MJNewton

I had a cheap one from Aldi which seemed to work fine, until I checked it against a 2m spirit level! Got my money back on that one. Ended up going for a Magnusson one at Screwfix (I think it was £40 at the time) and have been really pleased with it. I use it often, but am only a DIYer so it's only occasional and it's not being thrown around daily etc so can't comment on rough-usage longevity. Five year guarantee which was reassuring too. Our quartz worktop fitters were singing my praises when they came to measure up with their fancy gizmo saying it was rare how spot on the units and island were in 3D, and the laser level made it pretty straightforward to achieve that. It's one of those tools that when in use make you look like you know what you're doing too, for what that's worth! Only downside is it attracts toddlers and cats.

...and I do wonder if sometimes I make such trips on purpose to get out of doing 'real' work! I've found myself increasingly buying some things from Amazon with free next day delivery when that still suits as my nearest SF/TS is a nearly-30 mile round trip.

It wouldn't be much of a level if the laser was emitted at a non-zero inclination - the projected line would be at different heights for surfaces at different distances.

Is it mould? Ours is a few years old now and there's no sign of anything inside - no dust, mould or anything. The filters get pretty filthy though! The semi-rigid radial ducting I used (Airflow Airflex Pro) is advertised as anti-static and anti-bacterial which I never thought much about, but perhaps it really does mean something?

I doubled up on all the seals for my connections - gave me some reassurance and only cost a few quid.

I wouldn't be too concerned on the noise front. I designed/fitted my own system and aside from following 'good practice' along the lines that JohnMo touched on (I'd add isolation mounting for the unit) and didn't put any extra effort on the noise side and the result is silent. Not just 'silent' like a dishwasher or fridge manufacturer might say when they actually mean 'quite enough' or 'quieter than others' I mean, literally, you can't hear it. Sure, when boosting you can hear air flow but only if you tune into it and it's not something I would wish being any different (and certainly not something I'd be willing to pay any money for reducing further). Edit: I only fitted a silencer on the supply side but I do recall at least one other saying they ended up fitting one on the extract too and it gave a beneficial effect. Not sure why we didn't have any requirement for mitigation their whereas they didn't, particularly noting I've got a very short run for one of the extracts and so wouldn't have been too surprised if I had heard fan noise through that one.

Thanks @joth, I'll keep any eye out for them!

I’ve been meaning to replace my PC-based CCTV, which must be pulling a constant 100W+, with something lower power. Was looking to see if a Pi 4 would be up to the job but availability has been all but non-existent for a while now. Do you know if an EdgTPU can be plugged into a Pi to support a Frigate-based system? I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to pay for itself..

Yes, likewise! I also thought about buying a second one as a spare but decided to chance it!

It's how I bought mind (different make) - it was one of many fitted to an estate but turns out to have not met the contracted spec (too small) so was pulled out, replaced with the next size up and sold on for less than half the retail price. It's been running a few years now so the warranty concern has diminished, but even at the beginning I was hopeful that the serial number/date would've aided any claim that I might needed to have made. I've done that with a few things now without issue - perhaps many people don't keep receipts any more?

..and is that pipe insulation providing some separation? If so, and of a thickness that'd prevent you been scalded if you put your hand on it then the heat transfer is relatively insignificant.

I'd go with what the manufacturer says. Their instructions tend to trump all generic regs and rules etc and so can be regarded as gospel.

Thanks for that, always on the look out for new bulbs. I ended up going with some dim-to-warm CRI95 GU10s from ‘well lit’ and they’ve been superb but you’d expect so at £13 a go! (These are similar but I’m sure mine are 6W versions, not the 9W as per the link) They give a 365 day money back guarantee so I figured I had nothing to lose but straight away I knew they were exactly what we were after. If they don’t last beyond the 3yr guarantee I doubt I’d be comfortable replacing them like-for-like given the cost so will save your link (Edit: I see Amazon have got them for £4.16 with free delivery). Re Hue bulb specs I must admit I didn’t go too far researching as I never expected wanting too many smart bulbs and if I did I didn’t fancy the costs which soon add up (he says having spent £13 on one (well, five!) and generally preferred the idea of using ‘dumb’ bulbs with separate smart controls that I could replace/upgrade if/as required.

I never tip them either. I do tend to put some effort into making things as easy as possible for them though in terms of ensuring sufficient space for them to unload, helping them reverse back out etc and that always seems to go down well. I just try to be a 'nice/good/appreciative customer', but not in a gifting sort of way. I remember as a kid when my Dad used to deliver oil to all sorts of places from houses to warships he'd often come back with all sorts of gifts e.g. crates of beer, trays of Pot Noodles, bottles of spirits etc. Not sure if it was more of a Christmas thing though, and I might be misremembering (and exaggerating) the regularity of such occasions.

Be careful posing the question in terms of what other people's energy bills - in terms of £ cost - are like as we're all on different tariffs and energy types and it can become futile drawing any conclusions. Try and focus instead on energy usage - in terms of kWh - which you can then make much more meaningful comparisons between different house types, sizes, occupancy levels etc. You can still convert that into monetary values based on whatever options are available to you. I would also split out gas from electricity otherwise again you're going to get very misleading figures being bandied around, particularly given that your main area of interest is presumably heating costs (as that's all that I'd expect to differ in a Passivhaus to any other) and energy type can become really significant then given the difference in gas vs electricity costs. For what it's worth, in our 125m2 2007-built gas-boiler heated developer box our average annual consumption is a fairly stable 8500kWH gas (~£400/yr at current rates) and 3500kWh electricity (~£740/yr). There are two adults home all day and a 4yr old, and we have a set temperature of 20C from 0700-2200. From what I gather from others here with highly efficient self-builds I'd expect our gas consumption to be just a fraction of this if we were in such a place, primarily to cover the base load of hot water heating which we seem to use <5kWh/day for judging by the summer gas consumption rates?

No advice to offer, but posting just to say we reused our conservatory footings for its replacement extension. Like you the BCO just wanted some inspection pits dug so he/we could check they were okay.

You only have to do that with a turntable microwave if you've removed the turntable. So-called 'flatbed' microwaves that dispense with the turntable altogether have a rotating antenna instead.

It looks to me that you're in a very fortunate position - a black plume management kit would be barely visible against your dark cladding. It might be difficult to predict exactly the minimum viable option, but a 'snorkel' type of extension to raise the height of the exhaust gases really ought to work.

We’ve got a Persimmon house and I’ve actually been really quite impressed with how well it was built, and I’ve seen it from virtually every angle and perspective having modified and extended it over the years. It was the show home though, so presumably first-built and perhaps the one that was subject to inspection with all the others just assumed to be built the same!

Are there any clues reported in /var/log/syslog, /var/log/messages or /var/log/kern.log?

Does the control group filter also apply to the balanced cold feed (which has been confirmed as having no issues)?

Yes, I’d expect it to last longer. Ours is 15 years old and never had an issue (touch wood!). Has it been properly diagnosed as to what the problem actually is? With such an expensive item I wouldn’t give up without knowing exactly what’s wrong (and that it’s terminal).

Probably just needs an extension kit fitting to divert the exhaust gases further away.

Ah okay. I wonder what it could be? You mentioned other reported cases - what was the cause in those?

To add: Is it just the hot flow that has reduced to a trickle or outlets connected to the balanced cold too?