Dreadnaught

Just to note for others that there is an option with UniFi for it to update firmware itself without intervention. But if I recall correctly that's not turned on by default (might be wrong).

Sounds like BT have limited the options, probably to simplify their online support calls. The option you were looking for was to disable the WiFI network. The only disadvantage of having your BT modem transmitting an alternative WiFi network is that those that attache to it wont "roam" to the other APs. Some Wifi routers allow you to make the SSID "invisible", so people won't see it as an option. Look for that setting. Or alternatively name the Wifi network transmitted by your BT modem as "Do Not Use" or similar. Or simply just don't give them a password for it. So long as this other BT Wifi Network is set to to automatically choose its frequency it should not interfere with your Unifi WiFi network.

In your case you're Mac is the "controller". An iPhone will do just as well. Either is only needed for setup to configuration changes. Nothing else. You don't need a CloudKey for setup. Its for remotely monitoring your network (optional).

On E10: https://economy10.com/overview/. I think its a bit out-of-date now but might still be useful.

A colleague recently set one up using the Unifi iPhone app and a YouTube video. I suggest looking on YouTube. (CloudKey is optional and most basic users won't need it.)

Perhaps go for simplicity. A PCM58 SunAmp charged by E10 electricity. Much less capital cost. Probably only slightly higher running costs. Fewer things to go wrong. Simpler all around. Less hassle. Small and compact too. You could ask @Nickfromwales to specify the system. He knows a lot.

A SunAmp with PCM58 outputs water at 58ºC, ideal for showers, baths and space heating. But it needs an input water temperature of about 65º or so to charge it. ASHPs struggle to generate water at 65ºC*. If they do so they become much less efficient and have to work hard, which causes them wear out, and to freeze-and-defrost cycle when its cold, especially when the outside temperature is around the freezing point for reasons to do with humidity. Not good. Not recommended. There is a SunAmp being developed with PCM34 (one person on here already has one). This outputs water at 34ºC and needs an input of perhaps 45ºC, which is easily generated by an ASHP. Water at 34ºC is OK for space heating but not warm enough for a shower but it can be used as a pre-heat for input to a boiler or heated tank (or indeed a SunAmp with PCM58). Does that help? PCM = phase-change material ASHP = air-source heat pump * there are special multi-stage ASHPs that can generate higher temperatures, but they are mechanically more complex and more expensive.

@joe90, very helpful. Thank you. I didn't realise how the buffer tank for the UFH worked, with the coil within. Your diagram was instructive.

This article (posted earlier by @daiking) might be a useful contribution to the debate: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/brexit-scare-stories-ashoka-mody-imf-bank-of-england-mervyn-king-economics-trade-a8670416.html

On the subject of cylinder temperature, while the ASHP could only heat to 55 or 55ºC in practice, I assume there is no reason why the immersion heater powered by PV could not, if plentiful sunshine allowed, heat the water to a higher temperature. A TMV would blend the temperature down as required for output. That would also do for any sneaky legionella bacteria too if the chlorine in the mains water hadn't done so already. I wonder, is there any upper limit for the temperature of the cylinder water heated by PV? Would the immersion heater have a cut off?

I know that this has been covered before, but is there a legionella risk? I think the consensus from last time this was discussed was that the risk was overblown. I thought it worth mentioning for new people who may not have read the old threads.

Haha, it sounds like an old Windows PC .

Welcome @Grian. Your build sounds like a marathon. Hope you find some help here: I suspect you will.

Here's a company commercialising paraffin-wax products for thermal buffering. They mention walls. https://www.microteklabs.com/nextek Who wants to be the first on BuildHub to try this out?

There has been some limited research into using particles of paraffin wax embedded in sand (even just plain old beach sand) as a latent heat store. Such particles could even be made to flow. Some referred to this being "nano technology". I find it an intriguing idea. Prompted by @JSHarris above, I skim read a few articles in the subject area. Are there any links to that house which had paraffin-wax panels in the walls?

Can of compressed air? Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't the dust usually be caught by the filters (which it clearly isn't otherwise you wouldn't have posted)? Or is it fine dust that passes through the filter?

If an ablate sphere is one that bulges in the middle like the Earth, what describes a rectilinear volume that does the same?

Yes, and the SunAmp unit is a lot smaller in volume so if space is at a premium then that's another reason why the extra cost might be worth it.

Prompted by these comments about using metal studs for partition walls internally, I learning about this. Wondering whether I should use metal studs for my project. Why aren't metal studs more widely used in residential projects? Is it just cost? What are the pros and cons of metal stud over traditional wooden ones?

A little money spent on a 3D Skethup model might have shown the difference between that which the imagination can conjure and the looming oppressive reality revealed in the photo. Having just designed my house with an architect, I sympathise somewhat. I found it all too easy for the vision in my mind to be mistaken. Seeing a 3D render swiftly disabused me. The mind (or mine at least) is not very good at 3D. Humbling. When I started, discovering that most architects still work in 2D amazed me. The adoption of 3D modelling seems to be behind-the-times in my experience.

Yes, quite right. I shouldn't play with words. Very true. That probably explains why my neighbour is as fierce as a fire-breathing dragon towards miscreants? (and sometimes me).

I spoke with the planner this morning about including the access road within the red-line-bound area of the area plan, which gives rise to my need to post an advert in a local newspaper. She pointed me to the planning portal guidelines, which read (my emphasis): "The application site must be edged clearly with a red line on the location plan. It should include all land necessary to carry out the proposed development (e.g. land required for access to the site from a public highway [ ) ]". As @Gav_P suggested earlier, it is that last part in parenthesis that catches me it seems: the access road forms part of the "application site". Ah well! I guess it is time for me to subsidise the local-newspaper sector.

Ah could be. I think I am going to ask and report back. Fortunately I think my situation is different. The road in question, the "nobody road", has every service under-the-sun already beneath it. And there are a range of boathouses and one other neighbouring private dwelling that all use the road for both vehicular and foot access and as the source of their subterranean services. Notwithstanding all of this, the road is unadopted and the owner is lost in the mists of time (or into @vivienz's black holes), all of the aforementioned neighbours confirm this.

Do you think the planners got it wrong? Why do you think the planners asked me to extend the red boundary to encompass the access road (it makes me plot look like a pan with a handle)? To be honest I do not understand that importance of the red-bound zone on the area plan. It seems to hold some higher significance. Yes, correct. During the conveyancing a deemed right-of-way was examined and found to be quite strong but, just in case, an insurance policy was recommended too and is being purchased for the princely sum of £175.

But then a Russian, who has been assiduously watching my online activity, will pop up and claim the "nobody road" and then where will I be?