SteamyTea

And that is just Janners, try the lot further west

Data, data, data. Apart from that, where is the thermostat. Does the sun hit it at all and is it in a draught? Apart from that, do some test. Set it at the desired temperature, say 20°C, note the current internal temperature, the external temperature (maybe an external wall if you have an IR thermostat) and keep checking every 15 minutes and note the internal temperature. If you can, note the time the ASHP stops too. Do this for a few days and then try again with the thermostat set at 18°C and then at 22°C. Plot it all in excel and it will all make sense. You need two plots, internal temperature against external temperature and internal temperature against time. From that you can work out any offset needed for a given external temperature and the time taken to heat the room up to a set temperature. Put some tape over the thermostat when you do the tests, or cut fingers off, both usually work. For a change, I have my heating on (I think I am getting older). Front room is at 17.8°C. This would usually be a bit cool for me, but as I am decorating the bathroom and running up and down the stairs, I feel a bit warm. Too warm for a change.

Welcome May I ask why you want to build with straw? The thing with money lenders is that they went to claim back more than they ever lend, it is how they keep in business.

Gone off topic on this one a bit, Sorry Dave.

But they don't care, they charge £2.40 a cup (half that in Canada). I did notice that the water was over chlorinated when I was away. Not something that I have noticed in Cornwall or in Bucks, though the water in Bucks is so hard it comes out in lumps. I don't know why this was as the geology in NS is pretty similar to home.

I think that wix.com have blogging, you would have to check. Biggest problem with the free sites is the amount of space they give you for nothing, and any adds of course. It is pretty cheap to set up your own website.

What is stuck in there, or more to the point, who!!

I still think it about time that 'we' created a nationwide wireless mesh network. It may not, with current technology, be fast enough for video or a fraught teenage girl updating instafacetwit, but could be useful for sending simple and small data messages like energy readings. Just how hard can it be to rig up a Pi ZeroWs into a mesh and pop them in the car (we are usually not far from a car or several). Accessing could be via Bluetooth, that is also built in. One thing a network like that would do is force people to start thinking about bandwidth again. I went to a website the other day and there was a massive 250mb video on the opening page. The page would not even start until it had all downloaded. How stupid is that.

I have found that any clean install is pretty quick, then it gets slower and slower, then unusable. I hope they get most of the add-ons updated. Ghostery works though.

Thought I would give the latest version a go. Number 57, like Heinz. They have a portable version, which I think is the same thing. Does seem to be a fair bit speedier and they claim it uses 30% less memory than Chrome. Still double, at 133MB compared to my old version of SeaMonkey (ver. 2.46). I was always a fan of Firefox, mainly because of the add-ons, but it did get slow and heavy in the end. Time will tell if it can recover its position and prove to be a good product again.

Good reply. Said something similar about a water softener to make the coffee taste better. I could have done with a way to turn my heating on when I got back from Canada, I just used the fan heater instead. I do like the idea of monitoring though, and to be able to access that data when the urge to play with a spreadsheet takes over would be nice. Thing is, I use my phone for all my interwb connectivity, so would have to get another phone or reconnect the landline. The cost of that would be add 50% to my 'energy bill'.

It should not be too hard to create something that is suitable and accessible from a phone. There is a lot to be said for basic controls though. My Mother has a new heating system and she forget to take the thermostat with her when she changes room.

That is a good thing, it will encourage the open source movement to create a better system.

Ah, an archaeologist report, that is nothing, just say 'Have you seen the film Essex Boys'. Just make sure you clear out the bats and newts. I used to live in a hidden gem of Essex, jewel of the arterial infact, Basildon

Welcome. Did your wife tell you to say that so that you can filter out the gardeners?

I agree it is an odd way to expect to get an order. I can see why they are doing that way. The alternative it so pay for the estimate up front, but then no other company would accept those drawings and calculations.

Morning. I am heart warmed to see the support on here and can only imagine what life must be like for you at the moment. Having seen the stress and disappearance of a few self builders in the past, don't be afraid to just ask, as Ian puts is, "an appropriately modest man-hug".

I use these on my heaters: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0066NEBO6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are a number of software packages, GIMP is one, as is Inkscape. (both free and available as portable versions). If you like CAD you can use LibreCad, again a free download and portable. But I like Ian's suggestion. Pen and Paper.

Now that is out of the way, you can do what you like. Neighbours are strange things. There are 6 houses where I live. Only two of us are owner occupiers, the rest are rented out. 3 of the rentals never ever give trouble, but 1, and always the same one, has a high turnover of tenants, causes no end of trouble with the parking (1 house, 1 space, what is hard to understand). Since I have been away the tenant of the "unlucky" house has moved out. Shame as the TV they left in the driveway is apparently still there. I was going to put it by their front door with a note saying that I would be embarrassed that I had left rubbish for 8 weeks littering up the place. Looks like I have a trip to the dump when I get home. What does this mean anyway, ask 100 people, get at least 100 answers.

Who is this Dave, and can he save me money? Or did you mean Nickfromwales, then it would be "so nicked a few £ again"

I have a 200 lt vented cylinder, so can get a better flow rate, but I have found that for two people, and only heated to 50°C, there was plenty of hot water. I have been using just the top element for the last few months (still not got around to sorting the blown lower element, but chatted up neighbour so should be able to use her shower if it all goes tits up) and it only takes 20 minutes to heat up enough for a bath (less water is heated). My cylinder is not normally heated from stone cold, so it may take a little longer. The E7 period is much longer than you need to heat your store to 65°C. You will only ever need about 12 kWh, so should be up to temp in 4 hours at worst.

Use it to your advantage. Say you got them to work harder and told them they can do it in a day. Then make sure your neighbour knows it is you that sorted it out. Brownie points for you

You are right, Lakeside was where I got stuck in the lift and realised that I had been claustrophobic for years. Why did no one else think that smashing up the doors (unsuccessfully) to get out was not a rational thing to do. The point I was making is that there are often charges to enter a market for both suppliers and customers. Council tax is one of them. VAT is another.

There was a bit about a decade ago that Blue Water (Thurrock) wanted to charge shoppers for entry. They already do this for most people with car parking charges or public transport costs. Very little we do does not have some kind of barrier to entry, just that we don't often think of it that way. If you take motoring, then the barriers are actually very high, cost of licence and renewal, driving lessons, test(s) vehicle testing, taxes, insurance, maintenance, disposal, fines. And that is before we pay for fuel. Then there are the discretionary spends on the vehicle, better trim, winter tyres, roof boxes. It is the same with a trip to the beach. Entry to that may be free, but it has a cost to get there and quite often once you are there. They could try varying the meter rental charge by the amount that passes though it. That would be considered, but it is really very simple and very low users would pay very little, just enough for replacement, reading and administration, plus the pro-rata amount for network maintenance. In some ways it is better to make a system like this as it highlights what the money is for. If you lump everything into one, non itemised bill, then people assume that there is a lot of profit making. And that is not the case with retail energy. It is an old and mature marketplace that run by legislation and has very little room for true savings.