Temp

Typically the beams in a B&B floor rest on/in internal walls/stub walls to reduce the span. So the situation is similar to external walls. You put in two DPC. One under the beams and one at the normal height. The DPM goes on top of the B&B before the insulation and connects with upper DPC.

My oil boiler is a 13 year old Grant Vortex feeding UFH via a thermal store. I've no intention of replacing it any time soon. I see no reason why it won't do another 10 easily.

You need to decide if this is going to be a proper extension or just a shed. Proper extension would have a door between it and house, proper foundations, insulated floor walls, roof, double glazed windows, heating and electric. You might me able to build this as a timber frame but how close to the boundary is it?

@IndustrialWizarding Welcome to the forum. Looks pretty normal/typical for the period to me as well.

Sorry if Im being slow but.. All the pressure regulator/reduction valves I've ever had were two port (eg in and out) . Can you tell us where each of the pipes on yours goes?

I think Building control will ask you for a u-value at least.

That's good data to have. If your oil boiler is 90% efficient it means your house needs about 20*90/100 = 18kWh per year for heating and HW. https://nottenergy.com/resources/energy-cost-comparison/ Oil/kerosene is about 4.6p/kWH. Find out how much you would pay per unit of electricity. That site uses a figure of 19p/kWH. At that rate you would need the COP of the ASHP to average over 19/4.6 = 4 all year to break even. Do your own figures. When you get quotes for an ASHP they should work out your heat loss to correctly size the ASHP. I have some concerns some installers are under estimating heat loss and selling units that are too small. If you end up with a unit that's too small the COP can fall below 2 or lower in winter making it expensive to run or unable to heat the house in cold weather. I would compare thst figure of 18kWh with what the installer calculates the house needs as a sanity check that the sizing is correct. Be aware that if you dont resize the rads the ASHP will need to deliver high flow temperatures and that can reduce the COP.

If you have a PRV the pressure must have been too high at some point in the past. I find PRV need adjusting every say 5 years. Over time the flow rate reduces until I get fed up and turn it up. There is usually a screw on the end, sometimes hidden under a lable.

Indeed. Our neighbours and some absentee land owners did a deal with a wind farm company that wanted to put up seven 120m turbines. Was a crazy scheme right between two conservation areas. In the end even one of the land owners wrote to object. He promptly had to withdraw his objection when the wind co pointed out he'd agreed not to. The things the developer got upto during the planning process beggars belief. We learnt a lot about the planning process.

If they originally created the drawings for building control approval they may not be accurate enough to use for construction. For example Building Control may want to know the total area of glazing for heat loss calculations but they don't need the drawings to show the exact position of a window. So the position on the BC drawing may not be a multiple of a half brick as you might on a construction drawing. Perhaps that's not the best example. It is never good practice to scale from a drawing. You should always use the dimensions on the drawing and if any are missing ask for them to be added. This would apply to a .pdf or .dwg.

My guess is that's the width of the wall so the bearing will actually be 150x100 onto a padstone.

They may also have to pay CGT as it counts as a sale at market value. +1 and tell the person valuing why you need a valuation. Estate Agents always value on the high side because they think you are more likely to use them to sell it. You want a value for CGT/IHT purposes which should be at the lower end of the market range. There are special rules for gifts of land that are different to gifts of money, cars etc. Best get some professional advice. Some of the issues are raised here.. https://www.birketts.co.uk/insights/legal-updates/agricultural-brief-the-gift-of-giving-gifts-of "The basic rule (since 1925) is that land can only be transferred, including by gift, by a deed, drafted as such, and signed by the giver (the donor), with a witness". Continues,

or a previous owner took them with them when they moved.

Just for info here is another COP vs flow temperature graph.. Source: https://heatpumps.co.uk/2014/03/06/getting-the-best-from-underfloor-heating/

The cost of cleaning up a leak can be pretty expensive so double bunded makes sense to me. Near neighbour had a tank leak and the oil went into the gravel surrounding their drains.

This place is offering air dried upto 7m.. https://www.iwood.co.uk/beams/32/oak-european/

I got a 6.5 m green oak beam from my local sawmill no problem. Not sure if you can get dried oak that big though. Just remember each bit must be longer than 3.3m. https://youtu.be/-SUtoKKNKHQ

Dowsing was eligible for the James Randi $1m prize but nobody could prove it worked. Well at least this one couldn't. Sorry its a bad recording.. This one had more luck. skip first 3min..

You can render below DPC but you need to check with the manufacturer as not many are approved for that. My choice would be the black brick and mortar as maintenance free. +1 The DPC should be 150mm above ground and the ground raised to provide level access. This does not mean you have to have an identifiable narrow ramp. You can have a larger area of raised ground but you should take precautions to prevent rainwater splashing up above the DPC. Typically a linear drain across doorways and perhaps a 200mm wide channel full of decorative gravel elsewhere.

https://www.hopesgrovenurseries.co.uk/shop/choosing-the-right-hedge/plants-for-coastal-areas/ Plants for Coastal Areas You are here: Home » Choosing the Right Hedge » Plants for Coastal Areas Here we have all of the hedging species suitable for gardens close to or at the coast. All of these species will succeed in the windy salt-spray conditions and we have a selection of deciduous and evergreen species for your seaside plot.

Google found this.. https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2555 "A Bill to make provision for the resolution of disputes concerning the location or placement of boundaries and private rights of way relating to the title of an estate in land; and for connected purposes." https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2555/news "Second reading - the general debate on all aspects of the Bill - is yet to be scheduled."

Can we start by doing a before and after comparison. What were you paying for gas and what are you paying now for electricity? For example do you have old bills that tell you how many units of gas you used? By my reckoning electricity is so much more expensive than mains gas (per kWH) that ASHP will definitely cost more to run in very cold weather.

It would be interesting to see what other members think of adding something like these fans to radiators to improve their ability to emit heat at lower flow temperatures. Obviously it might be better to fit larger or double rads but if that's already been done what about these? Would the electricity they consume out weigh the improvement? They claim a running cost of £2 a year. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Radfan-Classic-Small-Power-Radiator/dp/B00GR0STTG

In general the cost of running a heating system depends on the heat loss. So reducing the room temperature reduces heat loss and running cost. Any other effect on overall efficiency is a secondary factor. So I say go ahead and turn off/down rooms that don't need to be heated.

+1 System boiler and possibly a mains pressure H/W tank of some sort. Spend money on insulation, better windows etc. If you like gas for cooking then consider a dual fuel oven like a Britannia Range connected to a 47kg Gas Cylinder (or two on an auto change over). Cylinder Gas is too expensive for heating but the amount used for cooking is small in absolute terms. A 47kg Cylinder costs about £60 and lasts us 18 months (family of four). The oven is electric. Other companies make similar.