Temp

We have about 50mm PIR+30mm EPS. Also wish we had more.

I have a 10 year old Visonic system that uses wireless PIR sensors only. I've found them to be very good. If you disable the LED on them the battery lasts more than a year. Visonic normally only support professional installations but you can buy the bits and DIY which is what I did. I'm not up to date on their latest products so don't know if their phone support has changed/improved. I think you can arm/disarm it using your phone but we normally use their wireless key fobs like you have for a car. If you do use a phone you interact with the alarm via the keypad on the phone not an app. That may have changed though.

Yes. Lot depends how well insulated your house is. If your house is badly insulated then it makes more sense to turn off or up and down when there is nobody home or at night. If it's very well insulated then it's not costing you much to leave it on 21C all the time. Our house was built about 11 years ago to slightly better than building regs standards. We program our UFH to drop the temperature at night by about 3 degrees (aka "set back"). This means that most nights the heating is off unless it gets very cold outside. However it can take 90mins to get back to "normal" temperature. So when we are getting up at 6am the heating is programmed to start rewarming the house at perhaps 4.30am. With rads 5.30 would probably have been ok. Most days there is someone at home but if we both leave at say 7.30am the heat we have put into the floor slab dissipates over the next few hours when there is nobody there. As I said it's not quite so bad for us because there is someone at home most days.

We also have MVHR and our house isn't perfectly air tight. Not least because we have two wood burning stoves. They have glass doors but aren't totally room sealed types, they burn room air. So we probably loose some benefit of the MVHR heat recovery but the constant ventilation provided is great. Clothes dry faster on racks, air feels fresher. Wouldn't be without it now.

We have UFH on two floors. My view is that it works well for families that have one person at home in the daytime. If you are both working 9-5 then it's possible rads are a better option. UFH does work with carpet but I strongly recommend you use the special low TOG underlay (circa 0.6-0.7) and keep the overall TOG value as low as possible (ideally 2.0, max 2.5). If you walk into a carpet shop and they tell you all of their carpet and underlay is suitable for UFH then they don't understand the issue. Usually they will have to go and look up the manufacturers information to find the TOG. Beware as they may come back with made up numbers. One chap tried to tell me the TOG of a carpet we were looking at was 10 - like a reasonable duvet. When you have found your carpet and place an order watch out for the small print. One said something like... "Many of our carpets come in two versions, either hessian or rubber backed, we reserve the right to supply either version". The hessian version will have a much lower TOG than the rubber version but won't feel as soft under foot. Try out the carpet and underlay combo in the store to see if it feels right. Make sure you get exactly that combo on the order and delivered. If you find a good carpet salesman he will understand a lot of the above. If the TOG is too high you might be able to crank up the temperature of the UFH to push heat through it but that can effect the performance of a heat pump or oil boiler (to lesser extent). Worse case you crank up the flow temperature and the temperature of the return to the boiler gets too hot for the boiler to work in condensing mode.

Lets assume that the geometry means the PWA would definitely apply if it was us doing the digging. The PWA would also apply if we hired a contractor to do the digging rather than physically dig ourselves. It's what happens when the Water Co or one of their contractors is digging that I'm interested in. Is it still the land owners responsibility?

I'm sure that's correct (about their statutory powers). Would be nice to find a reference.

Hypothetical question... The water/sewerage companies now have responsibility for some shared pipes that may cross your land. If they need to come and dig them up who has responsibility for complying with the Party Wall Act? As I understand it the PWA applies between to land owners. Here is an example I made up. The pink pipe is in one property but within 3m of a building in another.

Reading the article it looks like the council found the lost drawings and then sent out another enforcement notice, perhaps on different grounds to the first one.

I'm thinking that the land registry might have a way to remove a covenant that cannot be enforced.

I did one for an outbuilding that needed PP. I used SketchUp to do the elevation drawings and included an isometric/3D sketch using the styles to make it look like a hand drawn sketch.

First thing to do is get the solicitor to confirm if the covenant is valid/enforceable. I understand they have to be written for the benefit of another piece of land yet many were written in favour of a person. https://www.land-registry-documents.co.uk/news-blog/covenantswhat-you-need-to-know-about/

We have around 180mm PIR insulation between 200mm deep rafters. I don't think it's enough. If building again I would look at either a SIP roof or a warm roof (insulation above the rafters or above and between).

This is the sort of think I'm thinking of... https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/236473849/wave-in-a-frame-free-uk-shipping?ref=related-7 https://www.jazzitupinteriors.co.uk/acatalog/FUSED-GLASS-WALL-ARTWORK-PANEL-JDORGASTR_6020.html

I haven't purchased the glass panel yet but it will probably be around 600mm X 200mm. I've just found 600 X 600 panel on eBay for £22 so might buy one to diassemble for parts and ideas. Claims to be 45W dimmable.

I'm considering making a backlight for a fused glass art panel. Main concern is how to get a uniform level of illumination without spending a lot of time experimenting with led strips, reflective sheets and diffusers. It occurs to me I might be able to modify an LED flat panel ceiling light. I know some of you have tried them. Can you see the individual LEDs throughout the diffuser or are they pretty uniform?

The link newhome posted is the guide for builders and sub contractors that might do work on new houses... https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-notice-708-buildings-and-construction Tells them if they should charge you VAT (usually not). Typically... You should not pay VAT on services or labor. Should pay VAT on materials and reclaim it. If someone does both (supply materials and fit them on one invoice) then all of it should be zero rated to you.

Pretty sure electrical screws are 3.5mm. If you get stuck these are 50p each. Collection from store, shipping to me would be £9 ! https://www.ccmsupplies.co.uk/m35-x-100mm-socket-screw.html You can also get "3.5mm Socket Screw Extension studs" https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p79641

Do PV panels run hotter if you don't draw all the power they can deliver? The law of conservation of energy suggests there must be an energy balance. eg If the panels operate at a constant temperature then the power going in must equal that coming out. If you don't draw energy from them in the form of electricity it must come out as heat (unless they somehow become more reflective).

Try local hire companies. If really stuck Google found... https://www.roadplatehire.co.uk/

I'm sure it's against the law to mention Ch.....as before the beginning of December. If it isn't it should be.

Hope you aren't hungry. This popped up in my news feed. It's an article about free Dominoes Pizza from the UK Daily Fail... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6161905/Dominos-giving-away-free-pizza-entire-WEEK.html Collect only from Australia ! Bastards ! Could have used them as pad stones.

In the manual for the E version here.. http://www.wundafloorheating.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/E02-generic-E91-touch-screen-Stat-27-4-2018.pdf It says.. "7RLE Not available on this model. Potential free output and main output synchronous/ asynchronous direction" and "Do not adjust KEEP FACTORY SETTING = 00" So the E version might not be able to do volt (aka Potential) free? Best give them a call to check you have right version. Perhaps their set up doesn't need/use volt free stats?

I couldn't find the W91-713 only the E91-713 on their web site. However I wonder if the W is for wet and E is for Electric... Elsewhere Google found.. http://www.tpsthermalcontrols.com/products/57/

Not certain but I think the boiler/ASHP, all pumps and stats etc should be powered from one fused spur near the boiler. If the FSU isn't near the boiler I think you need a plaque near the boiler stating where the FSU is located. You never want to have a situation where the service man flips off the FSU only to find the stats are still live. How many manifolds do you have? If more than one you might need to OR together the two "Boiler Enable" (BE) signals to produce one BE in a way that doesn't cause interaction. If just connected together you might find the pumps on both manifolds start when only one is calling for heat. Depends how the wiring centre is designed. I had to use relays but then my system was a different make.