Nickfromwales

Set top boxes chew quite a bit more than we think. These and other vampire loads quickly add up. No skeletons here, just a reasonable amount of stuff left plugged in or on "standby". Can 'we' be bothered to go around room by room unplugging stuff and making sure standby means off? Not in my house lol, as that would be a full time job.

Hi. At 6000L and at ground temp or close to, there will not be a great deal of useful cooling ( heat energy ) capacity to come from that before the uplift from the return diminishes the delta T to a point where it becomes completely ineffective. The need for cooling occurs in the summer period, so ground temps will already be seasonally elevated ( albeit only marginal differences occur from summer to winter for true geothermic heat considerations ) further reducing the possibilities of utilising RWH tanks for cooling. I would forget solar thermal unless you have an abundance of roof / other 'solar space' after fitting a reasonably sized PV array, as ST is a one-trick pony and all summer long the extremely high temps stored in the hot water cylinder ( not buffer ) will add to the core concern of overheating. PV will provide most of the energy to run the ASHP in reverse, direct to UFH, so why integrate more complexity where it is not going to be of much or any use

Smart Export Guarantee is the new scheme, as the FiT ( Feed in Tariff ) has evaporated now. If you wish to claim this payment ( circa 5.5p/unit ) then you MUST have an MCS accredited installation. Solar PV has been discussed here a LOT, so do some searching and you should get quite a lot of info that way. Feel free to add to existing / dormant threads

Yup. NOT a silicone, but a suitable mastic is usually the most I see but with a few metal clips epoxy resin bonded on for the grunt.

Why isn't your solar PV offsetting this? Even 4x 300w panels would put a big dent in your annual reliance on the grid. Obviously a trick question, but you get my point My friend fitted 4x 250w panels to his house ( used panels which he recovered from a new installation so given to him for free ) and the electricity they're producing ( still! ) is significant, for what they are 'on paper'. Have you considered fitting even a 'token' PV array?

I'm older. Resurrecting old threads is A OK, and much better than starting a new one to discuss the same thing.

Pay for the best FF that budget allows for, but TBH the budget should really be set by "how much the quietest FF" as that is your core remit . In an open-plan kitchen / dining / living area, unless it's an american style FF, there is no way I would lose continuity of the eyeline when looking across the space by having a conflicting finished full height FF. It would defffo be an integrated unit. Plus ( iirc ) your oven tower is alongside so that will have a tower decor panel either side anyways, plus a door above and a door and a plinth below, so why stop the plinth? Looks 'bitty' that way, imo. The kitchen needs to be drop dead gorgeous and be completely / as unoffensive as possible to achieve a ( marketable ) finish, and to fully compliment the open plan idea, so apart from the sink, hob and extractor, get it all hidden AFAIC. Washer / drier to be in the utility, if / when you have one, and get an equally high performance ( deffo 1/2 load capable ) dishwasher to boot. My DW is an Indesit and ( another by luck not judgement ) it's the same here, ultra quiet and the beep reminds me I've actually put it on. The cheap freezer I bought departed this building before it died, as it was a PITA......noisy and froze up where it shouldn't have. Buy cheap buy twice, etc, etc.

https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/4501996-8w-led-downlight-white-4000k These are the 4000k daylight aka natural white ones I’ve been fitting lots of lately. Also find the following… https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/4471520-8w-led-downlight-4000k non fire / acoustic shallow depth fittings, and https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/4471505-e5-4-5w-led-fire-rated-downlight-4000k shallow, fire and acoustic rated fittings. These need bezels to go with them, and I’ve been buying Matt white mostly to match the ceiling paints.

Purely if you needed a sense-check “Measure twice” and all that jazz……

I would suggest a small initial increase to 40oC max input ( UFH flow temp ) as jumping up to 45--47 could have a rather detrimental effect on certain floor coverings eg warp wooden flooring etc

With a run of wool in the void at the rear of the pockets I would really not lose any sleep here. Just make sure there is an extra bit stuffed in at each hole when you fit the lights.

I have been installing Brink Flair 325's and 400's via CVC Ventilation and am super happy, as are my clients who are now living with these systems and report near inaudible operation when on trickle. Boost still very much acceptable with mitigatory provision such as inline sound attenuators at the unit ( before the manifolds ) to further reduce any nuisance noise in the rooms. Very effective combination when combining a good unit with such additional measures. Nicholas Vaisey ( PH designer ) will happily look after you re designs / flow rates / specification etc, great service to date, and you could also inquire about the Brink Comfort units I am now routinely installing for 'cooling' as I've found them very cost effective (where an ASHP is being reversed for cooled water only ) to manage unwanted summer ambient uplift, but also to drip feed a tiny amount of 'heated' air into upstairs rooms where full on heating isn't justified.

?? ? ? ? ?

+1 Had assumed this but assumption often has a habit of not living up to ones expectations

Just take a bottle of Timotei into their hot-pond for guaranteed comic results. Make sure you take a family size bottle so there’s enough for ‘everyone’ wink wink

It is also possible that the purlin is half-lap jointed where the purlin strut is? If so brace that when undertaking any alterations A pair of 9x2's sistered together running from the remainder of the wall to the internal leaf of the exterior wall should more than suffice and is a one day job. Jack the purlin up with an Acrow until you just see the strut wanting to lift. Cut it and lower back down onto the new timbers and secure with some construction screws. Do not use regular screws for any of this work

lol. Hot tip is don't get a hot tub unless you are prepared to look after / maintain it....and NEVER leave your friends alone in it or it'll become 'contaminated' within minutes. Nearly spat my coffee out but pretty much spot on. Didn't someone on here once refer to them as 'sex ponds'? ?? If I were to purchase one of these wonderful gooey devices, I would 100% be heating it with a HP. @Redoctober why not suggest a cheap Chinese HP as that should at least halve the bill, just where to put / hide it and how to integrate to deal with.

Crying mostly.....it was that big ?

Sounds like you have the right builder Make sure there is always air tight tape available on the build, and hammer home the point that it is great for the membrane / airtight layer to not be damaged etc but if it does then PLEASE can the guys just put some tape on afterwards to repair / seal up any such punctures. Explain that the house will be AT tested at the end and that any and all compromises will become apparent, just some will be very hard to rectify at that stage. Best they know it's not the death penalty to damage it, but it will have huge repercussions for you if they don't just quickly fix it in the same moment. Also, +1 to the membrane being the first thing you see, with only the battens atop. Just refreshed the page and saw those comments. Probably worth noting a provisional AT test should be done before any boarding goes on anywhere. You'll be stuffed to fix it retrospectively.

Most trusses and pozi's need a bit of packing. Just been on a job with a giant cock who thought just screwing counter battens on without packing was a great idea. Second team who came behind him looked at it.......asked "Who TF did this?!".....and proceeded to take it all down ad do it all again with packers and a laser. Horses for courses.

More the merrier tbh, so maybe put a ground floor rad on bypass ( no TRV ) and possibly fit the other two with TRV's as upstairs is likely to need some thermostatic control but downstairs should be fine to heat to 'infinity' without control and without any nuisance.

Ah, gotcha Just electric plane the shit out of it and the rest can be taken out with the adhesive that you use to lay the flooring. ?. I would not use levelling compound onto the egger as that will be guaranteed to break up over time and the floor will become decoupled any drive you crazy. Best policy here is to over order on the adhesive to allow you to bed the adhesive thinly with a trowel where the planing has occurred. Use some SBR mix ( 25% water / 75% SBR ) to size the open chipboard first and really let it soak in and dry fully before applying the flooring adhesive. That will be ‘supersonic’

I’ve never risked it. I always use plywood as a base for tiling or levelling fixed down rock solid with a full bed of PVA, combed over with a 3mm notched mosaic trowel, and screwed down at 100-120mm centres ( 18mm vs 22mm ). Other tilers have been on the same jobs as me and theirs have cracked or lifted anf mine have stayed bombproof. Why risk anything else?

That would be at full wallop To have air con for summer and heating by air in the winter make this a no brainer. I think I’ll grab two of them now for my sons back bedroom and my shed/office, as in the death of winter it’s Baltic in there and vice versa in the summer. DIY in a day off a 13a fused spur, which is a huge attraction.

How long is a piece of string question as far as system design goes, but with that level of modulation I very much doubt you'd have any issues other than maintaining a minimum flow rate for the primary circulation pump. I would suggest that a single towel rad running in parallel with the heating load would more than suffice with that boiler.