Nickfromwales

Well, when you do, let us know lol. Welcome aboard!

If you add the TMV and pump set with the manifold, remember it needs to be a low temp setup. The Ivar Link has the thermo probe + TRV instead of a thermo-mechanical mixing valve. Select the option for 20-60oC temp range on the TRV and that will give you very accurate flow temp control all the way down to its lowed street setting. Also, I set these up to have the primary pump recirculating water directly back to the Willis heaters to keep a constant flow of water and to reduce kettling. From the recirculating loop, you then tee off twice, once for UFH manifold / pump set flow ( immediately after the Willis heater(s)) , and the UFH return gets teed back into that loop immediately before the return goes back into the primary pump. I wouldn’t set the Willis up with the flow arrested by a TMV.

£127 for a 2-port manifold. Deffo needed for balancing / reading the flow rates. Trying to regulate the flow with ball valves will be horribly coarse, and offer little help for the effort whatsoever. I use Komfort manifolds Link as the air vent is at the same height as the head of the rail, so these vent far better than others where the ends reduce and step down ( trapping air in the top of the rail ). It is un wise to connect the Willis to the slab with total reliance on the in-built stat, so I would recommend either adding a TMV and pump to compliment the manifold, or, at the very least, I would fit a pipe stat to the return pipe and set it to break at 30oC. That would at least protect the floor covering and occupants if the Willis stat snuffs it in the closed position. Very little pipe volume in the floor, but it is what it is. Deffo needs balancing with the manifold though.

I can give you my guys details for supply and fit, but not supply only. MCS accredited so you’ll be able to sell the exported energy. He is crazy busy though and is giving me 2-3 month lead times. Are you in a rush?

Solar watt will be my choice this year. 25 year performance guarantee @ minimum 80% for the classic panels and 30 years @ minimum 87% for the glass / glass “vision” panels. Warranty provided with backing from BMW.

PVA is exactly the same. Been using both for decades. The big difference is SBR is far more robust, plus it doesn’t reconstitute with water / damp / moisture etc like PVA does. Reading the data sheet is deffo good advice, per differing discipline, but if using to size or prime for tapes, you CANNOT apply AT to ‘tacky’ SBR under ANY circumstances. It categorically must be allowed to dry 100%, before applying, or your very expensive tapes will peel straight back off. The purpose is to create a surface that is not friable with the dilute applications being applied liberally and allowed to soak in and dry fully.

Ah, apologies! The SBR needs to be applied firstly as dilute, to ‘size’ the substrate, and then applied neat and left to dry before applying tapes or PP. So; Parge, then prime, then seal with tapes or PP.

Yes, that would be a healthy benchmark for sure. Also, the figures usually do not allow for maxed out self-consumption either, so the projected economics can be improved upon by something as simple as a PV diversion controller to DHW. Adding an EV charger of the same family / software base ( eg so they ‘talk’ to each other ) would allow pretty much 100% self-consumption, if the EV is routinely tethered during the hours of sunlight of course. Cases change for retired / working full time / working from home etc so no 2 scenarios are really the same.

Same as last and current then, as these were / are woodcrete. Cementitious parge which was left to dry, then PP applied to all the joints after it had had a couple of weeks to shrink back and dry. Hairline cracks appeared on just about every joint / mortar line, so, parge alone will get you so-so but parge plus PP will get you as good as it gets. AT test of 0.88 on current one which was not expected. Tres bien. Only let down by the doors and Windows tbh as I recon the fabric of the build would have scored sub 0.6 if tested independently. Use SBR on the perimeter of the slab and then seal the walls to the floors also if you want to go for belt ‘n 3 braces. (Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR), is a water resistant bonding and sealing agent, and shares many similar characteristics with PVA. One key difference is that, whereas PVA remains water soluble after drying, once dry SBR is not. Ed)

Yup. Plus a reasonable amount of diligence with a site survey before submitting figures. Just about every single proposal we’ve ( collectively ) put forward for my projects have either met or exceeded expectations. It shows the software allows a bit of ‘real world’ accountancy.

What is the substrate? Woodcrete / masonry?

Yup. And all the current nay-sayers moaning about the lack of returns on the PV installs will all be crawling over broken glass to fit some then. Prob is, then the PV will have gone up too. We've just quoted 9kWp at £11.6k ( before VAT ) with a breakeven point in year 6.5!! 80% performance warranty ( guaranteed ) for 25 years. Irrefutable sense, and PV is your best defence against rising electricity prices. Hoping to get time to do mine this year.......fingers crossed. Sun will keep rising, so will fuel costs.

@Bitpipe for one, used a stand alone basement contractor and then built a timber frame atop ( MBC Timberframe ). They're in Gloucestershire iirc. Options are available for 'mix n match'

You use tapes and membranes strategically, alongside the parge coats etc. How good a job you do on the parge will reduce the amount of membrane / tape you consume, so use that to do the major gap filling alongside a quality closed cell air control foam ( Link ) for a complete solution which will last a very long time. We've had great results with Passive Purple, a spray on or brush applied ( 2 different types ) liquid airtight membrane, which we've recently applied over both parged and non-parged woodcrete ICF structures. Very happy to recommend Adam White ( supplier of the PP product link ) whom I have spoken with at length for solutions to attain airtightness in my 2 most recent ( clients ) projects. He was very helpful indeed, and gave us great support for the correct selection, application and integration of the product, vs differing substrate types. He was also very well versed with the world of "passive house". With a recent very challenging Velox build he came out to site to go through everything wit me in person, without any promise of business(!!), and the agreed solutions and subsequent AT test results spoke for themselves . We used the PP in key areas only, after a cementitious parge was first applied to all internal ( outer wall ) surfaces. It was primarily used in the window and door reveals to allow the AT tapes around the frames to have something airtight and uniform to adhere to, but was great for getting into acute angles / difficult junctions aka 'nooks an crannies'. Proper tapes and membranes stick to each other like shit to a blanket, and I pity anyone who applies them to areas where they then have to be removed from. The most important thing is to have the surfaces freshly cleaned / primed / dust and contamination-free to allow the tapes to work well and last a very very long time. Mastics, membranes ( liquid or sheet ) and tapes, in conjunction with parge coating can ( and does ) work very well indeed. The devil as always is in the detail.

Did you have an AT test? Parge needs to be done before joists / wall plates go in / on, and before floor ( deck ) boards go down, to get to all the areas that are often overlooked. This kind of detailing is why one project just got 3.02 ach and another 0.88. If going for wet coats vs dot n dab then the parge can just be done to get the interior to a point where the plasterer is laying onto just a ribbon of parge and that will be a top job. To achieve air tightness you need to understand all the places which get overlooked and know where to focus your attention. Very easy to get “almost right”, which is basically pointless starting at all.

That should be the straightest route to a resolve. If you could post back here if / when a solution has been found, and what was done to fix things, that would be appreciated.

Labourers are taking £600 a week, trades double and then some. Some are worth every penny, others are there keeping their heads down and taking the piss. Doesn’t take long to see who is good at their job and which ones have just bought some tools and a tool box.

@dnoble ?

But it is needed for system analysis. Without more information we’re pissing into the wind here, sorry.

Have you not contacted a different PV installer local to you? FYI, there are lots of PV installers, but very few ‘experts’ tbh. I’ve lost track…..do you have an app / portal to see each panel? Or are you only able to glean base statistics from the inverter? How much was / is the “unwanted gizmo” as that may cost the same as a call out and identify what’s going on and give you far better ongoing monitoring / observations. My guess is, that any PV ‘expert’ would insist in removing and checking the panels to be able to assure you / themselves that all is correct / reliable. You’re going to be spending money either way, so if it was me I’d want the most amount of information available to me, prior to, which says get your monitoring up and running to the best it can be and then report back here with that info for any further possible assistance. Or pick up the phone and start getting second opinions……

I set fire ( accidentally btw ) to the menu in the Plume of Feathers lol. Nice feathered steak ? ? Lovely place.

No lol. The OP!!

What make radiators are these?

@graham1 Can you upload a diagram of your exact heating layout , as best as you can, please? This may help to get further replies and possible solutions to your ongoing issues.

@graham1 It is unhelpful and laborious for you to start another thread to discuss this Already discussed and open here for further input……