Nickfromwales

Hi. The gaps under the threshold are unacceptable and zero requirement for disabled access compliance. Complete and total bollocks, I’m afraid. Negligence in setting the entire door / frame unit in, to be sympathetic to your chosen floor covering is just poor practice, and again, shouldn’t be tolerated. Damp / water ingress from outdoors to inside is a fundamental installation error and that should have been mitigated BEFORE the unit was installed, and cannot practically be done retrospectively afaic. The unit needs to be removed and reinstalled, with those measures considered and executed correctly. This is utter nonsense, and simply fails to accept the problems which 100% defo exist here. The unit needs to come out, there is no other way. That will allow for the threshold height to be set to the internal finished floor level ( ffl ) according to what you prescribe that to be. Tell this muppet “no sale”.

Time to get him to justify, or get rid? Stinks of too used to them going unchallenged.

Says service drain off resides behind the PRV. Are you going to tackle this, or delegate?

@markocosic

On the potterton there should be a jig under the boiler which lets you isolate the heating circuit, and then an integral service drain ( small one not like the type you fit a garden hose to ) to drip pressure off without losing all the inhibitor / primary water out. You may need to remove the cover to find the service drain, can’t remember exactly where that is sorry. MI’s will prob show these instructions, just need to know exactly which appliance it is.

Have you yet discussed this, and convinced ‘us’ that getting an existing dwelling airtight is practicable? Not sure if you’ve looked into this fully yet? Horse needs to be in front of the cart

OK, explain this properly, please, as it is the entire cause of this thread. Adding an external expansion vessel is absolutely fine, done it to so many ‘awkward to repair’ combi’s I’ve lost count. All you need to do is add a secondary CH circuit isolation valve, beyond the point you T in for it, so it cannot be isolated inadvertently with the boiler “lit and burning”. Regs for this are open to translation, and as a very well versed individual I am sure you could mitigate against a 3rd party shutting off the isolation valves ( provided by ( Baxi ) Potterton ) to sleep soundly at night? Maybe just round off the original fitting so it cannot be shut off, for eg. FYI, I’ve fitted numerous Baxi and Potterton combis over the years and they’re damn simple and robust units. The Potterton is a budget Baxi, but still a decent boiler, and very easy ( and simple ) to work on. ”may be on it’s way out”…… Reasons why / for this statement please? Sounds like a storm in a teacup to me.

Are you going with radiators instead of UFH? Why has a high temp ASHP been spec'd? They're a PITA wit a noisy obtrusive internal unit ( internal as in indoors!! ) and efficiencies will drop like a rock if the HP is married to a system that isn't sympathetic to the favored input temp / operating conditions. A HP will also not recover ( reheat ) the cylinder as quickly as a boiler, so that is another reason to go for the 300L cylinder ( 120L would be getting ripped out in a few months, after you realised it was an epic fail btw ). High-flow gas combis have a theoretical matched capacity to a 200L UVC, for eg ). Can you not suitably engineer the build fabric ( insulation and draught-proofing ) and therefore reduce the heating system so as to be able to accept low temp heat from a monoblock ASHP? You buy insulation once, for the lifetime of the dwelling, but energy input ( running costs ) to mitigate against any poor decisions made now will be ever increasing.....

Fitted a Panasonic in a front garden, detached house but neighbours 1m away one side, no gap the other. The client and their neighbour have been stood next to the unit having a reasonably quiet conversation and the neighbour failed to remark on the unit, even though it was heating the house at the time. Apart from a little additional noise every start-up, the unit is VERY quiet indeed. The only time you’ll hear it, is when you’re trying to hear it, other than that it will disappear into insignificance in no time at all. Would be considerate to not time it to come on at night, in the summer, to heat hot water. We planned some living ‘acoustic barriers’ to surround it on 2 sides, aimed at deflection and to counteract the surfaces I worried would offer reflection, but seriously not needed other than for aesthetic reasons.

If going to an AAV, completely pointless putting it outside, other than not needing boxing in / service access to it if it’s mounted internally. The SVP is placed outside so the stink goes to the clouds, that’s the only reason to take the pipe out through the external wall.

Not at all. Just remember that replacing a soil and vent pipe ( SVP ) with an air admittance valve ( AAV ( btw, Durgo is a manufacturer of an AAV like Hoover is a vacuum cleaner )) you no longer vent your system to atmosphere. If you have neighbours either side with SVP’s then you’ll be fine, but if you are end of run I would recommend you preserve that point of venting the sewer gasses. On the soil / plumbing side, you sound in over your head. Part with some money and get a plumber to support you. Nothing stopping you T’ing into the stack to keep a WC pan connected and working, whilst using that run to carry on to the new location, then swap over in a day, blanking off the temporary loo. Just rotate the branch ( T ) when no longer required, to get it bellow floor level, and fit a cleaning eye / rodding cap in the branch to block it off.

Put posi-joists in and create a 400mm void. Pump it full of cellulose and it will be graveyard quiet and very well insulated. Still run with resilient bars and 15mm SB plasterboard for cherry on ‘t cake. On another MBC PH TF atm and the silence inside is remarkable.

Hi. ASHP’s ‘work’ all year round just fine. Slinky’s can be on sloping ground, no issues there. Unit can be at top ideally, as air rises, or you’ll need to make provision for venting any absolute high point(s). Would need to be a very adverse run to need additional venting, if the unit is at the highest point. You can have a smash and crash car derby afterwards, the pipe will be over 1m-1.5m down typically so do what you like once installed. Consider where the internal unit would go, as these are not quiet units, and can be quite a cumbersome installation once all necessary gubbings / ancillaries are installed. Monoblock ASHP’s have everything outside, so ask yourself “why” you need a GSHP first

Current clients had to buy a crappy bungalow and knock it down to build over ( Headington ). Seems there's not much about there plot-wise that I've seen when driving to merchants / digs etc, but a lot of poor efforts that could benefit from knocking down Looks like you went that route. Have you had to retain / reuse the foundations? A PITA to get a good detail for insulation etc when you're stuck with 'what's there'?

Bonjour. The search engine on here is pretty good, so get to writing down questions, and search those subjects! Don't be afraid to resurrect old threads, and ask as many questions as you need to

Lol. We’re both getting an education here, I assure you

Not really. It will be very specific the the inverter being ( or not being ) able to be AC / grid connected. It’s to do with synchronising the 50hz together, so a grid capable inverter will use the grid 50hz like a metronome to harmonise both bits of ‘equipment’. It’s why the parallel capable inverters need a cat5 umbilical, unit to unit, so they can all align to the grid frequency. That and other info.

I believe the ones that run down to the sub zero temps have an integral electric blanket to keep the cells from getting that cold. Needs more reading tbh, as some descriptions are void of comprehensive details. The batteries own BMS probably takes the first chunk of charge to warm the cells, before allow the cells to recharge. Just picked up most of these scraps of info by scouring the net and some off-griddy forums. Plenty of gold out there, and here, just got to stop digging at some stage and plug this lot in.

Yup. Very few don't have some flat spots / standing water.

Can you show exactly where the sliding doors are going? If the'y're going in the room currently called 'lean-to', then as a thoroughfare to outdoors it's becoming a less convoluted route to get from playroom to outdoors? TBH, it would be the same if they were going into the rear wall ( top of the drawing )? You're not adding a maze of corridors! As it stands, you need to get through 4 doors to get to outside / rear from the current playroom? Can you get a second opinion? Offer to install linked ( mains ) heat / smoke detectors in those rooms for early warning?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_ssn=debattery-66&store_name=kepbattery&_dmd=2&_oac=1&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562#item2416985d05 Cheaper than Eco-worthy? Free shipping, so seems a better option. £365 ( total in Ebay checkout all in ) vs £482 ( including 'estimated taxes' at EW checkout ) at a quick glance. Both have internal BMS. Those 24v / 100Ah batteries come in @£748 per, so circa £1500 for 4.8kWh / £3k for 9.6kWh, so, if they are looked after and last 8 or more years I'm sure I will stay in the black. I'd be happy to break even tbh, if it means not buying from the grid. If your inverter is already your BMS ( hybrid ) then I like those prices! Buyer says "best offer" too, so may try a cheeky lower bid and see what they will drop by. Considering qty 2 of the 24v offerings for the get-go ( installed in series to get me to 48v for the Iconica ) and then possibly add more when I increase the size of the array, but tbh I will probably up my direct ( self ) consumption instead of adding more batteries as that's got longer legs / better economics. I very likely won't do anything more after the initial install eg until I have 4 seasons of statistical data tbh to reflect on. The plan is to oversize the PV regardless, to then have enough residual for the winter to chew into space heating costs, as I am going to fit A2A to get AC in the summer ( defo happening ). That can be used to heat the home too, or at least do a lot of the constant background heating vs heavy lifting ( where the existing gas CH will kick in to give things a nudge when it gets baltic ) plus a view to using gas at night ( if so required ) for quiet operation when sleeping. Over-all's will improve slightly with some downstream fabric upgrades, and the gas system will go ( be evicted ) eventually I expect, but I'm working on a decade long proposal atm as I will probably build something new / efficient after that and just migrate the panels with me ( 25 year warrantied - 30+ year expected lifespan on those ). Buyers perspectives will be much different by then I expect, so we will see if I leave the kit behind or not.

Charging 'in' the cold Eg minimum working criteria / tolerances dictating where they reside.

Yup. EPDM seems to wrinkle up a lot, and doesn't look good when it does imho. Long linear wrinkles holding water when at its worst. GRP is stable, concrete solid, and has great longevity. Colours can be manipulated by simply choosing different top-coats. Needs to be done properly, and not by someone who is skimping on the product eg leaving you with a wafer thin end product. Ask questions, and get answers in writing.

Batteries will be in the man-shed / office with A2A space heating set to minimum of 15oC so no issue for me with temps, so looking like a better option than AGM atm.

A bit more M2 of roof space for the same wattage of other 'on-grid' panels, but 6 and two 3's if you have the space to fit them? It says completely off-grid, so you'd need to research the inverter to see if it will accept a generator ( or grid AC ) feed as well as the panels and batteries. If not, it wouldn't be suitable for retrospective integration into an existing on-grid setup like yours afaik. The Iconica 11,000W hybrid I'm trying to source atm is one such device, eg which is capable of fitting into either camp ( on / off grid ), but, as I am not familiar with that offering linked above, I cannot say yay or nay for you. Would not be cost effective if you cannot simply plug the lot straight into your CU. The Iconica gives UPS out of the box also, with near zero switchover time, so in a power cut you'll stay lit and burning with just a 'blink'. You get a complete system, high capacity / spec, for the price most are just buying the batteries at ( size for size ). I have my 24 panels, all Tigo'd ), just the inverter to source and then it's "f**k you grid!". I do like the price / stats of the LiFePO4 batteries, and am looking on Alibaba etc to see what's about atm. Batteries are the one thing I'm currently deciding, with choices - panels ( procured ), optimisers ( procured ), and inverter ( waiting on new stock to arrive ) - now cemented.