Roger440

Wasn't built until 2001 so on safe ground with that.

Don't know yet. If there is, I'd want to be closing it up! Otherwise I'll just lose any heat straight out. Bizzarely, the walls are cavity. I know the b&q link is old, but I believe you can still get it. But even if one side, is this going to stay dry?

Holy thread resurrection! Im back. What i neglected to mention last time was i didnt quite own said building. But i do now Maybe a thread on the tired, poorly put together cottage that i need to do some serious work to is in order? But a man has to get his priorities in order doesnt he? So lets start with the shed. As always, fabric first, and before its completey full, i need to insulate the roof. Question is how. At as low a cost as possible. So far, this looks like my lowest cost option https://www.trade-point.co.uk/departments/knauf-space-blanket-loft-insulation-roll-l-4m-w-1-14m-t-200mm/182138_TP.prd Held to the roof with wires. However, my concern here is that given the roof is corrugated, am i likely to get condensation forming in the "peaks" which would then ineviatably run along the blanket till it finds a join? As you can see in the pic, currently, overnight it gets damp on the inside, then the sun comes out and it burns off. Light grey dry, dark grey damp. Thoughts? I was advised by a freind who does commercial building roofing, that they often put unbagged rockwool on top of the roof and "over roof" it, so one surmises condensation forming is unlikely, otherwise it would just get wet? Other options? The only viable one ive come up with is spray foam. Clearly that does away with the risk, but £10-15k to do it

It is indeed a moot point. Its like comparing apples with elephants. Your heat demand on an oil boiler would be much lower too now you have insulated. You keep seeing this bandied about. You need a better insulated house so you can fit ASHP. Ive got a great idea. Do the insulation needed to make an ASHP work well, keep the boiler/heating you have and save even more money by not replacing a perfectly good heating system. Maybe its me, but you keep hearing on the radio. Drives me mad. Sure, on a new build with a clean sheet of paper, its a different situation. As for the noise, rather going to depend on the level of background noise. Either way, not anywhere near my house. I still regret installing a sewage treatment plant for that reason. Despite the many modifications to improve it.

Electricity is a priority and will be available??? You sure. Given an abject failure of succesive governments to do anything remotely intelligent, and demonstrably so, id say you are wrong. Its clearly not a priority. Oil phased out? Not in my lifetime it wont be. It will be something if it is phased out to force you to be reliant on an unreliable electricity supply! Though i suppose its possible. ASHP, yes, noisy, Too noisy. But, as has been discussed is only a good option in a resonably efficent house. If you dont have one of those, not so much. There are limits to what can sensibly be achieved with existing properties.

Oil. Oil. Oil Given the way things are going, especially with government, i think increased self sufficeny is where im going. Sure, fit an ASHP as well, but when its too expensive or power is not available, oil is going to look good. Indeed, until the price cap was confirmed, things were in danger of oil being the cheapest form of heating! The enviromental aspect is trumped by the requirement to have working heating when i want it. Not at the mercy of government whim/stupidity. Of course, for the boiler to work you need power. A battery will cover that, as its unlikely you will have no power for days. Well, depending where you are. Or, like me, buy a diesel genset as back up. Wildy inefficient. Unless you have a battery, then you can charge that meaning you can run the genset at its peak efficiency. Following ofgems announcements of possible interupption to supply, one feels strangely smug. The idea that there will continue to be super cheap electricity at night long term is one for the birds, so id certainly not base your decisions on that. I think at the new place, its oil, supported with a bit of solar, and possibly, subject to what i can achieve a bit of hydro.

Ive got a robot mower. That gets stuck. Sadly, and predicatably, its gone wrong. Some electronic fault. Had to dispatch to the repair place.

This i can understand. That is automation. Sounds like an awful lot of preplanning required, and no way would i want all that in my house, but i can see the benefits in that. Especially the opening the curtains to get my lazy arse out of bed! I still see no value in turning a light off from my phone whilst sitting on my sofa. Thats just complication for the sake of it.

Dont understand this. So, you followed the rules, and he didnt, possibly, though it doesnt sound as bad in terms of rule breaking as you like to think. Let him sell it, and hopefully get a beter neighbur. Why prolong it? Plus of course, if you raise, what is essentially a dispute, you will need to declare it if you sell your house. The decision about buying is up to the buyer. If they are happy, thats their shout. I just did the same. Not a single planning or BC cert apart from the last 3 years. Do i care? No.

Why dont you just get a vinyl wrap like the car people do. You can get them printed with anything. Lots of people doing fake "rustry" cars. Cheap as chips by comparison. Just found this too: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165406795119?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjw7eSZBhB8EiwA60kCW5c0yr-uoZyw95AO0qgYWTSnlyg1MV53R74hw10CzlqW71xbzIbQOxoC7C4QAvD_BwE

Building your own is certainly a solution. And yes, sure, i can see the parallels. Which i guess is why self building is such a small niche. Unless you are simply going for a full turnkey build, you will need to understand an awful lot of quite technical stuff if you are to end up with a resonable result. The majority of the population wont understand. Sadly, not everyone understands computers/ electronics/software. Which is where i fall over. Everything else, is, frankly a non issue. And is certainly, in part, why i seek to eliminate as far as possible. Because if i do have it, it will be a manufactured product, with the downsides you allude to. The issue with googling and the like, is they inevitably start at a level higher than me. And as you will know, online instructions almost never match the actual real world version as no one ever updates instructions. So i never make it out of the gates. Until tonight i had no idea what a raspberry PI is. Indeed, still dont really, beyond what google tells me. I have no idea what it is actually for? Or why i would want one?

Hmmm. Ill say thanks. But really, i think thats a bit too deep for me. As per my original post, why do i want to turn something off from my phone, when i can just turn it off anyway? I dont get it. Knowing how much power im munching IS of interest, but i just want something simple that tells me my power consumption. i get that this does this, but its not simple. And if it uses a phone, its not even under consideration. I'll admit thats because, 6 years in, i still dont really know how to use it beyond the obvious making calls and sending messages. Maybe i should go back to my cave?

Shows how little i know. 10 ip cameras I know what a camera is. But IP? home automation server . Well i guess you would. se battery Dont know what this is? pw battery Dont know what this is? doorbird Dont know what this is? usual tv stuff 6 raspberry pi’s ( doing a variety of things ) Dont know what this is? Just googled it and am, mostly, none the wiser. EV charger 3 macs 2 windows pc ( yuck ) 4 iPads

But if they did approve it, everyone would be at it. Building in open countryside. In this case, a national park. And i say that as someone who would do it in a heart beat were it possible. I suspect an ag tie was doable, but who wants that? Its effectively a worthless house.

Thats very clever. And cheap. But i have literally no idea what most of that is about other than the end result. From an electronics and software angle, thats way over my head. Not something that i could tackle sadly. If there was a mechanical or electrical version, id be there.

really? Like what. Just 20 will do.

What can i fit fo £30. And how will it help me?

Agree 100%. Having just read through this thread, all i can say is "why?". I genuinely dont understand. Maybe its because nothing winds me up faster than tech that doesnt work. Which seems to be most of it. I hear adverts for broadband that will work with up to 100 devices. Why? Who has 100 "things" connected to the internet? We have 2 phones (when at home) and 2 laptops. And a telly, which i never watch. What do you guys do when, a) it falls over as it inevitably will, b) when its no longer supported by the manufacturer. On the next project (keys saturday) ive commited myself to examining everything we do to see if a simpler, cheaper and cheaper to operate solution can be achieved. Id like to say no electronics at all, but thats probably unachievable. Should be fun. Or sad?

Id say the majority of trades are not up to much. The good ones are out there, hard to find, and invariably booked forever. If time is of no consequence, sure, wait, but on a build like that, is that feasible. Whilst i almost always end up doing things myself, and often because i simply cant get anyone to do anything around here, i dont think i could have stayed commited that long though. Hereoic effort.

I still have no idea why pre-fab isnt more of a thing. Ok, not like this one as its a bit "alternative", but more conventional looking surely makes sense. Not that im going to do a new build, (abandoned that idea) but if i was, off site manufacture would be high on my list.

Hmmm. Not directly on topic, but if the charge resonable fees, they wont generate lots of cash.

Same here. I wouldnt claim to foresee the future, it was bought for a different reason, but a 5KVA disel gennie is looking like a good thing to have about.

deleted. didnt read your post properly.

Whilst doing some upgrade to your insulation while you are there makes sense, im not sure why anyone would ask building control either way. id just crack on and do what you need to do.

Agreed. Wont happen though. That much you can be sure of.