one an original Sky HD box consuming about 50W is not on 8 hours a day less.

Sheesh what a nightmare. Electronic components recover well from getting wet as long as they aren’t powered up when wet obviously. I ran a maintenance company for several years and we regularly bathed components to clean them using distilled water and soft brushes. This was back in the days of smoking in offices so for anything really manky we’d use isopropyl alcohol as well. Take all the covers off and use an air duster to remove any loose dirt. Submerge in a bath of distilled water and use a soft brush to clean. Drain the water off and then leave to dry. Anything that had a screen might well be buggered though unless you can source replacement screen parts. We also used baking soda to clean components. We had a special low temp oven type thing to aid drying.

yeah. we have a 2m deep hole (approx 600mm x 600mm wide) in our basement courtyard. all the groundwater from around the basement flows in to their from 2 x land drains outlets. we then have an outlet from the sump to our RWH tank. the sump was created from shuttering and poured in water proof concrete at the same time as the basement so I wasn't going to bother with a plastic tank as I have a waterproof hole already! I just need to get a couple of pumps hooked up to the outlet. I do like @saveasteading's idea of different float heights and will look in to it some more.

A sharp letter followed by the Insurance Ombudsman would be my starting point. Basically, you’ve been sold an insurance product and they are trying (I am assuming) to change the terms by adding a clause about how long a build should take. Write back and ask in writing where they say there is a maximum time to complete, and then if there isn’t they have no case. They can change terms but only by mutual agreement - there will be cancellation and other items in the small print but this sounds like an insurer playing games.

I have always been very sceptical about any form of cloud based service whether that is just for storing your pictures and music or controlling your house. Sooner or later, some or even eventually all of these are going to stop any free service and expect you to pay up.

Yes, I've just been reading about the different types of limes and realise that hydrated lime is the one that is combined with sand and (portland) cement to make the resulting mix more durable. Whereas Hydraulic lime binds itself i.e. it doesn't require (portland) cement and simply needs to be combined with sand (and of course water). So, I'm thinking I will purchase a bag of hydrated lime and produce a mortar mix of 1:1/2:4 and use it on my retaining wall to see how it looks. I've got that mix ratio from a Hanson Hydrated Lime technical data sheet, which I've attached. I may also try a 1:1:5 mix for the "top" of the retaining wall as this isn't under any force. I think this mix would probably be better for repointing the house. Thinking about it, the retaining wall is two layers thick; breeze block on the inside, then a small cavity and stone on the outside, so maybe I could use a 1:1:5 mix for this as I would have thought the breeze block inner layer is the one holding back the earth. technical-data-sheet-hydrated-lime.pdf

I would not expect water to penetrate fat into a new drum of cable. cut perhaps a metre off the end as that might corrode and I bet from there it will be bone dry. As above insulation test it at 1000V and if that is okay you are good to go. and also as above de ionised water for cleaning electronics.

If you do want to wash any electronic devices, use de-mineralised water. That's what's used in manufacturing. The cable ought to have an Insulation Resistance test done on it to confirm its integrity.

We're pretty sure it was original the kitchen. We unearthed the old chimney breast when laying the new floor slab. The rear is certainly an extension, we believe to be built approx. 30 years after the original building, still of solid brick construction.

Unfinished Engineered flooring? The oak should be at least 10times as thick and if it's tough enough to walk on.....

Electronic devices, circuit boards and components are not directly affected by water. Damage only occurs when power is present - then electrolysis begins and migration of metals will result in corrosion of the device. Knowing this you have to priorities: Remove power (disconnect or remove batteries) Dry everything (in a warm airing cupboard for example) If step one can be done almost immediately, no permanent damage will happen.

https://www.juanmtech.com/location-tracking-with-owntracks-http-mode-and-home-assistant/

+1 tried tested and approved sump systems are not that expensive

An app installed on her phone that will do geofencing (https://owntracks.org/ maybe?), then turn off x seconds after she joins wifi Re mesh, I'm on unifi here and can see which AP a device is connected to, assume that is possible on ASUS?

Normal practice in commercial projrcts is to have a pair of identical pumps at the same level. Each is sized to cope with predicted quantities alone, and due to some clever control box they operate time about. This also provides for a backup. To prolong their lives the sump should be substantial and is allowed to fill a bit before one kicks in. A secondary float is higher and turns on the second pump if the first is not coping. There are also warning lights for operation and showing a fault. This kit is not cheap, so it depends on your perception of risk and value. I would contact a local pump specialist. It is surprising that this is a sustainable business. They tend to be small businesses with multiple suppliers, and lots of advice. A phone call first.

+1 for the Elica we have a Recirculating Switch in white and love it. Went from gas hob in last house [and electric rings before that], and controllability is great. The extraction on the Elica works well, which you would expect as primarily they are an extraction company, and you can actually see it sucking in the steam [water vapour before anyone corrects ]. Also what we noticed when we were on holiday using a cheaper induction hob, was that there was a tendency to pulse more with the power. We don't notice this at all on the Elica. Ours extracts to the plinth underneath the hob, and is less obtrusive than the grills for the Integrated Fridge and Freezer. MVHR extracts about 2m away, and never need to use the boost. Did have to loose the top drawer under the hob due to accommodate the extraction unit, and still try to open the fixed draw every so often.

Leave to dry throughly . I’ve seen phone / laptops dropped in toilets or covered in soup recover . Ultimately though some stuff will be written off 😞

Both of them suggested by SE but it took him 2 minutes to answer as it's very standard stuff. The RSJ with steel plate for a different reason as we had another RSJ linking into it otherwise it could have been a simpler solution.

Bluetooth Beacon detector...

What a pain. Unless you have suffered a large loss you may be better off not telling the insurers. I once had a basement flood with a surcharging sewer in a property we were converting so I came back from holiday to be greeted with about 6" sludge to clear up as none of the contractors would do it. It was, of course, the plumbers fault as they had left a new pipe connection to the sewer with an open end. Had they bunged it all would have been fine.

Re the posts, I use 6" Larch for my balcony. My neighbour made the post bases and these are set onto concrete blocks cemented to the concrete slabs that end below ground level. My posts are 3.3 metres long. Post foot bracket

Given your budget, have you ever considered doing something smaller but higher quality? I know some people on here don't like architects, but the right one working together with a good interior designer and landscape architect could potentially give you a barn conversion that would be an absolute joy to live in. Think along the lines of better fixtures and fittings, hand-crafted built-in furniture where appropriate, a proper budget for interior design and the garden - all the stuff that people working to (and often beyond!) an already tight budget often don't have the luxury of considering. You mentioned in your first post that there was more than one barn. I'd also be thinking about smaller outbuildings for things like a garage, gym, workshop, storage, etc. Friends of ours have a small barn in their back garden with a kitchen, pool table and big TV. They use it for entertaining, parties, their kids having friends over - all sorts of stuff. Personally, I'd rather a perfect 300 m2 house than a 500 m2 house that's just good. @Ferdinand might have some thoughts.

When my mother in law died and we came to sell the house our buyers solicitor asked for Building Control Completion Cert for an extension. Couldn't find a copy so wrote to Building Control to request a duplicate. To my surprise they said it was never signed off. Despite many years having passed they still had the file and for a modest fee would come and do the final inspection. They discovered an issue with hinges on a window but the BCO even recommend a local company thatcould sort it for us. All went pretty smoothly and we got a certificate in a few weeks.

A house that size will have a large carbon footprint to build and run no matter how you build it. Something to remember is not just the cost in pounds but the cost in damage to our atmosphere.

Certainly not what heat geek states. And their calculations show. But each to their own.

True but he’s been trying to do that and it’s taking months and is pressuring him financially. If it was me I’d be looking at the quickest approach to solve the problem and move on. That seems to me to match the boundary to what the LR thinks is the boundary. Hopefully job done, remortgage, and move on.

My architect once told me there was a house size threshold that once you go over, the quotes get exponentially higher... Purely because the contractors expect the client not to care too much about the details of costs and are more likely to be the type that will throw money at something until it sticks. And more likely to be demanding and a PITA, so it's priced accordingly. Not saying that's you, bit that's often the perception and prices reflect that. Also, you get to the point where you lose economies of scale. E.g. this build might need double brick crews, two ground work teams, a tower crane, onsite silo mixing, double the welfare facilities etc... So costs go up massively as your entering commercial build type costs. So I would be budgeting on the higher end of the estimate ranges, £3.5k would be cheap.

Wow! You have put a lot of thinking into this.. Bit late here but will try and answer some of your points. I'll put my "BC /checking Engineer's" hat on to be pedantic.. the following is a bit of an outline on how I may do it and some of the things I look for. Well done on picking up on the snow and access load. You also have a snow drift load and "snow dumping coming off the higher roof, but due to the pitch and size of canopy that can be effectively ignored especially as it is what we call and "accidental" snow load case. You do also have wind load but on something this size it I think this can be neglected as you have good heavy tiles mitigating roof uplift. If this was a big commercial building, lightweight roof covering with the roof sitting just below the window cills I would check it to make sure it does not lift the cills.. could be embarrasing! Oh.. please excuse any typos. Have repeated your calcs in a slightly different way but made an allowance for the rafter self weight just to let you see how I may do it. I use kg as it's pretty close to kN that we use as normally units. Your tiles look pretty heavy, normal Marley concrete tiles are about 50 kg/ m ^2.. you must be using some nice clay ones, jealous here.. like a nice tile. I'm going to use Eurocode Design here as later this is compatible with the fixings then jump back to using the permissible stress codes of BS 5268.. as it's easier. I'll explain as I go along. Tile load on slope = 77 kg/ m^2.. for all this is the declared weight by the manufacture of the tiles.. it varies depending on how much head lap and that changes depending on the weather exposure and roof pitch.. who said life was a breeze? On plan load for @MortarThePoint= 77 / cos(46) = 110 kg/m^2 on plan. Add 10% for timber rafters, sarking etc. 1.1 * 110 = 121 kg... this is the "Permenant" load, using the BS codes this is called the Dead load. Now we have a roof access load. In both codes this is ~60 kg / m^2 for domestic applications but this is a load that is applied on plan. A slope load is the load running up the rafter.. like tiles. A plan load is more easily understood if you think about snow falling straight down or a few folk standing on a stair or a roof. You can only fit so many folk standing vertically and only so much snow can lie on a roof. This 60 kg/m^2 is the imposed load. Now we have two figures for the plan load. Permenant load = 110 kg.. lets convert now to kN roughly divide by 10 thus 10 / 10 = 1.1 kN Imposed load = 60 kg/m^2 lets convert now to kN roughly divide by 10 thus 60 / 10 = 0.6 kN Now we apply safety factors to these loads, the different kinds of loads get different safety factors. Using the simplistic Eurocode formula safety factors are 1.35 (Permenant loads) and 1.5 ( Imposed loads) the calculation follows. 1.35 * 1.1 + 1.5 *0.6 = 2.39 kN/m^2 on plan. Now as above take the effective span on plan of the rafter as being 1.375m (conservative) and as the rafter is simply supported at the ends the loads at the supports are calculated as follows: 2.39 * 1.375 / 2 = 1.64 kN/m. In other words the "DESIGN" load on the ledger is 1.64 kN per metre run of the ledger. The design load at the bottom of the rafter is the same neglecting the slight overhang. If you were checking this you would check the rafters, the hangers before checking the ledger. Just like you follow the money you follow the loads and check each bit as you go. That is really pedantic. To make it fly take the rafter span on slope in feet divide by two m and add one inch.. that will probably be fine as it is a canopy. Thus 2.4m = about 8 feet.. 8 / 2 = 4 + 1 = 5 inches. I would adopt a 120 x 45 C16 rafter @ 600 centres max for the rafters. Standard Simpson joist hangers will do fine at the top end of the rafter.. can show they will work but it will take all night to finish this post if I do. ----------------------------------------- Lets now look at the capacity of the fixings and work out how many we need. If you follow the method I have used above to calculate the loading. I start with the loads (characteristic loads) and apply safety factors to get the design load. We now check to make sure that the DESIGN load is less the design RESISTANCE. Not normally a shouty bloke (use of capitals) but for all it is really important so please forgive. Things like masonry fixings are very tempremental not least as we are often fixing into masonry that is variable.. brickies can have off days and so on. In the table that @MortarThePointhas uploaded you can see two columns. One characteristic and one design. Take the M12 fixing.. the number we are looking for is the design resistance of 1.62 kN in shear. Now here it can get really complicated as we are using the Eurocodes. You'll see there is also a figure for the approved resistance. This is the value that you would use if you did not use the safety factors on the loading calculation... permissible stress design codes. Lastly always take note of spacing and edge distances. Lets now work out how many fixings we need per metre based on an M12 bolt and see if we can practically install these. Design load is 1.64 kN/m. Design resistance is 1.62 kN per fixing. Suddenly you can see the loads are pretty small and that you only need one roughly one fixing per metre run of ledger. To be exact we would need: 1.62 / 1.64 = one fixing per 987 mm which is a funny number to deal with on site. Practically I would say one M12 fixing per rafter bay if they are at 600 centres. Now all looks great above but lots of BH folk start using the same idea for 3 - 4 m spanning floors and ledgers for trussed rafters.. you can quickly see how these fixing will stop working! --------------------- The ceiling tie serves to restrain the top of the posts. Just use the same fixings and spacing as the rafter ledger.. line them up so they look good. 70 x 45 C16 may be what you want.. if hanging plant pots / growing a vine of something go for 95 x 45 C16 / maybe C24 as it has generally less knows and looks less cheep. You coaul calculate the wind load in the roof but using the same fixing as for the ledger will be fine. ---------------------- The transfer beam along the top of the posts. Have run out of gas here a bit and it takes a bit of explanation.. you use the design loads to check the strength and the unfactored loads to check the deflection. With timber you need to calculate both the bending and hear deflection.. bit more work. Suffice to say that on that roof you could I think show that a 200 x 45 C24 timber would work or two 170 x 45 C16's. The single timber may look a bit "weedy" and not sturdy to the eye.. it's also about it looking balanced and visually pleasing. ----------- A 100 x 100 post around 2.4 m long will take a lot of vertical load, again can show another day how you check it. ------------- Simpson post bases.. they are good, last a while, just a little more expensive. -------------

soudal silirub lmn is the stuff to use.

Being a newcomer to the forum, I do not want to be rude, or appear ungrateful, but none of you are answering the question I asked. It is very simple. Is it feasible and economic to charge batteries at a cheap rate (in this case 16p per unit) and discharge them through a heater when the rate is twice as much (in this case 33p per unit). If the answer is no, then it is no. If it is yes, then I would appreciate comments and suggestions on the question asked, e.g. best buy for batteries. I have already posted there are no intentions of spending £1000 or more on capital items. I do not want a night storage heater. I do not want a reverse cycle air conditioning unit. I have already said that fitting either to my shed, even if possible, would not warrant the cost. I also posted that installing PV may not happen, so at this stage it does not come into the question I posed. I have only long ago experience of using night storage heaters, but 18 years recent experience of air to air - up to last year; only Japanese makes but several of them, including Daikin. Mitsubishi was the original choice. Fitted in 2003 and I still had two in bedrooms that were very infrequently used. Regular use caused failure of units after about 10 or 12 years - no record kept, so from memory. They are brilliant at cooling a room quickly and keeping it there, but at outside temperatures near or below zero are fairly well useless for heating. Their COP drops dramatically, and worsens the more it goes down. These units are extremely common in Portugal, with most homes of those who can afford them having several, usually of different sizes to suit the rooms. The companies which supply and fit are numerous, so all have a lot of competition and they would not stay in business long if they did not know what they are doing. As stated, the units are brilliant at cooling – outside temps in the mid to high 30s for long spells in summer. I did not have a bad experience with them, they performed just as well as everybody else’s. Every house has some other source of heating, invariably a wood burning fire, whether open or a stove. Wood is plentiful and often free for the effort of collecting and making into useable sizes if you do not have your own timber. Some electric heating in rooms without a fire is normal, but full scale CH is not. I do understand Watts, hours, BTU, COP and so on. I do not have any experience of using stored battery power. That is why I posted in the first place. I thought somebody on the forum might have that experience. I originally posted that the 1.5kW fan heater is adequate for all year round use, and so there is no need to do any calculations. I expect a lower Wattage setting on a radiator would suffice during the day and would experiment to see what is needed. Temperatures here are generally higher than the Scottish mainland. Inverness, also at sea level and a long way south, has lower mean temps than Kirkwall. Most of Japan has a higher mean and hot summers, so, as in Portugal, a/c units are required for cooling, not heating, that is why they are so popular there too.

In 2008 we were in Germany and admired the quality of their new-build houses. Why had they got no heating on, in sub-zero temperatures? And yet back in the UK we couldn't keep warm with the boiler and stove on full? That was the start of our first kick up the butt, to get on and build. We built a timber frame low energy house on the site of a 1950's bungalow in Rugby, Warks. Then a one acre site came up for sale with a single dwelling on. We knocked that down and built three brick and block low energy houses. Then 2014 we saw a plot in the Stroud valleys, close to the railway station, with a southerly aspect and couldn't not buy it. We built an ICF house and moved in 2017 and here we are. We always install MVHR, best air-tightness, best insulation - Passiv Haus principles but without the certification. Still we itch for another project and so here we are . . .

Not a contiguous period, just the sampling averages (around every 8 seconds). A fridge, if working properly and not installed next to something hot i.e. radiator, oven, over UFH, will consume very little. Especially if it is full of stuff. Most food is water, so lots of energy transfer is needed to change the temp by 1⁰C. Thinking about it a bit more, a period of zero draw cannot be considered base load. It could be included in the under 100 W range (or 50 W, or 300 W). My fridge has a mean power draw of about 8 W.

I did some more testing on my cupboard full of stuff today. I tried powering it all up via a little inverter from a 12V battery and measuring the actual DC power used. First issue, the start up current of the printer tripped the 200W inverter I was using. Clearly I would need something bigger to account for things like that. So everything else apart from the printer, consumed 7 amps at 12V DC so that's 84 watts of DC into the inverter to power my cupboard full of stuff. That's not as high as I initially though, confirming the simple ac VA measurement was highlighting a lousy power factor.

Yes that's right. the heat pump heats the tank via the input coil and uses a temperature probe in a pocket on the tank. I have the mechanical tank thermostat set to it's maximum of 65 degrees and that shuts the motorised valve to shut off the ASHP heat input in the event of a malfunctions (very unlikely) The PV heating is completely separate via the immersion heater which has it's own thermostat and will heat the tank way hotter that the heat pump ever will.

Export payments dictate you have the PV installed by an MCS installer with their premium. So far, if I had been eligible for the export payments, I would have been paid £9.90 for what I have exported. Now work out how much extra it would have cost for an MCS install Vs DIY install and tell me how long the tiny export payments would take to repay the MCS premium.