Leaderboard

This is the email I wrote WPD: Dear [name of WPD staff member], I have been doing a bit of research, and it seems to me that what I am being asked to fund is a local infrastructure upgrade, as well as my own connection. Obviously, as the country moves towards more heat pumps and electric vehicles, the existing infrastructure of 95mm 3c cable, and two 50mm ABC cables just won’t be sufficient for Cemetery Road properties, and it is a matter for WPD’s capital infrastructure budget, rather than asking individual customers to fund that. I’m aware of the policy principles at play, as follows: 4.2. The minimum scheme is the solution designed solely to provide the capacity needed for the new connection at the lowest overall capital cost. A DNO may design an enhanced scheme,2 but the cost to the customer will not exceed that of the minimum scheme. The customer can also request work in excess of the minimum scheme where it thinks this would be more beneficial. For example, it may decide that a more expensive route to the existing network will receive planning permission more easily and is therefore worth paying for. The customer will need to pay the full cost of this additional work, including the cost of operating and maintaining these additional assets over their lifetime I have also had sight of a recent memorandum from WPD stating: SD5G/5 (Part 1) 29.10.2020 Design Standards: Low Voltage Relating to the Connection of Low Carbon Technology (Electric Vehicle Charge Points and Heat Pumps) with a Capacity < 32A per phase This document details the approach for managing Electric Vehicle (EV) Charge Point and/or Heat Pump (HP) installation notifications and applications for individual or multiple equipment (installed beyond the same point of supply) rated up to 32A per phase onto Western Power Distribution’s (WPD’s) distribution network (low and high voltage). Main Changes The charging methodology for cutout replacement and service cable overlays has been changed. When a service cable is being overlaid due to a low capacity, the cable shall be overlaid with a three phase cable. Impact of Changes Western Power Distribution (WPD) will provide free of charge service upgrade costs for domestic installations (profile 1 or 2) where each item of low carbon technology has a rating < 32A. Taking account of the above, I would welcome hearing from you alternative solutions, such as running a cable directly to my property from the Tx at Drakewalls Mine, for instance. This would remove the necessity to run the cable all the way to the pole on Cemetery Road, dig up the road, install new junctions etc. Kind regards Morgan

Great news - Having obtained the information I needed from a forum similar to this for electrical engineers (The Institute of Engineering and Technology), and having gone back to WPD with a gentle challenge using that information, we now have a new quote for just over £3k, rather than the £14,600 they quoted originally. I am thrilled to bits with this. We learned last week that the planning application next door for the 5 new houses has been turned down as the developer had not done their bat homework properly. Now that the window for doing the bat survey has closed until next year, and the neighbourhood development plan which designates that land as a rural gap will go to referendum in May 2021 (and is likely to be passed), the possibility of the development going ahead has just decreased significantly. Whilst this means we can't piggy-back on the access this would have created for us (which would have been useful), it does mean that we will continue to have lovely green views to the north of us for the time being.

I'd take it up with your GP. Seriously. The carpet fitter isn't responsible for conditions with your feet and isn't really in a position to do anything about it, aside from fitting underlay of your choosing if you consider it being a trigger. I would expect you to have to pay for that now however as there's nothing wrong with what he's fitted.

15 mins at 8-10 litres a minute can use 150 litres. Blended down from 60 degrees, that’s around 55 -60 litres of hot water. Hence the recommendation that you have approx 80 litres per shower as a stored volume. With 2 people I would always size at 210, with a bathroom and en-suite I would up that to 250. If you’ve not got a rapid reheat solution (ie gas or oil) then going one size up makes more sense so 250 would go to 300 etc.

Nope. The new proposed works are identical to the previous proposed works, but they are paying for it themselves and only charging me for the works involved in the connection, rather than the local upgrade. I made the argument that they were going to have to upgrade the local area in any event as with petrol and diesel cars being phased out, most properties would require a car charging point to be installed eventually, ditto gas boilers to heat pumps, and therefore they upgrade in supply ought to be a capital cost for WPD, not a personal charge to me. Although no mention was made of that argument in the revised quote, this is exactly that outcome.

I don't think the concept of the conservatory has flaws in itself, rather, the flaws look more like the result of poor installation. And I have heard it before that most conservatories have problems, however, this is likely the consequence of hiring incompetent installers. I can easily see the conservatory becoming my absolute favourite part of the house, as long as the flaws are fixed. I am also thinking to add a drain on the floor and cover the floor with tiles, as opposite to the current wood-like flooring.

Electric Combi are the devils work... If you are going DHW via an immersion driven tank then don't bother with an electric shower. Just upsize the tank, and use E7 to give you a decent amount of hot water. Factor in about 80litres of tank capacity at 60c per shower and its not far off. Very little difference with a 210 to a 250 litre tank too

There are certainly outdoor showers available .. perhaps try looking at swimming pool kit suppliers and outlets?

Just to update this - a few years down the line. My 345ah@48V flooded lead acid bank has done the job for over 5 years now but a very busy recent work period and various other factors have contributed to some shoddy maintenance and FLA doesn't like that. They need tending and every bit of neglect takes it's toll. Anyway - the bank of twelve 115ah FLAs is now a bank of eight battered, prematurely aged sulphated hulks. I'm probably going with lithium - Pylontech. The price has come down, the warranties are long, they play well with Victron kit and will do what they're supposed to without me having to mess around with sulphuric acid once a month.

MJN no come on. I'm getting it replaced that's a given, I'm not considering body-modification to suit it(!!). My fitter is calling me soon, so that's 1st step/ so I can ask him about things- a quote I think's the bottom line. urgh. Much appreciate the ideas tho chaps, even if I'm not quite on board with them!

For what it is worth I went with Lazenby in the end, due to happen in 3 weeks.

We built with Ecology (nothing but good things to say about them) but once the build is finished you move to their discounted SVR (depending on your SAP / PH cert)and it's not the cheapest - from memory 2% more than the general lending market. If you plan to re-mge in the 10 years thereafter then expect the lender to ask if you have a warranty. I say that advisedly as I was asked by the surveyor when I did it and said 'yes'. But he never asked for details or followup so I suppose I could have been dishonest had I not paid out for a warranty. If you sell in the same time period then your buyer's solicitor may ask for same - I believe there are other options available should you not have one (indemnity policy??). I am under no illusion that they're likely not worth the paper they're printed on wrt claiming for issues and I had an opportunity to get a refund when my original provider went into administration just as I was obtaining BCO sign off to activate the policy. I hummed and hawed and decided to stick with it as it was sunk money (not that I wouldn't have minded £4k back) but wanted to retain flexibility with mortgaging for the future. I guess it's a view on what is the warranty cost as a % of age savings over 10 years.

I’ve got the same underlay (arriba arriba - that’s for you @Onoff) fitted a couple of years ago, and I must say that I haven’t ever experienced the condition you are suffering. It sounds like the other underlay you have in the other room is the cheaper foam type... not that I would expect either to cause discomfort. Do you suffer the same on any hard floors?

Whoooo, that told them.

Very good info and source for future information. Thanks for sharing

That’s a bit to simplified. If you only had 250 of brickwork you would see the foundation concrete at ground level, you would normally have 3-4 courses of bricks/ blocks below ground level. Your floor is a bit simplified as well, you haven’t got a structural element in there, unless you are mixing up the words screed with concrete, screed is not structural so you cannot just put that on top of insulation. You also cannot put the insulation on the membrane on the floor, you would did down to firm ground and add 150mm of stone heavily compacted then the sand then the membrane then your floor structure. As far as foundations go you will probably go into the ground at least a metre unless you are on some sort of solid ground. You need to do some section drawings to a scale so we can point out the various build ups.

All our walls sit on a course of quinnlites.

Cloud 9 Cumulus. One of the most widely fitted and well regarded underlays in the industry.

Really goes to show it's worth doing your homework!!!

No wonder you are smiling in the profile photo!

I found out that WPD should be funding infrastructure upgrades itself, although there is some contention about that as ultimately the cost of upgrading the entire network to allow for future needs in a low carbon economy is well beyond the means of these companies, even though they make significant profits. Clearly this was a case of the company trying to get this past me without me realising that the cost should fall to them and not to me. I wonder how many other customers have been similarly fleeced. Attached are the previous and current plans and cost breakdowns.

It was just a comment, here:

@J1mbo made a comment about HPs and simple vented systems with pumped showers. Would link to it, but can't seem to do if from my phone.

Well done, would be interested in knowing what challenge you used.

Glad to hear your good news, can you tell us what changed?

Excellent. Without reading the whole thread, did their new fee proposal involve a new solution?

Well done..fantastic.

Well done, bite their hand off and accept the new cheaper quote.

Probably the AEG ComfortLift?

Sounds like plantar fasciitis which I struggle with on bad days. Mine is brought on by wearing very flat shoes, so if you have gone from shoes to nothing with new carpets then it will have potentially set it off. Pain in the bottom of the heel stretching toward the toes is a classic symptom, nothing to do with carpets.

plantar fasciitis? Have you changed to a heavier quilt recently? Spent lots of time on your knees?

ASP6 Here it is going into the ground One thing I liked compared to some others is the legs for it to stand on when you lower it in the hole,. and that "ring" around the base, you concrete in to above that level to anchor it into the ground. And this is what it looks like all finished. The big green lid with the vent is the housing for the blower pump. the small screw on green lid at the right is where you insert the hose to pump it out.

No idea what make it was but an advert on tv recently showed a dishwasher where the lower tray swung out and up to be loaded/unloaded!

You need an SE all over this as your Lewis Deck will change all the design criteria of the joists and the connection issues with the walls. Durisol usually uses a system of wall plates drilled to the concrete cores - you will need something much more than that as deflection won’t be your issue, sheer force on the wall plates will be. In terms of that overhang, I would get it sized in steel and change the upper floor construction method to timber frame and lighten the load on the cantilever over that section as concrete cored Durisol is very heavy.

That's great advice @patp I'll definitely look into this. As we're still at the financing stage the more info we can get the better. STILL had no quotes back yet....and it's not even an unusual build! ?

I would completely agree with this... based on my experience, bathroom and en-suite, 2 adults 1 child, we have a 250L cylinder and is fine until we have guests... then we have to plan our showering around reheating time.

Rather a lot, I use about 30 litre of water at 38°C My 200lt can supply enough for 2 baths and 2 showers, I just turn the temp up to 60°C+

I would have thought you will need to know the load that the Lewis deck and screed will impose. The floor designer will work to a normal house loading unless told otherwise. So they will work to a standard design that would include a chipboard floor then floor covering then standard furniture for a standard habitable room. If you told them your having a full size snooker table up there, or a jacuzzi then that would move the design into another dimension, I believe it would be the same for the screed, it might not be a lot but it’s all very relevant. Completely different scenario but I’ve just had downstairs floor screeded and they used 26 tonnes of screed. So it all needs taking into account.

If you are putting Lewis deck and screed I think you have just moved the goal posts into another universe.

Friend has a Bosch and loves it. I'm going for two eye level ovens - a Bosch series 8 steam oven with heat probe, and a more basic second oven for grilling and those rare occasions two ovens are needed, e.g. Christmas.

I beg to differ, mine has solar glass and enough windows fir ventilation. It does not leak. It faces due South and yes it can get a bit hot during the odd hot spell (but no hotter than a foreign holiday that you pay fir!,!) but is a godsend in the shoulder months and often heats the house for us by using bifolds. Even during winter on a cloudless day it can be quite pleasant. I would not be without it!.

A combi steam oven will give you everything a steam oven will and much much more. For the extra cost, its definitely worth it. A steam oven on its own is an expensive product. All of the brands you mentioned are good products. Miele doesnt give you anything thats particularly better on the cooking side to justify the price uplift so ask yourself if you want to buy into the prestige attached to the brand. You would normally but your ovens from the same brand so they look better.

yep. it was initially 12mm but after reading some threads on here I decided I didn't want to take the risk of a bouncy floor and asked them to reduce it to 8mm deflection. another win for this amazing forum!

I believe at 6 m you will end up with one of three things a steel beam in the centre to cut the span down. Joists so deep that they make the floor buildup unacceptable a bouncy floor. I bet you end up with number one. When I was looking into all different types of joist the 5m figure cropped up all the time, anything over this just started to get so complicated to engineer out the deflection.

During our test the guy sealed all MVHR vents, and any other bits which looked suspicious to him. We plugged all sinks and showers, sealed the extraction hood over the hob, and sealed the loft hatch. Dont have any trickle vents but would probably close them as well. They normally take a preliminary reading, just to see how bad it is, and then three proper readings which go into the paperwork, and apparently select the best result achieved.

Don’t use the council for this - just get a registered streetworks contractor to do it (which is all they will do) and save yourself the money and the hassle. They can apply for the permit on your behalf and they go via a different route.

Get the trees cut down now but I’d be careful doing the access. You wouldn’t want to trigger a CIL start before you’ve done the appropriate paperwork, could be costly.

Exactly what we've used, both on top of the retaining wall and as 1.8m high fencing around the garden. The flexibility to make it fit with the space is the really big advantage, as was the fact that I found that it was possible to make a curved fence, by partly sawing through the rear of the trapezoidal (rather than triangular) arris rails, squirting glue in the saw cuts and then bending the rails to the required curve before the glue cures. The result is a fence that follows the curve of the low wall at the top of our drive.

Yes it'll have Wi-Fi beamed across from my own house. As to 3/4G... hahaha there's a reason I don't own a mobile phone