jayc89

Novice question - what happens to the power generated from a PV if the household demand is low, the immersion is no longer calling for heat (i.e. it's already at temp), you don't want to export any of it and you don't have a battery array?

Totally agree. Location is also a big one. I suspect fitting impermeable insulation in an area that's susceptible to driving rain could also be problematic. Luckily for me, we're not in one of those areas.

I've not done too much on ours yet. I'm finishing off the last of our screeding this weekend where I have left taller perimeter up-stands around the external walls so I can continue the PIR up the walls at a later date, or I can just cut them down again if I decide not to. Right now, I plan to use the "warm batten" method where you stick PIR direct to the wall, tape up to reduce air flow, and screw battens through it, I then plan to in-fill those battens with additional PIR, taping again, before cross battening for a service void and then PB. Cross battening isn't required, but I prefer it so all services can be ran on the warm side. I could also install an airtight membrane before cross battening as a belt and braces approach. I've come to the conclusion that there are no hard and fast rules. Many anecdotal tales of people dot and dabbing insulating plasterboard to walls, without any reported problems, many people also saying that's a terrible idea. I've taken the stance that; 1) air-tightness is important, warm, moist air cannot be allowed to move between the thermal envelope and the colder wall. Specific attention needs to be paid at junctions such as floor joists pocketed into walls etc. 2) Too much insulation could be a bad thing. Solid brick walls still need some way to let moisture escape, it is likely to get in some how (driving rain, leaking gutters etc etc) it can no longer dry to the inside so some heat needs to continue to pass through to push that moisture back to the outside. This of course assumes the outer face is pointed well using lime, and isn't rendered with sand/cement etc. It's a pretty marmite subject so I'm sure someone will be along with a different view soon

The stat on the tank is quite flakey (it's only a year old). It says it's below 45 but the temp coming out the taps is 55. Boiler is set just above this at 60. Whilst the pipeline's all neat and tidy some are so close together I can't get any foam pipe insulation around them. I might have to resort to some other type of lagging. When I say it's on for 4 hours, that's when the stat could call for heat, I've just checked and it's not currently calling for anything, so it's difficult to say how long it's actually calling for heat for.

How much hot water do you heat? We have a 250l tank, it can call for heat for up to 4 hours a day (2 in the morning, 2 in evening). We take between 2-3 showers a day in total and other than washing hands/a couple of pots that don't fit in the dish washer we don't use anything else. Our 12kw a day just to heat water seems excessive...

For July we used, on average, 14kw a day of electric and 12kw a day of gas. 3 bed house, 2 adults working from home and 2x kids who don't know how to turn anything off.

I plan on doing all groundworks myself and getting a builder in to take us from foundations up to watertight. I'll then be tackling the majority of 1st fix myself, getting the pros in where needed (sparky, plasterer etc).

Cutting down makes sense if you already have the boards. Plenty on here already have full-fill EPS beads, I think @Icevergemight be one of them. I'm not aware of any problems using that method (opposed to blown mineral wool, for example).

How big's the cavity? I'm planning on going full-fill with EPS beads instead. Much easier, less risk of gaps etc. Can be done at any time before the internal wall coverings go on. Just need to ensure the builder closes all the cavities before they leave. For PIR, I wouldn't start poking holes through the bigger sheets, generally cavity batts are used which are 1200 x 450 to fit nicely between wall ties. I guess you could cut your sheets down to 5x per?

We're currently renovating a solid brick house. For the most part the property's bone dry. Where we did have problems was around the cellar and the room directly above it which had been tanked internal and externally in sand/cement (there was some lime mixed in too but very little), coupled with a leaking soil pipe, it was a bit of a soggy mess. Any sand and cement currently on the property might not be causing problems yet, but if/when it starts to crack and allow moisture in, it will. Internal wall insulation on solid brick builds is a pretty divisive subject, on here and the wider community, apparently a new paper is due to be released next month which may or may not help in reaching a consensus here.

What's your TF insulated with? I know a lot has been said about decrement delay with the likes of PIR, which I know can be common in TF. Pretty jealous about those temps. Our upstairs peaked at 27c yesterday evening

It's dawned on me, our proposed garage will have a hipped roof with some south facing roof space, approx 7m x 2.5m. It will be slightly over-shadowed by the house itself from the east. Is it still worth considering fitting PV there?

SBR won't be breathable though, will it?

A bead of airtight sealant followed by tape to join your existing airtight detail at either end?

Our mortgage ends in March. Not looking forward to renewing that one.

Thought I'd shared the wrong link for a minute!

Bid away! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255661991749

I did consider it, although our west facing roof space is part of the original building (1850s) and it would be a pig to fit PV to. Perhaps when we re-roof it, hopefully not for another 10 years(!), we can reconsider in-roof PV then.

I laid a new limecrete floor a couple of weeks ago, it should be ready to accept a covering in the next couple of weeks (but in reality I'll probably wait until the weather cools down a bit!) I plan on using 12mm limestone tiles, what's the best adhesive to use, can I mix up some NHL and sand (I assume finer sand than the slab itself) or do I need to use something proprietary?

Seen an Ecodan for sale (PUHZ-W85VHA2), being sold as spares/repairs as it needs regasing every couple of months. Anyone any idea what might cause that and how quick/costly a fix it would require?

InsulationHub for me too, as cheap if not cheaper than the likes of SecondsAndCo.

Nice! I'll set up my email alerts

Agreed, there's far more info on there then on some of the other sites I've been looking at. Shame there doesn't seem to be many of those units going on eBay though

I was considering it to access our stairway light for dusting/changing bulbs etc, some 6m high. Perhaps not.

What screed are you going for? 50mm is generally considered the absolute minimum depth for a liquid screed, 65mm if using sand/cement.