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Recently we have had a few people talking about domestic hot water (DHW) and how large the storage cylinder should be, and how long it will take to reheat. So in the best tradition of the scientific methods, I got a 2 litre jug, a thermometer and started the stopwatch on my phone. Then I measured the flow rate from my tap. Now I have a combined tap that mixes the hot and cold. As it is an old fashion one, it does not a thermostatic mixer, I put my hand in the water and see if it sensible temperature. Today I actually measured it at 38°C. A bit colder than I like (once my feet have got used to it), but perfectly good for a relatively quick morning bath. My two litre jug filled up in 8 seconds, so a flow rate of 15 litres per minute. After 3.5 minutes the bath was half full, which is fine for a quick morning bath, so it took 52.5 litres, which is actually less than I thought. I also measured the temperature of my incoming water, 9°C. The energy needed 4.18 [kJ.kg-1.K-1] x 52.5 [kg] x (38 - 9) [ΔT, temperature difference] = 6,364.05 kJ, or, 1.77 kWh So allowing for standing losses from the cylinder, that can be called 2 kWh. As I have not check the flow rate of my shower since I fitted it nearly 20 years ago, and I checked it when it did not have a shower head fitted, I thought I would do it again, properly. 8 litres per minute. Now this does not seem very high, but to be honest, it is better than most showers I have used recently, so I have no complaints. Now when I get home from work and want to wash the blood, sweat and tears off, I usually spend about 3 minutes in the shower. It actually runs for about 4 minutes to get the cold water out the pipes, and gives me a chance to get my buff body out of my clothes. So that is 32 litres of water. The energy needed 4.18 [kJ.kg-1.K-1] x 32 [kg] x (38 - 9) [ΔT, temperature difference] = 3,879.04 kJ, or, 1.08 kWh That is 1 kWh less, another 3 minutes and it is the same as a bath. To reheat with my bog standard Economy 7 2.8 kW heating element takes 1.77 [kWh] / 2.8 kW = 0.63 h or 38 minutes for the bath 1.08 [kWh] / 2.8 [kW] = 0.39 h or 23.2 minutes. As I have E7, I obviously have to wait until the early morning for heating. I currently pay about 16p/kWh so a bath costs me 28p. Now to take a stab at how large a cylinder is needed. My cylinder is 200 litres, but the top temperature is generally 48°C and the bottom temperature is 20°C (about house ambient temperature). That gives the top 100 litres, which is two bath fulls, a mean temperature of 42°. That is enough for 2 baths, or 3 showers. You could probably squeeze an extra shower out of that without raising the temperature, or raise the temperature and easily get 3 baths and 5 showers. The reheat times will obviously go up, but not drastically. To heat 150 litres of water 4.18 [kJ.kg-1.K-1] x 150 [kg] x (38 - 9) [ΔT, temperature difference] = 18,183 kJ, or, 5.05 kWh Reheating at 2.8 kW 5.05 [kWh] / 2.8 [kW] =1.8 hours or 108 minutes.

When we do long journeys there are 2 of us sharing the driving, stops are usually dictated by the need to empty ones bladder. Doing that and refuelling takes minutes. At the moment, people are pretending that an EV is no less convenient than an ICE car. And yes if your usual pattern of use is short journeys it probably is. But it is not there yet for more demanding usage. Perhaps it will get there? Or perhaps those who want us to change to EV's might have to start being a bit more honest and admit at some times things will be a but less convenient, sometimes perhaps even downright awkward with an EV compared to an ICE. We are a multiple car household, and I see the likelyhood that at some point our present small hybrid car will be replaced with an EV and that will do most of the miles, but retaining my big ICE lump for the tasks the EV is not suitable. Particularly with me retiring, that ICE car will probably end up not doing many miles which seems a pretty good compromise to me. I will nearer 2035 take the opportunity to upgrade it so something newer (not new) so it stands a chance of remaining in service longer. But in contrasts to switching to EV's, switching from an old leaky fossil fuel fired house to an almost passive house new build heated with a heat pump gives all the benefits without a single disadvantage that I can think of to the end user and many benefits.

Make up some formers with 4 x 2 timber cut accurately to your required structural openings on a chopsaw and screwed together. Square them up and screw a piece of ply over the top corners. Get you bricklayer to build up to these.

If you've got an UFH mat then solid wood might not be best, engineered better

Nobody listens to instructions, nobody reads drawings. They're forbidden from thinking. Not because they're not capable but because there's a cultural rift between those allowed to do the thinking and those allowed to do the doing. It's totally archaic. If I was to do the house again I'd lock the site with one key and keep it that way unless I was there.

On a similar argument, I have no children, so saving the planet that way. I think the government should give me free cash because of my goodness in not inflicting generations of wasteful emissions. And I don't inflict the little shits on anyone else.

No I don't think its hypocritical because (a) I will and have a plan to adopt them very soon and (b) I am not arguing that I wont do so. And my comments referred specifically to some people who wont change not those who cant. I recognise that many cant afford to make the change, and I made no comment on this circumstance. Im currently prevented from adopting an ASHP by my local planning authority. I've been fighting for 2 years, and continue to fight, the battle with my LPA and, once I win, an ASHP will be in. So I don't see how I can possibly be accused of being hypocritical on that front when the law prevents me from making the switch - many wouldn't bother with the fight! Re the car, its a fine ecological balance so far as I understand it. I dearly want (out of what I suppose could be considered avarice) to replace my 13 year old car. However there is a very sound ecological argument, as I do only about 5k miles a year, that the embodied carbon in an EV to replace a functional fossil fuel car does not make ecological sense. To be honest I don't know where the balance lies here, its quite possible that it lies with keeping the old motor until it is no longer functional, which I wont do because even I do occasionally like new (it will be second hand actually). Perhaps that's the hypocrisy - buying anything new when I have a functioning old model, but for sure I wont be buying another fossil fuel powered car. The CO2 emissions from my domestic heating (about 4 tonnes per annum) significantly outweighs the contribution from the car (about 1.3 tonnes per annum) and the embodied carbon in a car far outweighs that in a boiler, so prioritizing the heating also makes ecological sense (although in reality Im pursuing them in parallel). I should add that I have had solar PV since 2011. Finally, neither of these technologies are 'my favoured technologies'. They are just the only ones we currently have to mitigate two major contributions we each make to carbon emissions, without completely changing the way we live. If there are better technologies available to do this please name them.

Thanks both. The floor people have accepted liability (how generous!) although not actually apologised. They are paying for the plumber to dig out that section of pipe and replace. However I will now be left with two compression fittings buried under the floor. Honestly, the level of incompetence displayed by some people is astounding and is a never ending source of wonder and amazement to me.

I mostly agree with Roger and Dave. We aren’t saving the planet we’re trying to save ourselves. The planet probably doesn’t really need saving in reality. It’ll be here long after we’re gone. I didn’t buy an EV to save the planet nor have we built this house to save the planet either. The fact that both are likely a little better for the environment over their lifetime is bonus. But we aren’t building anywhere near enough houses like it. The typical buildhub house and full renovation is leagues ahead of any other big builder built house. The car is a nice thing to drive. The house is (or will be) a nice thing to live in. I can directly compare it to the old farmhouse we rent which is nice enough with great views and on a working farm. But it’s a cold damp and dark house and not a pleasant place to live in.

True story and I have the calcs / drawings to prove it. I did this job for a company who renovate supermarket trolleys. They build big new shed and we had to limit run off into the local water course, from memory it was 5 litres per second. We designed some storage capacity (attenuation) to hold the water and let some of the pollutants settle. As they could weld etc we fabricated an orifice plate.. a bit of metal with a hole in it. But for this to pass EA / SEPA you need to screen it.. we used the old trolleys as a screen and put in place a maintenance schedule (also good to present).. it all passed and happy bunnies all round. If you have a look at the cost of a Vortex flow control valve.. you'll see it's a possible cost effective option. Hint.. next time you are shopping take the trolley home.

Its viable But dont underestimate how crap you will be with a digger first time out. Creating a neat level trench isnt as easy as a good operator will make it look. And if your trench is all over the place, you will munch up a load of extra concrete. Ive done a lot of diggering. Not sure even now i could do "nice" trnches for foundations.

I hope you are wrong, fear you are right, and believe that the outcome will lie somewhere in between. Without a doubt there are many people who can easily afford to change who aren't interested. Equally there are many people who cant afford to change who are interested. Yet somehow governments and individuals are taking action. Its too little, too late, for it to be painless, but that doesn't mean that its too late to have a material effect. If you cast your mind back to the 80s, the ozone hole was going to kill us. It hasn't. Not because the science has changed, because people have changed. In the process some people did die, but nevertheless the expansion of the ozone hole has been stopped, possibly even by now reversed. Humanity is equally capable of dealing with climate change and already has all the engineering/science tools to do so. Along the way some will use the argument that 'its all futile so there is no point in me doing anything'. Others (fewer every year because its now self evidently akin to claiming that the earth is flat) will try to deny that there is a problem. But surely enough will recognise that there is a problem to act if they can (and I accept that many cant without some outside support). Just as they have before. Every single person who tries to argue that doing nothing is acceptable, when its obvious that something needs to be done, is acting either without any shred of conscience, out of ignorance, or because they have been fed lies by those who have self interest at heart and are not discerning enough to separate the lies from the truth. However these things snowball, and the actions and words of every one of us makes a difference to what our friend group think and ultimately how politicians act. So we all have a duty to act in some way.+ I am genuinely sorry that you feel that the situation is hopeless and that you cannot do anything to help; its difficult to imagine a a more depressing way to live ones life. Blissful ignorance is one thing, but it appears you recognise the dangers yet feel powerless to do anything. it would be seriously depressing to be in that situation.

Own well for drinking water Own sewage system Plug in Generator with change over switch, big enough to run hob, water lift pump, sewage system, ASHP, and ventilation - not necessarily at the same time. Battery that can supply whole house, not just the odd circuit. We had a few hours of power cut last night, all I noticed was a slightly flicker of the lights.

I lie somewhere between your view and that of the climate change fanatics. It makes a lot of sense to move away from excessive oil usage for no other reason that it will run out one day. So moving what we can to wind generated electricity is perfectly logical, And if that gives cleaner air to breath, then that is good as well. I do love my new house for it's low energy usage and lovely internal climate, near constant temperature, constant fresh air, low humidity, no damp or condensation etc. I really would not want to go back to the 1930's house I had that was cold and damp and frightfully hard to heat, or even the 1980's house I had after that, that was still hard to heat but at least it was not damp. Most people seem to worry how are they going to afford to heat their home. Heating is a minority of my energy usage. I do honestly hope EV's will mature and eventually I will drive one, but that may not be until I have ticked off most of my bucket list and am too old and decrepit to be dragging a tin tent behind me around the countryside (some will say that day can't come soon enough)

If most of the roof is dry and there's just a small wet spot, you might get away with it, or that bit might spread out significantly, then bubble up and annoy you every time you see it I was out today with a heat gun drying out some bits of wall... depending on the size of your wet patch, and the general inflammability of your build, this might be a good idea, or might not. In my case it was definitely "pushing your luck mate" territory. My backup plan if the EPDM didn't stick well, or got horribly creased or something, was to slap a green roof on top to hold it in place. Your joists would need to be sized appropriately though.

Is the roof SIP? If so, the moisture could be coming from there is it hadn't been stored right at any point. It's not unheard of. You do need a bone dry substrate for EPDM, I wouldn't be happy with a single day, but in April/May we do get nice long dry spells - if you get clear skies for 3 days that should dry the surfaces you need to bond to.

Deliberately putting people into financial hardship or poverty is never the right thing to do. And for what? Something that will ultimately make no tangible difference to anything.

I did it differently, being OCD I wanted only whole and half bricks around openings and bespoke windows, the brickie was told the approx size and place of the windows and ordered the windows afterwards fitted to check reveals (Windows mounted on the inside of the outer brick skin in the insulation zone.)

There are no visible joints on the frames. The only laminate joint visible is on the inner return of a sash: Below is on two different windows. The left hand image is the worst I could find. All others are more similar to the right image where the grain better disguises the joint.

Ah yes, I saw an image - actually with glazing on the outside and it looked great - you just reminded me.

That's a saving of £200* in a £1.5M* build. Every little helps. (* complete guesses)

Nordan

Interesting. At full tilt our showers will deliver 17 litres per minute. My daughter can easily spend 15 minutes in a shower. If your 3.5 minute shower half filled the bath, then a 15 minute shower would have been 2 bath fulls. Thus the myth that a shower uses less water than a bath is completely dismissed. Even my usual 5 minute shower would be very close to a full bath full.

Sorry I missed that, my bad. This makes me even more impressed with the gang I had on my site and feel very lucky to have had them.

Unfortunately it won't be that easy:

The mop function looks much better. With more tiles and hardwood flooring it's more the mop quality I'm looking

I’d use 3.5 nhl with sharp sand mixed at ratio 1:3. dont make it too wet. Push it into the joints and don’t worry about leaving excess around the joint. Next day (or when it has dried a bit) compact with tool/bit of wood and clear off any excess. Then use a churn brush (or softer) to do a final brush over.

More or less all agreed. My main point is that there are a large number of people who wont (not cant) make any change that causes (or which they perceive may cause) them personal inconvenience or cost, even if it benefits society at large or their children/grandchildren. Putting it bluntly, they don't care about (or can't see) anything beyond their own small world as it is today. They are egged-on by the the fossil fuel industry, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, GB News, Donald Trump, several British politicians (including but not limited to the Honourable member for the eighteenth century and his cronies), and the other people and organs of those who benefit from the status quo, don't understand or care to understand the science, and who are prepared to tell lies or half-truths to advance their own cause. However like you I am optimistic and believe things are changing. I don't yet have an electric car but it wont be long. I too want to wait until there is a natural replacement point; my annual mileage is about 5000 per year so it is probably environmentally more friendly to run my diesel car until it is a few years older anyway. But I definitely will NOT be buying another fossil fuel car, as well as being environmentally more friendly electric cars are just better in many ways (arguably every way except range) than ICE cars - simpler, faster acceleration, you charge them up at home so leave every day with a full tank, and you will eventually be able to use them to optimise your electricity bills. Nor do I yet have a heat pump That's not for the want of trying, I have not got one solely because of my LPA, which (even though it has formally declared a climate emergency) is obstructing every attempt, has its head in the sand, and believes that insisting on a noise level of 25dBA at the most affected assessment point makes sense. Eventually I will win this battle of course, its just taking more time and stress than I had hoped or even expected!

A lot of batteries are being repurposed into static storage, and anyway, it is not as if vehicles batteries are being dumped into landfill, most will be stored for later recycling. I think the disposal problem is greater in other area. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CDP-2022-0216/CDP-2022-0216.pdf

Look around. Rationel and Velfac both owned by Dovista, pushed by MBC but not necessarily the right choice for you. Solarlux are sliding doors, bifolds, winter-gardens and not comparable to the afore mentioned.

Hello good people here, I am a software programmer who has no prior experience of building anything. I was lucky to have found a ruined bungalow plot in Uxbridge that met 90% of the requirements for our ideal house. Planning has been slow and painful but we did get permission to demolish and rebuild last March. My SO wanted a basement and some changes to the designs and here I am, still waiting for Hillingdon council to approve me to build. I have been a long-time lurker here but, now that I am close to starting to build, I felt this is the right time to introduce myself and to thank everyone here who has been so helpful and takes out their time to help the newer self-builders. The wealth of information here is unparalleled. I will be sharing the floor plans in the other thread – any inputs will be much appreciated. I would like to thank @Jenki and @ETC who have shared a wealth of information and ideas through DM’s We have a saying in IT: Beware of programmers who carry screw drivers with them. Well, this programmer has finally decided to pick a screw driver (and many other tools) and build something good with it. Cheers, G.

I don’t think the incentives are artificial, grant towards heat pumps because of people power wanting to tackle climate change. Artificial in the sense market-distorting I think it’s the changes the majority of the public wants (stop burning fossil fuels) In principle the majority may want this, but in many, probably most cases, only if it doesn't cause them any personal inconvenience or additional cost (and never mind about the (grand) children.

Sadly there are people out there, perhaps the majority, who care only about themselves and think that any problem that isn't specifically theirs is, by definition, the responsibility of some else. The odd thing is many of those people apparently don't care about their children or grandchildren either, because if they did then they would be a lot more proactive in relation to climate change. That's why governments have to create artificial incentives and compulsion to make the changes that society needs.

We should really be looking at ways to reduce water consumption, not at ways to supply it endlessly. A smaller cylinder and frequent bollokings is the cheapest option.

For the cheap cost of the cable, why not run something bigger just in case you want to take something else of it, pump or lights. just a thought.

It's a roll of William Morris wallpaper produced by Sanderson - apparently it's too highbrow to come with instructions :(.

+1 I also keep a large clean dry brush for pressing and smoothing out bubbles, and pushing the paper into corners. Avoid brushes that have sharp metal on them as easy to snag the wet paper. They sell brushes designed for this job.

My 20+year old speaker can go anywhere. Just listen to the solar powered quality. VID_20231009_133843135.mp4

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. you should have refused a smart meter and stuck to your old dual rate E7 meter.

This time in Valencia https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68378968 Similar cladding, similar rapid spread of fire on outside of building, loss of life etc. It appears the Spanish have not had a program of removing such cladding from buildings.

There are small chapels in the mid west of the USA that will welcome you with open arms.

Yes, I heard that, but did not take take much notice as I was driving in exceptionally wet weather, not that week's of rainfall has (expletive deleted) all to do with climate change, it is just weather isn't it.

Put energy prices up (which I agree with) public outcry for price caps and hand outs. increased costs for businesses, transport, food, clothes etc. - more public outcry and handouts. cut the population - massive reduction in CO2, energy use, waste and no housing crisis …. But who’s going to do what is really necessary?

Welcome I have a saying: Beware of builders