SteamyTea

And make your own bubble bath

That is where the VCL usually is. I don't actually think having a VCL in the right place, and then a final vapour proof covering attached will give any problems, as long as there are no leaks.

The term Vapour Control Later is a bit misleading. All it is, is a barrier to water vapour. So is imperious both ways. The concept is that the inside of the building (in UK) is warmer and has more water, by density, than the external air. By stopping the flow of this warmer, wetter, air from passing though to the colder, insulated cavity, there is less risk of dew forming. This reduces the chance of mould forming and causing problems. As you have a GRP roof covering, which is a good vapour barrier, in the outside, is there any ventilation space below?

Thinking about this modulation a little bit. As an ASHPs performance is reduced when the external air gets colder, is the minimum modulation output a fixed amount i.e. 1.2 kW, or a percentage of deliverable power i.e. 20% of what it can achieve at the temperature. Quite often a supplementary heater kicks in and makes it look better than it really is.

What is the aim here?

I think there are BMS packages that integrate into the CAD software.

In the scheme of things, I have spent very little time replacing lightbulbs and switched. I changed two single switched to one double one once. Think that is it. You probably need a screwdriver as well as a computer.

I use basic Raspberry Pi Zeros for as much as I can. They change the OS and Python version. Not a problem at the moment, but may well be in a decade or two. I did some work at Bletchley Park before Dr Sue Black took over. The guys there were all retired programmers (and very dull and unimaginative). I remember one telling me that he made a good retirement living doing work for the banks as he was there when they started to work with FORTRAN and they were still using it. All a heating system has to do is keep a building within set temperature limits, if you make those limits to tight, you will spend way too much effort on the control side. KISS

Your SAP calculations, and double checking with Jeremy's spreadsheet should give you a good idea what the new place will use. DHW usage generally don't change much, not as if we move house and decide not to wash. Cooking will probably not change much either, I boiled potatoes for the same amount of time for the last 50 years, they taste the same. Why are you heating the DHW with an immersion heater and not a heap pump?

I have never felt the need to know who is at the door.

I am with @Gus Potter I dislike anything that is over complicated. I have very basic E7 storage heaters, they have two controls, energy in, power out. Sometimes I adjust them. Below is a chart that shows this year's energy usage and temperatures. This year has been useful as we have had extreme (for UK) heat, cold and dryness (more solar gain). At the beginning of the year, I was away for a few days at a time a lot, I would turn all the power off and let the house do its things. This used less energy, but larger swings in temperature. Heating was totally off by the 14/03/2022 and did not come back on till 15/11/2022, so 119 days of heating and 246 days without. A quick look at the data shows that at the start of the year, the mean external temperature was 7.5°C and the house temperature was 19.1°C. End of the year mean external temperature was 6.3° (1.2°C lower) and the house temperature was 19.3°C (0.2°C higher). Energy usage was similar at less than 0.8 kWh/day difference, with the beginning of the year using less. When looking at the variation in temperatures, at the beginning of the year, the min and max external temperatures were 0.1°C and 15.9°C, with the house swinging between 5.2°C and 23.3°C (this was when I was turning everything off). The maximum power draw was 10.6 kW. So far this winter, the min and max external temperatures have been between -2.7°C and 13°C, with the house temperatures between 16.1°C and 22.6°C, maximum power draw has been 8.3 kW. Two proper temperature distribution would show what is happening better rather than the extremes.

This was high tech when I did my apprenticeship.

Do you know your current usage profile, and will it change much in the new place?

Have you taken the rusty covers off and made sure the heat exchangers are clear?

Sometimes, having a decision taken away is a good thing. One less thing to think about and pay for.

And now Matter is coming along, so another one to play with. Yes Captain Manwaring, an awful mess. Like people in a carpark. They get there by adhering to a few simple and well understood rules, get out their vehicles and, for some unknown reason, make up their own protocols about the best way to move about.

I have just been to the Screwfix website, searched for central heating controllers. I can see why there is a problem. There is 104 different types. https://www.screwfix.com/c/heating-plumbing/central-heating-controls/cat831042#category=cat831042&page_size=100&page_start=0

General question. How the the kVA limit enforced? Is it though hardware i.e. the main fuse blows, or though software i.e. the meter logs and reports over current? I remember having similar problem when we lived in France over 50 years ago.

This is the problem with charting, different people want different things. As you say, export the data and then plot it yourself, makes life much easier.

As others have said, needs a lot more information about your house. How much insulation is there under the ground floor UFH? You also seem to have quite a large buffer tank.

I always thought that ARC was Amey Roadstone Construction. If you have to pay extra for it, then definitely. If, it is included as standard, then it is probably something that makes no difference.

At 3 and 5W, who needs dimming. I do have one of those lamps you tap once to turn on and then tap a second time to brighten, and a third time to brighten more. Came with an incandescent bulb that was way to bright. So went to the 'local lighting shop Volt, in Market Jew Street, and payed a fiver for a dimmable LED. That is still working.

An angle grinder is the second best tool you can have. Every household should have one.

So did I, all still good. The Kia of lightbulbs.

With a mighty circular saw in your hands.