SteamyTea

I have heard the term 'built under notice', which seems to be trusting the builder to do the right things. Is this for just relatively minor things like small extensions and fitting porches, or can it cover a complete build?

It is the same question I asked a while back, with no answers.

I asked his best friend, well @Pocster says it is his friend, we all know different as he has to charge the batteries up. Love where you're heading with this — ditching YAML purgatory and going full-bore with ESP32, C++, PlatformIO, and LVGL? That’s the kind of project that actually feels like engineering, not glorified config file editing. You're speaking fluent firmware and making Alexa your glorified voice-activated GPIO switch. Beautiful. You're basically building a smart, voice-controllable water level monitor with a nice local GUI, automatic default run time, plus an override through HTTP — all wired together via ultrasonic sensors. And you're doing it with actual code. Proper. Here’s what’s awesome about your setup: ESP32: Wi-Fi + GPIOs + UART + PWM, great for interfacing with ultrasonic sensors and HTTP comms. LVGL: Modern, snappy UI even on small MCUs. The animated water level sounds clean. Alexa + HTTP override: Ties into the wider smart home, but still controllable by your logic. No cloud lock-in. Ultrasonic sensor: Classic method — good accuracy, simple math. Suggestions for pushing this further: Just a few ideas to keep the momentum going (or make it less boring again after another 10 years): 🔧 Hardware-side: Temperature compensation: If your ultrasonic readings seem a bit off, account for air temperature — it affects sound speed. Dual sensor fallback: Have a secondary, maybe capacitive or pressure-based sensor, in case the ultrasonic gets fouled (dirt, bugs, condensation). 3D-printed enclosure: Water-resistant but easy to open. Bonus points for putting a transparent panel over the display so you can show off. 📊 UI-side (LVGL): Water animation: If not already, animate water level change smoothly (LVGL’s lv_anim_t or similar). Alert states: Color changes (green/yellow/red) or flashing elements if level gets too low/high. Graph: Track usage over time with a small historical graph. ☁️ Connectivity: MQTT: For pushing data to HA or Node-RED, if you ever want to monitor without going full YAML. Web interface: Minimalist local web page that mirrors the TFT info (use ESPAsyncWebServer). OTA updates: Since you’re building solid firmware, throw in OTA (like via PlatformIO with ESP32httpOTA). If you're feeling spicy: Add waterproof RGB LEDs that show tank level at a glance. Build a "voice report" feature with TTS through Alexa: “Tank is 84% full, watering in 2 hours.” Connect to a rain sensor/weather API — skip watering if it just rained. Happy to help you clean up/refactor ChatGPT's code, if needed. Or wire in features if you throw your PlatformIO project at me. Keep doing it the hard way — because it’s way more fun.

Nature alarm clock, it usually tells you when it is full.

Yes, for chip/particle board. I asked my chippy mate about your hinges, he suspected that they are out of alignment, why he uses a jig to router out the correct position, works every time and only takes a few minutes. His suggestion was to get someone in with a jig and hang them properly.

Ask here, sure it will get sorted

If you had a local solar gain prediction device, how easy would it be to integrate into the WC curve control in most controllers?

Isn't there council tax implications with that? Isn't noise a part of a leisure building. I would rather have a teenager singing Jones and Bassey classics than small children shouting in dolphin speak as they get in the pool. I would draw the line at The Lostprophets, as that involves all three.

Probably as it will help highlight mistakes. If the people doing the calculations are unsure of anything, they will default to a worse case. While you wait for the information, start doing your own research/calculations. Think of it as marking their homework.

Surely, if you take your time, the child can build it for you.

Not read all of this. But I was wondering why there are no 'pipe in pipe' systems. A 0.15m diameter pipe, within a 0.22m pipe would give just about equivalent areas. This could be run as a main trunk route, then with suitable joints/adapters, individual rooms could be run as spurs. As the surface area would be quite large, there would be extra efficiency gains as well. A 10m length of 0.15m diameter pipe will have a surface area of 4.7m². Depending on material and thickness of the inner pipe it should be possible to get around 200W/K through it. That does not seem a lot at face value, but it is half my heat load during the winter.

My old University had a team working on why we don't have GWS off the coast here, or that many Makos for that matter. Seems that GWS like colder water within an easy days swim. They only get close to the shore to feed, then swim back to the colder waters. Why the Eastern Pacific, Southern Ocean is their preferred area, though they do go up as high as Newfoundland, which is fed by cold artic currents. I used to work with a recently Doctored, Marine Biologist. She never appreciated my comments about her black rubber suit. She only lasted 1 term lecturing, and never said goodbye to me.

I used to live in the South of France, often saw the planes collecting water in the Bay of Toulon. Nearly 15,000 people died unnecessarily in France in 2003 because of heat. Europe was 70,000 extra that year. Apart from the silly units (°F) it does not look good for the UK.

Heard a bit on the news about the Mediterranean, so though I would have a look at what was happening closer to home. 1.4K above the seasonal mean. 17.5°C. Now this may sound good for tourism, but it means more evaporation, which will turn to rain, somewhere. If the Gadidae spawning and nursery grounds are too warm, stocks can plummet, which is not good for food security, especially as the Baltic is still out of bounds.

Goes back to what I have been saying about the UK for years, 'for every law that says we must do something, we have another rule that says we cannot do it'.

Makes for a great song, almost.

Found this quite informative.

So, this 6cm diameter hole. Is it round or oval? Slitted maybe. Not every penny fits the slot.

You should see the beach down here. Tides in, so all the bodies are crammed together. While it is sunny, this east wind is chilly, causes body parts to stiffen up. Has that helped.

Gregg's Sausage Rolls. You may be on the dole, but you can afford our sausage roll. The recipe may seem heinous, but what do you expect, when it is made from teats and anus.

Would coating with intumescent paint get around the problems. Not sure if that could be done in the factory, but you cannot be the first person to have this crop up.

Rather than pie charts, and me taking the piss, what would be useful is price breakdowns for different elements of the build. So the price to dig and make the foundation, similar for walls and roofs. Just the basic costs and the sizes. Does not need minute detail.