Roger440

Exactly. Meanwhile in the building game, nothing much has happened. Still the same as 40 years ago and relies totally on the skill and dilgence of the installer for it to work right. Which anyone with half a brain will tell you doesnt happen 95% of the time. If you applied any engineering logic you would design something that could accet a sensible amount of misalignment and poor fitting. Because thats EXACTLY what happens. But perversly in this game actual performance doesnt matter much, only the tested performance. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions on windows you have used succesfully. Shall look into them

But in this sceanrio, water needs diverting, that means valves. And that means valve control. Which means sensors and electronics. Electronics = unreliability. And a level of understanding to fix when it goes wrong that i dont possess. Back to where we started. Would need a passive divertor system as each tank reaches max temp. Something with a waxstat. More research required.......

Or 535 tons for my house. Not an entirely practical idea out in the real worl i think.....................

No 3 phase here. This was/is going to be DIY. It simply wont fly otherwise. Though, by my calcs id need another 50 odd panels. Ones like mine are going for around £100 a pop, so that would be £5k. I think i need a lie down! I take your point about summer export, though it was something id rather avoid. More complication and cost. Good point on the storage size. Hadnt considered that. I was considering large in case i wanted to add a gasification log boiler which would generate a lot of heat quickly (as per previous discussions). Need to ponder how that would work with smaller multiple tanks. A complicated control system i suspect. I dont like complicated. complication = unreliability.

Out of interest, do yours use the standard type of seal glued/bonded at the corners? In my experience these always split in the end.

Ok, As i said, not good at maths. You introduced a p in there. Not sure what that means? Ive picked up FOC what is described as a 4.5Kw PV array (plus invertor) . Are you saying 4 of these would do the job? Im rather more keen on a massive water tank than batteries. I could potentially then heat it by other means too. Though i do have a battery powered forklift........

Quite! Lets be honest, the sealing on all the windows ive encountered, from an engineering perspective is a joke! Along with the structural integrity in many cases on doors. And my 1979 UPVC units seal look remarkably similar to my 4 year old units. Fortunately modern cars dont use the same sealing arrangements as my 70's triumphs. Its call progress. Seems lacking on windows and doors. I suspect they are all like it though, but i dont actually know that, hence the thread.

All good valid points, AND it still looks like a high risk for investor. Give us all your money now, for payback in the future. Not a new idea and we know how it often ends. I suspect this well outside the scope of any financial regulation.

My new house is smaller than my old one, but less thermally effiecent. Early indications are an oil consumption rate similar to the old one. Which was about 1700 litres of oil a year, so circa 16000kwh annually. Ok, im going to improve the current situation, so lets say im really good and halve it 7500. Just rough numbers its going to need over 1000kwh per month in mid winter, or 33kwh per day. Feel free to point out what bit ive got wrong, maths isnt my strong point, or how much PV i need in december / january. But its going to be an awful lot?

Interesting. But i note they dont answer the question, what if they go bust? Which they probably will. I think investing in the stock market would be much safer.

Im aware of all that. Indeed, setting it up almost vertical for winter makes perfect sense, which i can do as it wont be roof mounted. However, Id still need a solar farm in mid winter though!

Ive done all that. Pretty much most times the frame is out of square, sagging doors aside. No amount of adjustment, even with new seals gets it air tight. Only setting the frame true and square will resolve. Which to me seems to be where it all falls over. If the guy fitting it doesnt get it bob on, its doomed to failure. Whilst it would be easy to critisize the fitment, what practical method an you use to get it absolutrly square in all planes halfway up the side of a house. My back door, its no more than 2mm out. But thats enough, it wont seal. Hence the questions really. What windows are people using, and are the actually air tight when tested as part of the house air tightnress test? How to tell good windows from bad, and how to know that the good ones are installed properly?

My house is mostly 170 years old, so zero possibility of passivhaus standards. Its going to use energy, even with sensible pragmatic works applied. Having ample space, i could generate enough PV or solar thermal in summer to run it in winter. Thats why i looked at milk tankers, buried if need be. But its simply economic madness. So yes, Yes, buying shares or similar seems to be a much better solution than actually solving the problem! Even at a £1 per Kwh, it still doesnt even start to stack up.

Same problem. Sun doesnt shine much in the winter. You cant sensibly store months of electricity to run said heat pump.

I guess so?

Likewise. But if using PV, it needs to be more like 4 months surely? Which is where my crazy musings fall over. Theres no practical way to store enough energy for heating through a winter from PV.

My first house were anglian. Because i bought them. All the others, no idea as i didnt put them in. The back door in question is onlky 4 years old, but i know no more than that. Ive not actually counted them all and worked out how many air tight ones there have been, but its definitely sub 20% based on a sample of 4 houses. Im always pleased to find things are adjustable, then become frustrated because despit that, its impossible to get a good seal because nothing is square. Never mind the fact that with the exception of the Anglian patio doors, ALL the doors sag out of square as they are all cearly to heavy to support their own weight! Ive not even got to trickle vents. Another whole pointess load of nonsense! If im going to fork out of windows i want to be very confident that i dont end up with more of the same. So hard to know from a bunch of pics on a website.

After another frustrating few hours trying to get rid of draughts, i pondered the reality of the situtation with modern windows and doors. Looking back, on this house and previous ones, none of the modern double glazed doors or windows actually seem to seal. The seals all seem to be much the same and have maybe 1-2mm of "give" as they are closed. Of course, in a perfect world, thats fine, but the reality is, the frames are never installed to that level of accuracy, and so you end up with gaps between frame and seal. This, despite spending considerable time adjusting the hinges, latches etc, no doubt to a far greater level than any installer would. As evidenced by the "as found" set up. Yesterdays efforts on the back door improved things, but the top of the frame is not straight. So the door touches the seal at the sides, but not in the centre of the top. The frame itself is well and truly secure, so short of ripping the whole frame and starting again, its as good as it gets. Which is rubbish! Are there manufacturers that make windows with propery engineered sealing that can cope with minor inaccuracy? Like automotive manage to do. How are you guys getting on with air tightness tests? Based on my sample of various units across 4 houses quoted performance and actual appear to be worlds apart. I need to replace all the windows at the front of the house, (1979 UPVC, which ironically are better than anything else ive found to date for air tightness, though not thermally) and with something that actually is good.

What Steamy said. Whats the aim. I looked at using a milk tanker and storing and heating water. But id need 10 of them to make it remotely worthwhile! This sounds interesting

Agreed.

But we are not paying what it costs. We are paying what succesive governments have decided its going to cost as a result of their policies or lack therof. Some organisations and a handful of people are profiting hugely at our expense. Right now, this week, in the mid US, they are paying $0.009 per kwh. Thats 7.5p! So forgive if i blame our governments entirely for where we find ourselves. I dont see any good for society coming from energy costs being cripplingly high. A big drop in living standards can surely be the only outcome?

Welcome. Pictures, we need pictures!

Sorry, not sure what you are asking/suggesting?

You can get the SD numbers for lime stuff.

Sounds like an industrial sized pack of air tightness tape is called for! You have a lot of work ahead of you. Based on what you have said, i think you need a whole house strategy there. That way past tinkering.