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SteamyTea

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  1. SteamyTea
    It may just be a function of how the refrigerant gas works best. As long as the lowest temperature is high enough to do the job, then the rest can be sorted with airflow though the heat exchanger and temperature differences between fluid flow and return flow. They may be more efficient as well.
  2. SteamyTea
    That is quite interesting. I wonder if a heatpump cannot vary the temperature, a buffer tank and temperature blending valve should always be fitted, regardless of the system size.
  3. SteamyTea
    Good. Knock the UFH down to 30. Don't muck about with little steps. If it is too cold, up it.
  4. SteamyTea
    Hopefully. It would be a very poor design if it can't. Where system boilers fixed temperature in the olden days? Seem to remember my old Baxi only had on/off and a diverter to the CH or DHW.
  5. SteamyTea
    I know very little about the mess that is plumbing, but is that an old fashion idea where one radiator was always hot, to stop the boiler blowing up or something. Is there a risk by turning down the flow temperature, that the DHW may not get very hot. I would expect the controller to sort this out, but if someone that does not understand HPs fitted it, they may assume differently. Yes, we think an airing cupboard is normal, it is really a failed design.
  6. SteamyTea
    Lack of pipe insulation as well.
  7. SteamyTea
    What this one http://www.uksprayfoam.co.uk/icynene-medium-density-foam-insulation/ Not used in the same situation. All I am really saying is that the right product has to be used.
  8. SteamyTea
    Icynene is open cell. http://www.uksprayfoam.co.uk/icynene-spray-foam-insulation/ There may be good reasons to not use closed cell in some places.
  9. SteamyTea
    Yes, and often made more sense than some legitimate contributors, and less offensive.
  10. SteamyTea
    No, you can do both internal and external in different places. The only thing to be careful of is where they meet. A condensation risk assessment should be done for those parts. Not as hard as it sounds. As it seems you are basically gutting the place, the one bit that is hard to do, the external wall between floors, becomes relatively easy. Just make sure the joists are not going to be affected by the temperature difference, which is what affects the dew point.
  11. SteamyTea
    Yes, it is barmy putting a time limit on it, how do I now get all my posts deleted.
  12. SteamyTea
    That's interesting. Did not notice that when I had a quick look at their spreadsheet.
  13. SteamyTea
    Or water, even
  14. SteamyTea
    I was thinking outside, not in the house.
  15. SteamyTea
    Yes, and moisture permeable on the cold side. It is how it works. The detail is in choosing all the right materials. Long time since I was using them. Used to be a company in the NE making the chemicals. But think of it this way, if oil is turned to foam, it is not being burnt. The trick is to get the overall CO2 emissions lower, not all components at the lowest.
  16. SteamyTea
    Only if the house varies in temperature because of externalities i.e. wind and sun, night and day. If the losses are just high, then delivering more energy i.e. at a higher temperature or a larger emitter area, will work just the same. But I know what you mean.
  17. SteamyTea
    Thanks
  18. SteamyTea
    Many PUs are, as they now say, plant based. Many Welsh sheep farmers drive inefficient vehicles. Many people will tell you to use 'lime' on old buildings. That is fine, as long as you are happy that your grandchildren are one ones to see it properly dry. I am not sure about old buildings, renovation is a tricky thing. But when they were built, one open fireplace was the norm, not central heating. In a modern building, the moisture comes from the inside and condenses at the first place that the dew point temperature is conducive. This is why vapour barriers are used. The internal air is then mechanically vented out the building and the energy is recovered. So a different solution to air bricks, which I think were to stop wooden joists rotting (and they failed anyway). You can easily work out the heat losses though a material, thickness in m/W.m-1.K-1 you will soon see that you need a lot. I would not bother with a thermal camera, just a candle will do to find the holes.
  19. SteamyTea
    Except they transfer mostly by convection. What is probably happening is she used to find a draft free area to sit, either by design or accident. I have not been convinced that low temperature radiant heating makes any noticeable difference, other disagree and use example of the sun though a window. The sun is at millions of degrees, not 50 above ambient like a radiator is, and only 22 above body temperature, and then they are often small in area. The attenuation is quite great over a short distance (I think attenuation increases with distance, but not sure, entropy increases with time).
  20. SteamyTea
    Can you explain more, with some pictures please.
  21. SteamyTea
    I think that traditional radiator heating systems are hampering out understanding of thermodynamic. When they started to become popular in the 50s, 60.s and 70's, people used them like fireplaces. They got home and turned the heating on. Then turned it off at night. We don't have to live like that anymore.
  22. SteamyTea
    And a buffer tank. Could this be a case of a traditional plumber treating a heat pump system wrongly and turning up the temperature as high as they dare because 'heat pumps are not hot enough'
  23. SteamyTea
    Welcome Why bother with solar thermal? It is a one trick pony, and once it has heated your domestic hot water, it will just sit there doing nothing, until it is time for a costly service. PV is much better, and supplies energy in a more useful form. How much can you get on your roof and is the roof at the correct angles to get full advantage of it? Insulation is only part of the thermal losses, but as a rule, the more the better. This is especially important if fitting any under floor heating, energy will leach away to the ground (so not that important on first floor, vital on ground floor. Not talking about 50 or 70mm here , 200mm at a minimum. The other big element of heat loss is ventilation. Old houses are full of holes, so large, some small. They all need to be fixed. That is your hardest task by far. Regarding wood burning stoves and sustainability. They are just not, they churn out more CO2/kWh that a gas boiler, and the particulates have no safe level, regardless of where you live. Best avoided, and it makes blocking up the large holes that are chimneys easy. As you currently have gas, you can calculate your current usage fairly easily. This is useful as you can start to block up some holes and see what the improvements are. Around windows and doors is a good place to start. Just reread and noticed this. Internal wall insulation is probably your only option, but you still need to make sure that there are no drafts behind it. You may want to rethink using wool.
  24. SteamyTea
    Using that mean temperature, and a standard deviation for the whole month of 4°C, -5°C will happen for 3 percent of the time. 22 Hours. A 1m by 1m by 0.1m concrete block, heated at 25W/m2 will take 2.39 hours to raise up 1°C. If it looses 5W/m2 to the ground, then 3 hours. If another 12W/m2 goes to heating the air (which is what you are after) then 7.5 hours. (only had 1 mug of tea so far so may be wrong)
  25. SteamyTea
    Have you thermally modelled the different options. You can possibly 'claw back' some of the losses with a different choice of insulation. I see you have an corner (Kitchen/Diner) on the outside. My Mother's house has something similar that is always in the dark (she keeps all 3 wheely bins and the 4 recycling box there). It is always damp and mouldy. Is the roof a warm or cold one, is the roof light needed?
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