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They've a new version which can take an SD card for simpler data transfer. It also appears to include the Bluetooth module. Works out around £75 incl. VAT and delivery for an 8Ch temp logger. https://www.ebay.com/itm/115695655888

Why do manufacturers offer cooling mode if it shouldn't be used? As long as you take care to avoid condensation issues, there's no good reason to avoid cooling mode. I've run mine to cool our slab during summer for several years without issue. Is ECS hot water production and is a "PIV module" a radiator type module that you blow air across for cooling? Depending on how your valves are set up, you might get a slug of hot or cold water escaping into the wrong circuit as it changes mode, but that's unlikely to make any practical difference. The main thing with cooling is condensation risk. If you're using a radiator-type attachment to cool air, you'll generate quite a bit of condensation. You'll therefore need to be sure that the cooler has a drain for capturing condensation, and you need to be able to plumb in somewhere for the captured condensation to go

Hi, As a small step towards repaying the valuable advice I have received on this forum I thought I'd share the attached document, which I hope will be useful and/or interesting to forum users. I am a planner by trade, working in local authority. My SB is on a relatively small, highly inaccessible plot neighboured by mature trees, and tightly bordered by existing houses. The plot was a 'detached' back garden of sorts that came as part of the deal (and something of an afterthought) when we bought our current house. Nobody had ever even considered the prospect that it could be a building plot, and for many years I discounted the idea myself due to the restrictions listed above. Five years ago, having outgrown our house and exhausted other options, I decided to at least try to self build on the plot. I obtained permission at the first time of asking (albeit not quickly and not without having to make a tweak or two). Everyone, without exception, from family to neighbours to building tradesmen to delivery drivers to other planners, have commented on how 'well' I've done to get permission. Some of them probably thought I'd made a mistake, or that the Council did, or that there was some old pals act involved because I am a planner myself (even though I don't work in the borough where I am building, and it really, really doesn't work that way anyway). They are all wrong. I obtained permission because I did the thing that planners spend their working lives telling others to do - I read the relevant planning policies, designed a development that was in line with them, then demonstrated as much in the application. That is what the attached statement does, it goes from global to national to regional to local policy, then explains the thought process behind my design, in that context. I cannot tell you how many architects, developers and would-be planning consultants fail to design development proposals specifically to meet planning policies, and then spend ages moaning, appealing, resubmitting, and generally wasting time. I can't promise that if you follow the thought process in my document you'll certainly get planning permission, but I hope you find it a useful insight into how a planner approached self-build, and specifically the matter of seeking planning permission on a plot that the rest of the world had discounted. Cheers 647910914_DesignandAccessStatementRedacted.pdf

whereabouts is the back of beyond? Have you contacted the metal roofing company? They gave me a list of installers for Greencoat which I’m working my way through. I am expecting some quotes back this coming week but they’ve been saying that since last month and December.

Just retorch? If it’s that old I suspect it will have been done in lime. A bugger for a job, but it’s DIYable

Have you priced up a black corrugated roof. Plenty of them around here. A guy who used to be a member here used it on his build. You can see if in Google maps, the address is 76 Belfast Rd, Ballynahinch BT24 7HE. It's set back from the road behind the green sheds.

Have you looked at Catnic or Greencoat ? I’m having a similar issue but less cost and more finding someone to quote for the work. I’ve contacted many companies and a third of them aren’t taking on new work for the rest of this year. A local builder said to change to tiles as there is a greater choice of roofers in the area.

Your architect is the person to ask as you'll need to have your drawings updated. Yes, think that's beyond a non material change... But should be straightforward. Put application in and keep building in the mean time.

Then the law needs changing.

all you need is a spare wheel and length of rope. tie rope to base of sapling run rope over the wheel and pull! The force multiplier is quite amazing, even get old fence posts out using it.

It's going to be pretty negligible on a new build, you can mitigate less efficient plan view profiles. To the planning officer the local vernacular is more important than you achieving the ideal U value with the least amount of insulation. You're better off arguing against what the Planning Officer is putting forward as the local vernacular. Although if their argument is sound then compromise will get you a positive outcome far quicker than trying to tell the planning officer they are wrong.

The tiles will need to come off at some stage and new felt fitted. If the torching issue is that bad you need to get it done sooner, if not, just insulate and have a tidy up every couple of years.

Always prefered plastic. If only because copper transmits heat much better then plastic!

It would make no difference if it was written in blood Getting a planning officer to change there stance is difficult

No! 🤣 Mine looks like a rat's nest inside due to a couple of poor decisions at the time I put it together. I have a long term plan to improve it, but don't really have the time to dedicate to it at the moment. What I will say is that you need a good solution for terminating your incoming CAT 6 (or whatever) wiring before it enters the cabinet. 110 blocks are a decent options for non-data cables. You then patch each pair up into the cabinet with a separate twisted pair. There are a lot of pairs from the ethernet incomers that don't get used - 1 out of 4 is the most common usage ratio per incoming cable on my installation - so having somewhere neat to terminate them outside the cabinet does a lot for internal routing space.

I'm having a go at this myself in conjunction with my electrician. with the knowledge and assistance of those that have done it on here I'm feeling pretty confident about doing an all-right job! do a search on here and you'll find many examples of cabinets. @joth has a particularly good thread: I started a thread about my Loxone project as well which has loads of great information in it:

Never be finished . You are a lifer like me . Maybe parole- but unlikely.

@pocster my hairy ones aren't as big as yours and I decided to connect a hose to my manifold to test it with water. no leaks were found. time to put it back on the wall and put the hep2o pipes in to it. should've trusted my work and not bothered with the testing! could've saved myself a couple of quick on a 3/4" male-male connector.

This is the borehole at our plot.

Got my reolink video doorbell from Amazon de Only quickly tested but seems very good for the money. See no reason it won't work with BluIris. Will use the supplied chimer for now - but once I get zigbee stuff sorted will have it trigger my own method for chime. Not installed it at my door yet as wish to be a bit more convinced before I do that.

My builder and I did this too in a retrofit. No need for it I expect but the builder was adamant as he also takes a belt and braces approach.

A bit of silicon spray or Vaseline can help the seals slide home too.

You could just fill up the fascia and soffit with EPs beads, right up to join the attic insulation. Then put some slate vents up higher in the roof to ensure the cold loft space remains ventilated.

He has. See link currently 18 hours ago

You could post your doc here and the forum could go through it and identify the missing gaps. You could then amend the doc to legislate for those, send it to the builder in track changes and ask him to confirm he has included these. He will say “no” and then you can agree a price for those items as well. i had an incredibly detailed schedule of works. It had about 250 items on it. I also had a pack of construction drawings my architect has prepared which were maybe 35 pages in all. As the we went through the build we regularly came up with things that I hadn’tprovisioned for and which the builder wanted to charge me extra. He was generally right, but the constant revision of the budget upwards was stressful. As was the need to suddenly research which type of insulation or which type of sealant to be used for the missing item, and then buy it.

Yes, I thought that this is what I had agreed to and signed up to. But the builder misled me. Anyway, luckily that was a long time ago and resolved ok. Lessons learnt!

as long as the installer hasnt screwed through them and the frame is otherwise foamed/fixed in place just knock them out with a screwdriver and hammer.

Could you use a plinth brick on the outer blockwork. It's poor design and you shouldn't have to sort it out.

Yes, exactly. Sorry! Late-night failure of translation module in the brain! ECS = DHW. The module is Hydro'R Aquarea, something designed by Panasonic. Installers are a bit scared about using it with non-Panasonic heat pumps, but I don't see the issue. Hopefully the module is properly designed! https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.vmi-technologies.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/EN-Catalogue-VMI%C2%AE-2021.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjhjK6xwvv8AhXOh_0HHQWGAh4QFnoECBsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0LXu1ytQzrm1W_PM3MkJAp

For the heat pump itself it’s no issue at all to switch between heating and cooling as much as you like. That’s exactly what it does during defrost in winter constantly. It switches to cooling and runs hot gas outside to melt frost on the coils, then back to heating. As @jack mentioned, you have to pay attention inside where you might have condensation. But if you use fan coil units for cooling, those usually have their own condensate drain.

The sellers I’ve spoken to all advise Against it

Well the salesman said we don’t need the softener…

Think this was something I was pretty worried about when starting off, hence why we agreed to pay in arrears at the end of each stage - I always owe the builder money rather than other way round.

Our house, 1963 build, didn’t have cavity closers either. As part of the Ewi process, I had scaffolding up. I took up the bottom two rows of concrete tiles, folded up the membrane, easy access then to fix it how I liked (glued insulation in place with expanding foam glue).

This is how I’ve agreed the groundswork. We have the various stages written down and I pay after each bit is completed. We don’t have a contract in place.

My first ever build was about 9 years ago. Thank God I had a contract. It was very well drafted and enabled me to write a detailed letter of claim when the biker walked off the site owing me money. I threatened to sue him, explained by reference to the contract why i thought I would win by reference to the contract. He caved and settled for 90% of what he owed me. That is a best scenario. There will be times that such an approach doesn’t work. But you must absolutely have a thorough contract and as detailed a schedule of works as possible. Get him to prepare a gant chart so that you know what he is planning to do when, and you can be ready for each stage. Make it crystal clear who is responsible for doing and buying each thing. RIBA do a fairly decent set of contracts, one of which will be appropriate for your needs.

My advice as well, bearing in my mind what others have said about contracts being fairly useless from an enforcement point of view (good points though regarding flushing out issues) - try and make sure the balance of financial risk isn’t predominantly with you. Our builder for example stood the cost of most of the stages of our build (less a small 5k builders deposit to get going). This fundamentally meant that we could make sure work was carried out to a good standard before payment. It’s one of the reasons I was less bothered with a contract.

Just an update and close to this if anyone else finds they are in the same boat. I purchased an endoscope from AMZN and used it to view the inside of the ducting but I could see no breaks in the ducting. I cut a hole in the plasterboard ceiling and stuck my head up to have a look. About 4 feet from where I cut I could see a "junction box" where the supply spilt off into 4 different ducts. The bottom of this junction box had been dislodged and the air wasnt going anywhere. I had to cut a second hole to access and glue the bottom lid back on. In the picture the 2 pieces of timber are holding the lid up to let the glue dry after repair. I will also use airtight tape as a backup to the ducting glue. This job was a right pain in the ass to locate fix and repair the ceiling. I did it myself but Im sure it would have cost a good bit if I had to call in an expert. The crowd that put in the ducting weren't great and in the end all we had them do was the ducting. I did a diy on the purchase and installation of the actual MVHR and vents, which turned out to be a good decision based on this junction box failing only 2 years of use by shoddy workmanship. Hopefully this can help someone if they run into the same problem.

Your inundation pond is intended, in part, to be a site for "aquatic local wildlife". In England, you can't discharge within 50m of it, including your leach-field site, without a permit from the EA.

Sorry, I'm stumped.

So basically you ignored a load of random amature's opinions and instead went with the manufacturer's instructions? For shame.

Wind up your planning officer.!!! Let us know how your getting on with your application in a couple of years ?? You should know there on a parallel universe to the rest of us.

yeah. 20 on the cold (actually 19 as there's one spare just in case or for future expansion). and that doesn't include all the toilets as those will come from the RWH. I should've built a smaller house, might be finished by now if I had.

Get it in situ - it will leak then 😁👍

Right (expletive deleted) it ! order a trv with an Allen key fitting so it can grip the pin fitting rather than trying to screw over it . Rubbish forum - would like a refund .