Nickfromwales

The bladders do wear out eventually, but are changeable in the decent units. TBH I have these in customers homes that I’ve installed over 15 years ago and they still have my mobile number, as do all my previous clients, so if there was a failure I can only assume they would be on the phone for support (as some had such bad pressure / flow that if the kitchen tap was running downstairs and you opened the basin tap upstairs, you’d hear air being sucked into the tap and zero water would come out). I demonstrate the accumulators to the clients by opening every tap in the house, simultaneously, and they just cannot believe it. Then I show then that the cold mains is isolated and then open that and it gets better again!

Do you have room (space) for an accumulator? 200L one would make a massive difference, but even a 100L would be a big improvement.

Always off the hard mains normally, but down to preference (and understanding why the choice is made) tbh.

Not until I say it is, boyo…. 😜

Drill closer to the front of the stud and clad with 15mm OSB for fixings stuff if a problem, but if you want to run 32 from basin to stack 1m away then 32 will be fine, just if you set the same two basins alongside each other and put 40 to one you can actually see the difference. Don’t ask me why, but I think soap suds killing the air break plays a big part. I mostly apply the ‘one up’ rule regardless, but you can have a day off and fit 32 if it s actually that close to the stack.

You should have all the ‘white goods’ etc straight off the mains, then a NRV and then the accumulator > bathing. The outside taps should be off the mains before it enters the building.

The biggest problem I encounter with self builders is either too much micromanagement of stuff that is really insignificant, or just a complete lack of investment in the most basic of forethought and M&E planning. Seems one or the other tbh. The micromanagers seem to lose sleep overthinking / over engineering / worrying about stuff which has never caused them issue; up to them making the new home! I would install a medium sized accumulator without a seconds hesitation, as the uplift in the performance of the entire hot and cold system is remarkable. No dip in pressure and flow when a loo is flushed when a showers running etc, just night and day difference tbh for not much money.

Just ask here, the rocket science is minimal

Your problem here will be sustaining pressure / flow for the cold supply on the balanced feed at the UVC control group. You will defo need to design for this from the outset, with much larger primary cold pipe work and an accumulator.

I’ve been putting them on the hot outlet for donkeys years, never a single issue. Remember that even if a single check exists, if issues occur, it could be only closing partially and in need of being serviced / replaced. Also good to know that there are different types of TMV, some with anti-scald, which will shut off flow in the absence of cold pressure at the TMV. Another reason to make sure your water is softened if in a hard water area. All these valves etc need to be able to move freely to function correctly. Just fitted and commissioned one, brilliant machine for the money, and extremely quiet even when I got it to boot up at full wallop to charge the UVC from cold. Cooling is great with them too, as they do that out of the box.

Hi. Yes, those are fine, carry on. FWIW, I remove the pressure gauge / other plugs and install these AAV’s on both the flow and return manifolds, simply because the air gets pulled around the loops a lot as the vents can only eject a small amount of air at any one time. Order and fit 2 of them is my advice.

Is the water discharging under pressure? What's the pipe servicing?

Most thieves will just remove this from the wall with a crow-bar, near silently, and take somewhere to beat the crap out of it to get the key out. Then come back equally silently and use the key, silently. These are the worst ideas on the planet IMHO, and no way would I be looking for a cheap one IF I had to use one. Put a spare key in the shed, and put a RING / other alarm on the shed so someone locked out can get into the shed (combination lock + alarm code) and retrieve the key?

Took a few days off to just do......feck all. It was awesome.

I am currently on site sampling it and will report back here.

Give that man a cigar. That's exactly what it is.

Ask them about damage returns policy. Never heard of such nonsense before tbh. We always unwrapped them, inspected and installed them, and then put the wrappers back on and duct taped them on for decorators / 2nd fix 3rd parties to not mess them up. I used to show them in and fitted to the clients for a handover, and then they owned them. No comebacks when someone else did the damage and the fingers deciding who to point at

Set them down on cardboard / folded dust-sheets, or it'll be a zero coat finish . You'll need to unpackage to inspect for damage BEFORE installing or you can't return them.

Stelrad are (were) good when I was installing gas CH, but lately I bought a Kudos rad ( B&Q / Screwfix ) for my sons room and they are much improved. The number 1 thing to NOT do ( or to allow to happen ) is to put the rad down and scratch the paint on the underside. I always put these down onto folded dustsheets and cardboard to make sure the paint stayed intact. The cause of rads rusting out from the bottom up is them being set down onto floors, without protection. Next place to look is around the disposable blank blank plugs which are there for spray painting, as some will leave bright steel exposed as the paint process was shart. If you see bright steel, expect rust to soon follow. Touch up with white Hammerite (smooth) paint and you'll be right

I just find them acoustically transparent tbh. SIP's roof is the last choice for me, with the latest architect being dismissive by saying "the interior will be connected to the outdoors" which actually meant when it rains had you'll need to turn the TV up. I pointed this out to the client before the ceilings got closed off, and they agreed to spend some more money adding 100mm of acoustic insulation to control the issue, as best as could be achieved, retrospectively. A cellulose blown frame and roof, al-la MBC / WPH is graveyard quiet by comparison. These are genuinely miles apart in performance. That's not guesswork btw, that's from being stood inside them and being able to tell the difference.

Avoid a SIPS roof. Noisy as feck.

You may also do well in asking Adam Wilkinson (Wilkinson Passive House) for a quote. One of the rare few who are meticulous but not 'champagne money' to be so. I am also a huge fan of MBC btw. They are QUICK! Both offer turnkey solutions (foundation > frame > insulation > guaranteed airtightness score) which means they have to produce the minerals SIPS fails to impress me tbh. Would be my last choice also.

If the water pressure is low, fit a 28mm single check NRV with 22mm internal reducing sets to go onto the 22mm pipe. https://www.monsterplumb.co.uk/yellow-brass-fittings-plumbing-3-part-reducing-set-28mm-22mm?gclid=Cj0KCQjwuNemBhCBARIsADp74QTP_RTBfjKXlco3sqsVMfzwwNM2VZD6XPgsquJDBtCMdL0ZOrihwYYaAsvyEALw_wcB

This falls into the realms of an UVC retro-fit. Done loads of them. Get the PRedV at the stopcock raised to 3 bar, as at 2.5 it will be quite restrictive. Install the control group / PRedV as per the MI's, local to the cylinder, but the one thing that all buffoons forget is to add a single check NRV to the hot outlet of the UVC. Do that and you are 100% kosher. . Warranty will be intact with that all done.