Temp

Remember to claim the self build exemption you need to live in the house for three years after completion.

Could you keep the oil boiler until you can afford ASHP? Electricity is 2-3 times the cost of oil at the moment. 15-20p vs about 6-8p per kWH I think.

Those look good @Declan52 I think your photos show off the blocks better than some of theirs.

I note that a period of 0.25 seconds is 4Hz so that's probably where the error comes from.

Google found Allen Block hollow concrete blocks can be used to 1.2m without filling them with concrete.. https://www.colinwell.com/media/1166/colinwell-allan-block-retaining-wall-system-brochure.pdf PS making the wall/steps curved would probably make them stronger.

Check the max height before ordering. Some makes are aimed at DIY and have limits of around 2ft/600mm. I've seen some places say anything over a meter should be "designed" specifically so i suppose your BCO may want to see input from an SE but perhaps not. I think if you can show him a brochure saying it's ok to use at that height then he should be ok.

Our stairs went in too early. They were protected with plywood and cloths but small stones or plaster got trodden into two steps.

We've noticed quite a variation in colour even between supposedly similar LED bulbs from the same manufacturer. Have just got used to things appearing slightly different when we change bulbs. It's mainly annoying when one of a set goes because invariably the identical bulbs are no longer available so the odd ones are more noticeable. Our kitchen currently has about three different bulbs in all slightly different colours or beam angles. If you experience flicker when dimming a fitting with multiple LED bulbs then changing to a dimmer designed for LED can help a lot. I recently purchased a dimmer that claimed to have programmable end stops but despite several attempts its still far from ideal. For the first 45 degrees nothing, then it comes on a bit too bright, keep turning and for some reason they flash off and on again once just before reaching full brightness. Guess I'll keep looking for a better one.

Think it probably is efflorescence (salt). I believe washing can make it worse, it removes the salt on the surface but the water penetrates the bricks and mortar dissolving more. I'd just leave it alone or dry brush it off. It should eventually weather out but can take a few years. https://www.cement.org/docs/default-source/fc_mat-app_pdfs/masonry/is239-pca-efflorescence.pdf

So perhaps manually forcing a recalibration one at a time with others off, rather than all at once might help?

For awhile I tried to limit access to our WiFi to devices with known MAC addresses - but our original router only had a 16 entry table and I found we had more than 16 wireless devices. All phones, tablets, Nintendo DS etc

I saw that but wondered how they could detect that point? I can see they could turn on the flow a little until they measure some small temperature rise but what if the system is already hot when its calibrated? Two mins isn't a lot of time to allow temperatures to change and stabalise. Perhaps it only reliable if you run the calibration on a totally cold system? Would be great to have a hour with the person that programmed it!

I would try something like a fan heater or two. Most have stats built in and can be used in timers. Just be careful not to cover them.

I wonder how they know when the valve is closed? My guess is they measure the motor current and look for it increasing when the motor is stalled? Perhaps a stiff valve pin is fooling the micro in the actuator? I dont know if it's possible to lubricate these valves. Some web sites say you can use a silicone spray. If all the valves are the same make/type then perhaps you could calibrate all the actuators on one of the "good valves" then move them?

I use WiFi analyser by keuwlsoft... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keuwl.wifi Has a few different modes.

Our house also blocks WiFi so we now have four access points around the house. I would go for Ethernet based access points where possible as they are more reliable. If you must have a power line access point then I put one of these in our shed (with the tx near the router and CU) to give us WiFi in the garden. Seems to work ok. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0746HVPMC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 In theory you can set up multiple access points in such a way that you can seamlessly roam around the house streaming music to a WiFi device. I don't know anyone that's managed to get that to work so ours have unique SSID. We find our devices usually connect to the strongest signal when turned on but sometimes you have to manually choose the strongest. Nobody complains and I have two teenage boys who hammer them all the time. I set up my router and access points to use static IP addresses. That way the url for the admin pages stay the same after a power cut and my bookmarks still work. There is probably a better way but it works for me.

Did you try it with the actuator on the valve? Was it one of the three problem actuators and did it make any difference?

I think @nod meant "vertical". For example a vertical beam under the middle of the green beam would allow the green beam to be smaller in depth.

It's about 4" thick.

Perhaps worth just hooking an actuator to the mains via a switch and manually trying to put it into calibration mode?

I'm wondering if you are never seeing a calibration cycle? The manual here for the THB230 mentions recalibration... https://www.salus-controls.eu/products/thb230-thb24-auto-balancing-actuator

Did you mean to say... When I turn up any Stat the wiring centre calls for heat until I turn them all them all down? That's correct behaviour. The wiring centre performs a Logical OR function to generate Boiler Enable (BE) and turn the manifold pump etc.

Some makes of stat can call for short bursts of heat unless you programe them to have a minimum cycle time. Pretty sure the default settings for the Heatmiser stats we have in our house would allow a 20-60 second call. Perhaps see "Feature 04 Output Delay" in the Heatmiser Manual. I think that effectively sets a minimum cycle time but check with Heatmiser. Edit: on some models it's Feature 05...

I went to the Wundafloor website to look up about these actuators and I noticed it says... https://www.wundatrade.co.uk/shop/home/quick-shop/wundatherm-quick-shop/controls-quickshop/actuator-auto-balancing/ Really? What's so special about Heatmiser stats? Are they sure the incompatibility isn't due to some quirk of their actuators? Heatmiser stats work pretty much like most other makes of stat. Have they given an explanation for this?

Looks great. Make sure everything is well fixed down. We had a shed roof blow off once. Took out neighbours fence.