SteamyTea

There has recently been a program about community spokespeople on the radio. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001v3j4 They used to be known as busybodies.

And your WiFi

Almost. Trouble with upping the area covered is that the area you want heated i.e. 1 m2 of human facing the radiating surface is a very small fraction of what you are actually heating. So the efficiency becomes very poor. Add to that, we constantly breath in air, if that air is cold because 'infra red heating does not heat the air' we then have to expend more body energy to keep out core temperature high. I also think that without a decent thickness of insulation behind the IR panel, most of the energy will travel 'backwards' and heat something else.

Many people will tell you how wonderful infra red, and far infra red heating is. I shall say it will be rubbish. It is just electrical resistance after all.

Not sure how being grid makes any real difference to wiring regs. Inverters are usually isolated on both the DC and AC side with DP switching. When disconnecting a PV system it is normal to AC isolate first then the inverter shuts down properly. I have seen an electrician twist the DC isolation on a sunny day, it arced badly.

You could try a bit with some kitchen aluminum foil, then point your IR thermometer on it.

I wondered how it was tested.

Any reason for not using an A2AHP as it is just a garage/workshop.

@Del-inquent Any chance of some pictures?

Try and find out what sort of paint it is. Could be useful, somewhere. I used to know someone that was a salesman of a large paint company, he was also a clever bloke who, even though not technical, could get to the root of a coating problem quiet well. Occasionally he would bring me paints and ask to put them into one of my steam chambers for a few weeks to see what was happening. Most bubbled off.

Think I may need to print some of it out. Shame there is no concrete mixes and it is to do with internally applied coatings. But the testing methods are interesting and this line. "Alternative experimental studies have attempted to investigate the actual performance of materials in real buildings, but there is no standard methodology yet and no established relationship between moisture buffering and building performances." Probably why I can't find any real numbers, without a standards everyone is talking a different language.

Sometimes you have to hold it on the painted area a lot longer than you think before it works. If it is really hard, maybe an electric paint stripper hot air gun. Never tried that, may give it a go on the next wall I paint.

On my specific example I'm not aware of a better technology than injecting a damp course, which I know isn't robust. So damp will get into the wall and needs to be permitted to get back out. I did that on my listed place in Weymouth, in 1991. I am not sure how effective it was as I sold it 3 years later. I did get the chance to see inside the place about 4 years ago (it is now a holiday rental) and I did not see any evidence of damp. The wattle and daub walls where a different matter. I was told not to treat them at all, they were dreadful for damp, but they basically had no solid foundation and the place sat on sand (was near the beach). That place put me off having a listed building for ever.

Try a wallpaper steamer. Most coatings don't like being at 100⁰C and soften. Are there any signs where the paint has released that may give a clue as to why it preferred the wallpaper to the wall.

Your slinkies have antifreeze in them, the water in the ground doesn't. @MKF is there any way to check that the water in the borehole heat exchanger isn't freezing?

Yes. I also think the term breathable is a bit misleading. Why numbers are so important. I wish I was still at university then I could have used the building department to try a few experiments. Vapour and water transmission and absorption studies really are very basic, be nice if it was a second year module on a BTEC.

Oh yes. Been teaching the youths not to warn people when they get close to one. More fun seeing the emmets get stuck.

The Off Switch is probably best. Can get away from then then.

I wonder why, they seem to be allowed to sell just about plaything else. The farm supply shop in Helston is next door to an arms dealer. Poisons in one door, bullets and explosives in the other. They are as mad as (expletive deleted) down on the Lizard.

There is loads of info from Scottish heritage groups. Some of it it technical and convincing. I think was was really directed to me. I have been looking into this for years, I once found a chart that put some numbers on it, but never seen it again. There is loads of anecdotal evidence, as I refereed to earlier, but I have not seen any real scientific evidence about different breath abilities of different render systems. While I cannot prove anything either way, my experience in composite plastics means I can draw some parallels I think. Concrete and renders are just composite materials after all. This is why I think that the overall mix is the important bit, not the binder.

Why much about, use neat Florine, it can oxidize water. Can't get better than that.

Can you find a bit of free wall and insulate that, then monitor it?

Should that not be part of a renovation though. Hoping that the wall coating can allow water to evaporate faster than than it can get in is rather hopeful, and probably not that effective in reality. I still think that there is very little difference between lime or OPC mixed when it come to the g.m-2.s-1 numbers. What tends to happen with old buildings is that we remember the ones that are in good condition and have stood the test of time, and we also remember the ones that have been renovated badly and caused problems. We then attribute the reasons from common gossip and anecdotal evidence. There are millions of houses that have been rendered in OPC mixes that give no problems, we never hear about them. Now I am not in the least bothered if people want to cover their buildings in lime bases or whatever, but I do feel it is necessary to dispel some myths that may be covering up a larger problem.

Enough to heat a sauna, most domestic ones are only 4.5 kW, though they do chuck out air at a couple of hundred Celsius.

My chemistry knowledge about concretes is very limited. You get waterproof concretes, and you get ones that set under water, then you can get additives that repel water, not really sure what the actual differences are. The little bit of research I did shows that the mix is very important to get the desired properties. The common statement that cement based, usually ordinary Portland cement, don't breath and are waterproof I think is just wrong. In practice, asking a builder to decide the correct mix and apply it properly is possibly not the best route to take. Asking the chemical engineer at a cement factory probably is the first port of call.